By Meor Amri Meor Ayob
I happened to get the opportunity to be up close and personal with the Limited Edition Omega Seamaster Bullhead which was introduced during Baselworld 2013. The particular example that I have the chance to ‘molest’ is the black dial version with model reference number 225.12.43.50.01.001. Specifically, the model with production number 121 (out of 669).
The Omega Seamaster Bullhead has a wedge-shaped shield-like casing. With the case measuring 43mm from left to right and 43 mm from top to bottom, the chronograph controls, flat and wide pushers, are mounted at the top of the case main time (and date)-setting crown. At the bottom of the case, at the 6 o’clock position, is a crown that controls the internal reflector bezel. The case is stainless steel and features brushed and polished areas as well as sharp angles.
This watch is powered by the Omega automatic Calibre 3113. This movement, besides being self-winding, features a column wheel chronograph mechanism, co-axial escapement and a power reserve of 52 hours when fully wound. This watch is water resistant to 15 bar (150 meters / 500 feet).
One major beauty of a bullhead design is the view. Looking from the right side or the left side, it still looks the same. However, there are a few interesting features of the watch that a lot of people would not have noticed unless they analyzed it personally.
As you can see from the photo above, the casing is not flat. In fact, the already thick casing of 14.85 mm is even thicker at the North side of the watch and slightly curved. This has the effect of positioning the watch on the wrist at an angle, allowing the wearer to look at the time without needing to turn the wrist.
From a manufacturing point of view, the process of stamping this special shape out of a solid piece of steel block requires additional steps that inevitable increase the overall production costs. A much cheaper alternative is to align the watch face a few degrees away from the standard North-South configuration. However, this would force the timepiece to be either a left hander or right hander watch (not both as wearing it on the wrong hand will cause the watch face to be exceedingly difficult to read). Omega decided to take the more expensive route as the bullhead design is supposed to make it ambidextrous.
