WINNERS TAKE ALL
The fact that the Olympics will go ahead is a victory on its own. Perhaps we should reward ourselves with the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Tokyo 2020
The fact that after much happening worldwide that the Olympics – the perfect stage to show the best ofhumanity – will now be going ahead is a victory in itself. As spectators, each of us emerges as a victor. Perhaps it is this reason that we ought to congratulate and reward ourselves with the OMEGA Seamaster Diver 300M Tokyo 2020, muses justin ng.
Athletes train six days a week. A rigorous routine that begins at dawn, drawing to a close for when day morphs into night, they set out to perfect their techniques over the course of days, weeks, months and years for that one priceless shot at glory that only comes around once every four years. The Olympic Games is their stage. For all their super-human perseverance, the tears they may shed, the exhilaration they may tremble with, and the hope of a nation they shoulder, the Olympics represents the pinnacle of their sporting careers. There are no higher stakes and no theatre can equal the unfolding thrill of its unpredictable narrative. For that, we are grateful the games will march forward after numerous unforeseen obstacles that have swept the world over the past year.
With less than 100 days until the first gold medal winner of the Tokyo Olympics is crowned, the trusted official timekeeper of the Olympic Games, Omega, has unveiled the Seamaster Diver 300M Tokyo 2020 to commemorate their steadfast partnership. A journey begun in 1932, the latest chapter marks the 29th time Omega will fulfil the role of the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games.
Taking place between 23 July and 8 Aug 2021, Tokyo is expected to welcome over 11,000 athletes of the highest calibre, underpinning the ambitions of 205 countries around the world, across 33 sports, from primordial categories such as athletics to the likes of badminton, track cycling and diving in which Malaysia has realistic possibilities for medals.
Perhaps what also makes this edition of the Omega Olympic-themed watch extra special is the human resolve in the face of adversities. Despite the gloom blanketing the world, the Tokyo Olympics can be the catalyst of joy and the turning point we desperately hope for.
Inspired by Japan, the Seamaster Diver 300M Tokyo 2020 particularly its palette echoes the many elements pervasive in Japanese society. The Japanese national football team is fondly known as the Blue Samurai after their distinctive blue jersey donned in matches. Going back further in time, aizuri-e or Japanese woodblock printing is produced predominantly in blue and white. A famous example is the Thirty-sixViews ofMountFuji oeuvre, which includes emblematic TheGreatWaveoffKanagawa depicting a rogue wave engulfing boats and playing to the illusion of the wave towering over the majestic Mount Fuji through ingenious perspective and juxtaposition. The nature-centric motif was similarly employed on blue and white porcelain ware dating as far back as 1600.
On the watch, a blue ceramic bezel ring filled with a white enamel diving scale evocative of the aforementioned Japanese art and craft is mounted upon a robust 42mm stainless steel case. The dial of the watch imparts a pristine appearance, with the polished surface made of white ceramic, but finished in laser-engraved waves in line with other Seamaster Diver 300M contemporaries. While the motif of the current has long been established in the collection, it appears there is an extra significance on this example as the cresting wave is entrenched in Japanese art. The Seamaster highlighted in red caps off the dial incisively as a nod to the Japanese flag.
Stainless steel is also used for the polishedbrushed bracelet seamlessly integrated with the case. Blued skeletonised hands and indexes sympathetic to the dial design are filled with white Super-LumiNova. The date window at 6 o’clock harmonises with the dial as it is delightfully complete with blue numerals upon a white surface.
The nucleus of the watch is a modern inhouse movement – one of the most accurate and magnetic resistant the industry has to offer. The Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8800 is officially certified by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology as a testament to its unwavering quality. Just as importantly, the movement secured underneath a sapphire crystal caseback marked by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games emblem is beautifully finished with Geneva waves in arabesque.
Delivered in a special Olympic Games presentation box, the watch carries a Master Chronometer card and a full five-year warranty as an unequivocal sign of Omega’s confidence in its product.
Though the watch commemorates the greatest sporting event on earth in a time that few parallels can be drawn. Not many modern eras have presented such a stern inward and outward examination of us as society, both collectively and individually, on a scale as broadly reverberating as the one we are living in. There are signs that we are in the midst of turning the corner. Watches are bought often to memorialise personal triumphs and if they are to be bought to remind us of a trial that looks increasingly likely that we will pass, this watch may just be that.