Why on Earth Omega would call a ceramic bezel “Liquidmetal” is a mystery to me (see update below). It not only is ceramic not liquid, but it isn’t a metal. Well, it is liquid-like when being formed, but you get the idea. Ceramic as used on watches is actually made from glass as I understand it. It used to be that most bezels on dive watches were made from aluminum. Not sure why that is, but it is still very common. One approach to “luxurize” the bezel was the Blancpain approach of doing a bezel with a sapphire crystal over it. This prevented the scratching that people hate. This is really the problem with aluminum. Sure you can replace the bezels. but it is a pain, and not something you want to do when paying a lot for a diver’s watch.

(UPDATE): Turns out liquid metal is something else, not the ceramic part of the watch. Liquidmetal seems to be a special titanium alloy that has the manufacturing process of plastic. Thus it is very malleable. Omega uses Liquid metal at least in parts of the bezel to combine with the ceramic for the amazing seamless look. The makers of liquid metal say that it is a “metallic glass.” Something I’ve certainly never heard of. In addition to titanium, it has zirconium, nickel, copper, and beryllium. Lots of companies uses the stuff when metal needs to be formed in the right way, but simply don’t want to endure the very difficult process of using tradition methods to get the beautifully seamless look that you can see here on the bezel of the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal watch.

I am not sure who was the first to do a ceramic rotating bezel insert, but when I think of it, I think of Rolex. Their new generation GMT Master II watches as well as the new Submariners. They all have ceramic and metal bezels. Now Omega joins the game with their own ceramic bezel. Hopefully it will become standard. For the time being it will only show up on a special limited edition Omega  Seamaster Planet Ocean Liquidmetal watch.  Not sure if that is gonna be the final name. It will be limited to just 1948 pieces.  Aside from the bezel, much of the Seamaster Planet Ocean watch look the same. All nicely made with Omega’s standard awesome cases and bracelet.  If I didn’t know better, I would say that the dial is also ceramic, but that is unlikely (but maybe?!). Omega also makes a nice return with easy to read Planet Ocean watches. And eventually I am sure there will be a chronograph version. Inside the watches are Omega’s Calibre 2500 Co-Axial (duh) automatic movements. It is also Chronometer certified.

You can tell that inside of the ceramic is metal (Liquidmetal), for the minute indicators on the bezel. There is also the lume dot at 12 o’clock. It looks like the process is a bit tricky. Maybe after the ceramic is formed, there is excess metal to cut off. Probably the case. I’d love to learn about how the bezels are made. So this is just one more step in the direction of making the very popular Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean watch even more durable, and more desirable. Price is likely to be more than your standard three-hand Planet Ocean watch due to it being a limited edition and having the new type of bezel.

Nod to Perpetuelle.

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