“The name’s Bond, James Bond.” (cue the Bond Theme song). This fictional character epitomised masculinity: fast cars, advanced weaponry, beautiful women, sharp clothing, watches, gadgets, and even gadgets built into watches and cars, and no matter who your Bond is (Connery, Brosnan, Craig, etc), I think it’s fair to say that most guys, though not necessarily wanted to be him, definitely thought of him as the personification of cool. This leads me to the review of the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m Co-Axial, or also known unofficially as the “Skyfall” watch, as Daniel Craig wore this watch in his third Bond film, “Skyfall”.

The Omega Aqua Terra line is generally regarded as a versatile, go-anywhere do-anything (GADA) kind of watch and this generation of the Aqua Terra with the Omega 8500 calibre is no different. You can wear it on a weekend trip to the beach, drop your things off and then proceed into the ocean to re-enact your favorite scenes from past Bond films (people may stare, but hey, it’s your holiday!) and then you can go straight back to work with bits of sand still on the watch and no one would bat an eye; it’s that versatile. It looks equally as good with the most casual of clothes, all the way up to a suit and then that’s when you really feel like you’re embodying the spirit of James Bond.

The watch was offered with a choice of a white, black, or blue dial; the latter has proved to be the most popular. The vertical teak design of the dial was used to pay homage to the nautical nature of the Aqua Terra line and is also subtly finished with a sunray texture that transforms the dial from near black to a bright burst of blue depending on the direction and quality of the light. All the hour markers and hands are also brushed finished to a high standard that really invites the wearer to look closer. Note that this generation also has the desirable border that surrounds the date window, which was removed in its successor generation of the Master Co-Axial Aqua Terra. It was also available in a smaller 38.5mm case or a larger 41.5mm case. It comes down to preference but for me, the 38.5mm case was perfect. All-in-all, it’s just a well made watch (as it should be at this price point) and offers a lot of value simply because you can wear it anywhere, any time; it’s ALMOST the perfect watch.

So, why “almost”? Well, I suppose this is why Fifth Wrist reviews was created in the first place: to hear first person feedback from owners who can shed some light on what it’s like to actually own a watch, as opposed to all the technical specs that anyone can spew out from a press release. So here’s the truth: I absolutely LOVE this watch. It wears wonderfully on the wrist and it’s such a joy to wear…..BUT the lack of a quickset date just killed it for me. In place of a quickset date, you’re consoled with an independently adjustable hour hand, which admittedly makes it a pleasure to change the time when crossing time zones, but is an absolute nightmare when you have to set the date after being off the wrist for more than a couple days. “But you just turn the crown a couple times!” you might be thinking. Yes, you’re right but I promise you that when you have to advance the date more than 5 days forward, you’ll really be wishing you had a quickset date.

So therein lies the biggest crux of my love to the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m Co-Axial. It’s an incredibly beautiful and versatile watch, but this is a case of where form is let down by its function. After 3 years of ownership, I finally decided to let it go because I found myself not wearing the watch simply because I hated setting the date. It truly is the king of GADA watches as far as I’m concerned, but if you like to rotate watches often, just remember to not let the watch wind down (unless you like torturing yourself with advancing the date). You can also just get a winder.