8500

About the Omega 8500

Until then the escapement had lived on an ETA base, the 2500. The 8500 was built for it: two barrels mounted in series for a 60-hour reserve, a free-sprung balance, bidirectional winding, 39 jewels, a 29 mm diameter and a beat of 25,200 vph chosen for the escapement rather than inherited. From 2011 it received the Si14 silicon balance spring, and later an anti-magnetic version carried the Master Co-Axial name. It is the ancestor of every current Omega automatic: the 8900 is its Master Chronometer successor and the 8800 its smaller derivative.

In the library it sits under 81 Aqua Terras, the 38.5 mm and 41.5 mm teak-dial models of 2008 to 2017, 38 Constellations, 31 Planet Oceans of the 2011 generation, 11 De Villes and 6 Ploprofs. Cases run from 38 mm to 55 mm, with 38.5 mm the most common at 51 references.

The 8501 is the same movement with a gold rotor for gold cases, the 8520 the smaller version for ladies' watches, and the 8601 the annual calendar built on it.