The Breitling Watch Source Forums

The new SMP-C is finally on the Omega website, in both black and blue, standard and mid-size. Oddly, there is no mention that it has a ceramic bezel insert. Perhaps information updates will be forthcoming. When I first saw the pics of this watch at Basel, it struck me as being very close to what I had envisioned as my ideal SMP, which was essentially a SMP patterned after the Liquidmetal PO. I still feel that way. If, as some have speculated, it's the last SMP incarnation before Omega makes the PO their exclusive dive watch, it's a heck of a way to go out.

I've been looking at the new omega PO chrono and I don't know why after doing an LE PO with the liquidmetal they don't use it for the new PO and instead use this matt black bezel? I much prefer the liquidmetal one but I want the chrono

The Liquidmetal process is pretty labor intensive and costly, so it would be difficult for Omega to make their entire PO line with Liquidmetal bezels. Omega is making a standard (i.e., non-limited) edition Liquidmetal three-hand and chrono in titanium, but it's only available in blue, and it's very expensive: over $8k for the three hand, and over $10k for the chrono. While it's not limited edition, my guess its production numbers will be relatively low, compared to the non-LM POs.

While it's true the new non-LM POs have matte ceramic bezels, all observations of the new SMPs are that they feature glossy ceramic bezels to match the new glossy, lacquered dials. These pictures from Basel 2011 certainly indicate as much.

Thanks for the explanation, makes sense as to why it's for the LE and the high end titanium PO, which I saw but just don't like the blue

I'm just not overly keen on the look of the SMP or the rolex sub for that matter, just find them a little too small and don't like the magnifine lens either.

The new SMP-C is a realy nice piece, Im also surprised that there is no mention of a ceramic bezel at omega's site. My last watch purchase was the 45.5 P.O. About 4-5 months ago and i just love this watch, it is my go to piece. I never thought my seawolf would take a backseat to any watch but it has since i got the P.O. its by far the most compfortable out of any watch ive ever owned. My next purchase will be a omega hands down, just not sure what model. i do realy like the new P.O. chrono, all but the price LOL!!

The product pages for the new POs also don't mention the inserts are ceramic. The thought had occurred to me that maybe the new SMPs didn't have ceramic bezels, but that goes against everything I've read, including a firsthand account from someone who was able to handle the pre-production models that were making the rounds of the various boutiques, and a quasi-confirmation from my AD's distributor. I'll trust that all the information I've seen is correct, and that Omega is just choosing not to make a point of it on the product page.

The bezels look more aluminum than ceramic. They're beautiful watches at any rate -- one of my favorites, especially the black one. It has such a "crisp" dial and the double AR crystal shows it off so well. I can't wait to see one in person to decide if I like the wave pattern dial or the plain one more.

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Peter

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Based on the pictures, I can't tell one way or the other. The one I've posted below could go either way, in my opinion. However, like I said, everything I've heard or read so far indicates they are ceramic. A member on another forum actually got to view the pre-production prototypes when they were touring the U.S. Omega boutiques, and he said they were ceramic, even going into detail about materials used in the composition. (According to him, both the new SMPs and standard POs use the same materials for the bezels, but they are different from the Liquidmetal bezels.) I've tried to track down those posts, but I can't find them. Also, a couple months ago, I asked my AD about them; he hadn't heard about the new model, so he called his distributor and asked. I didn't hear the conversation, but he said he asked about a new ceramic-bezel SMP, and the distributor confirmed there was one on the way.

That's the best I can do under the circumstances. At this point, I don't have any firsthand knowledge; I can only pass along hearsay. However, it's worth pointing out that there is no information that says they aren't ceramic - merely the fact that Omega's website doesn't specifically say they are ceramic. And as I said, the product pages for the PO don't say those bezels are ceramic either, even though we know they are.

I don't know why information on the omega site is so sketchy, I actually went into my local AD and they had a brochure with far more useful information about the new products. Hopefully I can get my hands on a few of them when they receive stock, unfortunately living in such a small place means they don't get everything so quickly

I managed to track down the post I was referring to earlier. It was on The Rolex Forums - see it here. Unfortunately, the thread devolves somewhat into a slightly heated (albeit informative) discussion between me and another member or two about what constitutes a Liquidmetal bezel. That doesn't come until after the relevant posts about the SMP. Read beyond those at your own risk.

That's the thread I had been reading to get some more information from too very helpful before it started going way off topic

Thats a great price If the msrp does come out at $4,200 on the smp-c, the older p.o. is $4,500 and you dont get a ceramic bezel.

That's a good point. And, the new SMP has screws in the bracelet links, rather than pins. Considering they both have the same movement, I wonder what justified the higher price on the older PO. Just the greater WR?

Was at the Omega boutique in Seattle today. They did not have the SMP-C in yet, but I was able to check out the 2011 catalog and read its stats. The bezel is ZrO2 (zirconium dioxide) ceramic with matt chromium nitride scaling. I was also interested to see that the bracelet tapers from 20mm at the lugs to 18mm at the bracelet. This may not be news to many, since evidently the tapering was introduced in 2005 with the redesign of the co-axial SMP, but it is a change from older models that were 20/20 with no tapering, as was my America's Cup SMP, circa 1999.

*Zirconium Dioxide which is the same base material used in the rolex ceramic bezel despite all the Cerachrom business. "Liquid metal" is a zirconium based metal alloy that bonds well with zirconium based ceramics.

Zirconium dioxide is what has allowed ceramic materials to become popular and useful for many things inlight of it's hardness, low thermal conductivity, and low friction. It is also used in making synthetic gem stones.



Edit - this is from the Omega website. The video is pretty good as well as the text -

http://www.omegawatches.com/spirit/watc ... iquidmetal

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SHARKMAN