Omega just announced a calibre that sets a new standard for chronometry thanks to a proprietary silicon hairspring known as Spirate. With a promised daily rate of 0/+2 seconds, the new movement set a new benchmark thanks to a silicon hairspring that can be precisely adjusted thanks to its patented form.

The shape of the hairspring allows for diabolically fine adjustment – the watchmaker adjusts the attachment point of the hairspring via a micrometric screw on the balance bridge –  making it possible to obtain a rate precision never before achieved for a mass-produced movement.

The Spirate hairspring attached to the Omega adjustable mass balance

The importance of chronometry

In the past, chronometer competitions conducted by observatories in Geneva, Neuchâtel, London, and a handful of other European cities were a platform for watch brands to prove their mastery of time measurement, with the prize winners declaring themselves “master chronometers”.

The observatory contests were ended soon after Seiko starting sweeping the board with its mechanical chronometers. And in any case, the accuracy of a mechanical watch has rarely been of importance since 1969 when Seiko launched the first quartz wristwatch. Quartz standardisation made it possible to surpass the precision of the finest mechanical chronometer movements by a factor of at least 10 – at a far lower cost – eliminating the functionality necessity of a precision mechanical movement.

A Patek Philippe tourbillon pocket watch that was tested by the Geneva observatory in 1931 and claimed first prize

Today, there are only a few brands that have invested enough to stake out a significant position in mechanical chronometers. Many brands claim chronometric excellence, but few prove it with official certification such as that offered by Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (better known as COSC), which certifies only the movement before it is cased. Other institutions arguably offering a more comprehensive certification by testing and certifying complete watches, including the observatories at Geneva and Besançon.

But perhaps the holy grail of chronometric testing is the double certification known as Master Chronometer. First adopted by Omega, Master Chronometer combines COSC testing of an uncased movement followed by testing of the complete watch by a lab overseen by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS), a process that includes testing the magnetism resistance of the watch up to 15,000 Gauss. Almost a decade after the certification was launched, there are only two brands that offer Master Chronometer watches: Omega and Tudor.

The Tudor Black Bay Ceramic, the brand’s only Master Chronometer

The historical chronometric champion

Rolex was a pioneer in adopting chronometric excellence as a key element of its marketing, ever since it began labelling the dials of its COSC-certified watches with the declaration “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified”. But because COSC tests only the finished movement without case or dial attached, every finished Rolex watch now undergoes an additional chronometry test performed by Rolex itself. The process tests the entire watch to a more stringent level than COSC standards, making it a double certification of sorts akin to Master Chronometer.

Known as Superlative Chronometer, in-house Rolex certification criteria demands a maximum deviation of +2/-2 seconds per day, which translates into a maximum range of four seconds. COSC, on the other hand, requires just +6/-4 seconds a day, equivalent to a range of ten seconds, which is derived from the ISO 3159 standard that defines a “chronometer”.

The only downside is the fact that the testing of the complete watch is done is in-house – Rolex tests its own watches by itself – which means it lacks the stamp of approval of an independent state authority, which Master Chronometer has thanks to METAS oversight.

The battle continues

In a provocative move, Rolex embarked on Master Chronometer certification in May 2021, but only for a single model from its subsidiary brand Tudor. Though trivial on its face, the move was like meant as a message for Omega and its parent Swatch Group.

The debut of the Tudor Master Chronometer implied Rolex did not need an official, external certification to prove its claimed supremacy in chronometric excellence. Moreover, it indicated the Master Chronometer certification was easily within reach of its subsidiary brand specialising in affordable watches.

Two years on, Tudor still has only one watch in its catalogue that is a certified Master Chronometer. One wonders if Tudor’s narrow adoption of the certification was merely to prove that Master Chronometer certification itself was not particularly exceptional.

The Tudor Master Chronometer

Omega, on the other hand, has 95% of its mechanical movements certified as Master Chronometers (almost all of which are equipped with its Co-Axial escapement), which is about 500,000 watches, while the rest of its mechanical watch production is COSC certified. This mass testing and certification is an industrial achievement on a different scale relative to the few thousand Master Chronometer watches certified by Tudor.

With the launch of the Spirate hairspring, Omega has just fired another volley in the chronometric war between Switzerland’s biggest watch brands. It will be interesting to see how Rolex responds.

Having teased about a new innovation on social media for several weeks, specifically a “tiny device” that would be a game-changer for the Speedmaster, Omega has finally revealed the Speedmaster Super Racing. But the star of the show is not the watch but actually the technology in the all-new silicon hairspring within the latest Speedmaster.

Known as Spirate, a portmanteau of “silicon” and “rate”, the new hairspring has a proprietary form that allows a watchmaker to vary the tension along its length, theoretically enabling fine adjustment of up to a tenth of a second. The result is a watch certified to have a daily rate of 0/+2 seconds, the most stringent timekeeping criteria amongst Omega watches. 

Initial thoughts 

While it is a given that Omega debuts a new Speedmaster every year, several of them at a go in fact, the revolutionary innovation in the hairspring was unexpected (though anyone who was trawling the Swiss patent registry would have gotten some hints).

The patented Spirate hairspring

The technical innovation behind Spirate is unquestionable, though the benefit to the wearer is probably less than the advantage it brings Omega in terms of streamlining regulation during production and assembly. And when Omega starts equipping its offerings with Spirate on a large scale, it will be an achievement from the perspective of industrial production.

As for the Speedmaster Super Racing itself, well, the watch is less than spectacular. Visually it’s similar to existing models in the Racing collection, but dressed up with a bodykit that includes a honeycomb dial and italic font for the date. Like its counterparts in the line-up, the new Speedmaster is a large watch, too large in fact, at over 44 mm in diameter and almost 15 mm high. Omega could have made more of the opportunity to showcase a proper sports chronometer, but innovation took priority over design.

What Exactly is Spirate?

Spirate is a patented hairspring made entirely from silicon, essentially a more accomplished version of the Si14 silicon hairspring long used by Omega. Silicon hairsprings have been in use for almost two decades, so much of the innovation about them is concerned with their shape and regulation, particularly since standard silicon hairsprings cannot be regulated with traditional methods.

Traditional regulation methods are twofold. One is the use of regulator pins to change the effective length of the hairspring, shortening it, for instance, results in the watch running faster. The other is changing the inertia of the balance by adjusting the position of the weights on the rim of the balance. Moving the weights outward increases inertia, thus resulting in a watch running slower. Most high-end modern watches produced on a large scale, including those from Omega, opt for the latter solution, leaving the hairspring to operate on its own.

The micrometer screw that allows for precise regulation

With Spirate, Omega has created the first adjustable silicon hairspring. A watchmaker can adjust the tension, easily according to Omega, via a micrometer screw on the balance bridge, rotating the screw to increase or decrease tension within the hairspring. In theory, this allows the movement to be fine-tuned with a resolution of up to a tenth of a second.

Spirate presumably speeds up the regulation process during production. As the movement retains the variable-inertia balance, it can be first regulated via the balance and then fine-tuned via the micrometer screw. The same would then happen during servicing, reducing the lead-time for overhauls.

Racing style

The Speedmaster Super Racing has a 44.25 mm case that’s 14.9 mm in height, essentially the same case as the current Speedmaster Racing models.

The main difference lies in the dial, which is now a black honeycomb with generous yellow accents. The aesthetic is modelled on a concept watch presently in the Omega Museum that was an experimental watch built to withstand extraordinarily high magnetic fields of up to 160,000 Gauss (which also inspired the Seamaster Aqua Terra 15,000 Gauss from 2013).

The Speedmaster Super Racing features a display back revealing the cal. 9920, a variant of the familiar cal. 9900 found across the Omega catalogue, with the key difference being the Spirate hairspring.

As is typical for Omega’s upper-end movement, the cal. 9920 is certified by METAS, making it a Master Chronometer. Besides chronometric performance, the certification also assures high levels of magnetism resistance.

The cal. 9920

Key facts and price

Omega Speedmaster Super Racing
Ref. 329.30.44.51.01.003

Diameter: 44.25 mm
Height: 14.9 mm
Material: Steel
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 50 m

Movement: Omega 9920
Features: Co-Axial escapement, Spirate system (0/+2 per day), Si14 balance spring, column wheel chronograph and resistant to magnetism of up to 15,000 Gauss
Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz)
Winding: Automatic
Power reserve: 60 hours

Strap: Steel bracelet and fabric strap

Limited edition: No
Availability: At Omega boutiques and authorised retailers.
Price: US$11,000; or 16,300 Singapore dollars

For more, visit Omegawatches.com.