One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by downer »

Again with the "2500c is rubbish" comment, Pete... :lol: What's the failure rate?
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by garsy69 »

The one that started all of this off for me!!!! On my new acquired shell cordovan....

Image

I actually traded in a Schumacher LE Speedy for it.....loved the ink black dial and still can't bring myself to upgrade to the later versions


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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by Dancematt »

downer wrote:Again with the "2500c is rubbish" comment, Pete... :lol: What's the failure rate?
Just having a failure rate make it rubbish in this day and age! 8)
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by nbg »

Good right up and great pictures as usual Richard. With those added by Gary it gives a good indication of the evolution of the model over the years. :thumbup:

I like the changes on the 2017 models and am looking forward to checking out the blue bracelet version. Bit of a shame the white dial is not available on a bracelet, or in the smaller size.

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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by reggie747 »

Whilst I've yet to have an Omega occupy a space in my watch box, I think a variant of the Aqua Terra would probably be the one if and when I do decide commit to ownership and your (as ever) superb quality photo's of them Richard really bring on that itch, so to speak.
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by Alex r »

Prefer the vertical lines as opposed to the horizontal of the new model and like. Richard a bog fan of the independent hour hand. A great post and would love to have an AT in my collection at some point.
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by garsy69 »

Needless to say, the decidedly average pic of my AT shows off the stunning photography elsewhere in this thread....
Hats off you chaps!


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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by eventhorizon »

A lovely tribute. It's one of a handful of "grail" watches for me, and very happy that they still offer it in size options under 40mm.
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by Ceegee »

Another huge fan here. Sold my 8500 white version simply because it wore quite large. However, I'm still very much looking forward to seeing the new version, especially in the blue.
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by gaf1958 »

downer wrote:Again with the "2500c is rubbish" comment, Pete... :lol: What's the failure rate?
Realistically? Any 2500 you buy these days is likely to have been updated to 2500D spec at its first service. The D spec is as reliable as anything else around, and the C is still pretty good. Only one of my 2500s is an "actual" D (the Planet Ocean), I think the AT went to the 8500 before the update to the 2500D.

The same thing was said about the 3301 movement, much of it is urban myth and posturing on forums. In both cases there were actual real problems, but the scale of those problems has been blown out of realistic proportions. Any movement may have a problem (I was stunned by an article I read some months ago about the 2824, things I'd never experienced or heard of happening), the 2500 in A and B guise, did indeed have teething problems, but by the C most were fixed, failures were rare, but extremely well documented on forums by those with an interest.

Most failures came early in the service life of the watch, those that didn't fail (the vast majority) continued to run just fine. That's why I contend that any 2500 you buy now, is one that didn't have the small percentage of the possibly dodgy components that failed, or has been serviced or repaired and had those bits replaced.

Yes, you rightfully expect a company like Omega to produce a watch that runs flawlessly (in line with their pricing!) and when it doesn't, there is a hue and cry. Finding the real truth is difficult among the hype, but I think they produced a good movement with the 2500C/D and a great movement with the 8500. It's just a shame that in making the 8500 it gained a couple of mm in thickness.

I don't pretend that there wasn't an issue with some of the 2500A/B models - there were failures that shouldn't have happened - it's just that as an industry tall poppy, knocking Omega over the failures gained traction and gives an unbalanced perception of the 2500 movement.
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by tikkathree »

Interesting insight into something about which I knew nothing, thank you.
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

One of the best forum articles I have seen for quite a time, and a breath of fresh air at the moment.

Thank you Richard. :thumbup:
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by Dancematt »

All I know is I bought one 2500 and it failed. Not in my hands because I sold based on information/rumour flowing around the Web that this movement (basically a coaxial hacked on to a 2892) are at a high risk of failure. Then in the next owners hands It failed.
welshlad wrote:
downer wrote:I wonder if your concern about the reliability of the 2500 Omega is really justified
Well, it probably was justified, as it stopped working about 8 months after I bought it off Peter. No reflection at all on him, I knew the risk with the 2500C movement, and it was soon fixed by a service with Omega and worked fine then for over a year before I sold it.
The Movement in my opinion and others is inherently flawed. They are like ticking time bombs. Some could go years, some could just about reach the service interval but either way it's bad design imo when many lever escapements just work despit being dried up and full of dirt, a co axial may not. The 8500 was a ground up design because that was what was needed to stop the bad press and it probably works fine but any watchmaker can service a modern Rolex movement but very few can service a co-axial. It's a marketing tool and has no real advantage at all imo (sorry to those who are Co axial fans....just adding to the discussion)

http://watchguy.co.uk/service-omega-sea ... ibre-8500/
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by gaf1958 »

The sad reality, is that fewer and fewer watchmakers are able to service any of the modern movements, Rolex, Omega or otherwise as any OEM replacement parts needed will not be forthcoming, they depend on existing parts supplies which are, unfortunately, drying up. My former watchmaker serviced two of my co-axials, but sadly, he passed away last year.

Truth be told, I'd be just as happy with 1120 movements (2892) in the AT as I would with the 2500. They're cheaper and just as accurate as the 2500 and I have no special attachment to the co-axial escapement, but as I have a different view on their reliability, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about the viability of the 2500. :wink:
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Re: One Man's tribute to the Omega Aqua Terra 8500

Post by ddav »

I love this 8500 version with the date surround and no pcl . Fantastic write up and great pictures as ever.
[url] https://flic.kr/p/WkhNTx1 [url]
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