This Obscure Omega Watch Is Quietly Dominating the Olympics

Omega’s Aqua Terra Ultra Light has finally found its purpose.

olympian mondo duplantis celebrates while wearing an omega watch

Published August 9, 2024

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Omega has been the official timekeeper of the Olympics since 1932, and the brand seems to increase its presence at every iteration of the games.

During the Paris 2024 Olympics, Omega has been omnipresent. The brand’s name and red branding appear on nearly every piece of equipment, from starting blocks to scoreboards, and every result on your TV is accompanied by the Omega logo.

Less obvious to the general public is the number of Omega watches on the wrists of Omega’s athlete ambassadors at the games. While other watches have popped up on some prominent athletes — a Richard Mille on Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a TAG Heuer on Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone — Omega’s watches are far and away the most prevalent in Paris.

Some Omega athletes seem to have gone in a more personal rather than practical direction for their competition wristwear, like Noah Lyles with his Speedmaster or Gabby Thomas’s gold Constellation, but I’ve noticed one Omega watch in particular that seems to be on the wrist of practically every other prominent athlete.

mondo duplantis poses next to his world record sign wearing an omega watch — Swedish-American pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis soft-launched a new version of the Omega Aqua Terra Ultra Light while breaking a world record.

A Different Type of Gold Watch

Like much of the world, I’ve been glued to my TV watching the Paris Olympics for the past week and a half.

Given my affliction as a watch enthusiast, I can’t help but try and pick out what watches athletes are wearing while competing. The first week was bleak in this regard, as competitors in the marquee events of swimming and gymnastics don’t wear anything on their wrists.

But as the action shifted to track & field this past week, the floodgates suddenly opened up, with athletes showing off their fancy watches while accomplishing seemingly impossible feats.

A funny thing happened as I watched. I began to notice the same Omega watch on the wrist of several winning athletes on the track and in the field. Over, and over, and over again.

track athlete wears an omega watch — Depending on how closely you’ve been watching the Paris Olympics, you may have noticed this watch several times.

When Dutch runner Femke Bol chased down American Kaylyn Brown in the final leg of the Mixed 4x400m relay, this watch was on her wrist. It was also worn by her teammate in the race, Lieke Klaver.

The watch showed up again on the wrist of British runner Keely Hodgkinson when she won gold in the Women’s 800m. And there it was again winning gold on the wrists of Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the Women’s high jump and American Rai Benjamin in the men’s 400m hurdles.

Italian men’s high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi has been wearing the watch throughout the competition and will surely don it tomorrow when he goes for gold in the final. India’s Neeraj Chopra wore it while nabbing the silver medal in the men’s javelin throw, a rare second-place finish for the watch.

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Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold while wearing the Ultra Light.

Then there’s Swedish-American pole vaulting superstar Mondo Duplantis, who not only wore this watch while winning gold and smashing his own world record but also slyly launched a new yellow and blue colorway for Omega while doing so.

The watch in question is the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Ultra Light, and while it’s been around for five years, it just now seems to have finally found its purpose.

Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Ultra Light “Mondo”

Specs

Case Size	41mm
Movement	Omega Cal. 8928 Ti manual wind
Water Resistance	150m

$51,300 at Omega

A $50,000 Aqua Terra?

The Aqua Terra Ultra Light has been an anomaly in Omega’s catalog for as long as it has existed.

The regular steel Aqua Terra is Omega’s most versatile watch. It’s sporty, it’s dressy, it’s robust … it’s maybe the best everyday watch you can buy. And that’s the thing, you can buy an Aqua Terra. They retail for around six grand, which is right around the average SRP for the brand as a whole.

The Ultra Light is a different beast altogether. A showcase for Omega’s technical prowess, the mechanical watch weighs a scant 55 grams on a fabric strap. That’s thanks to the insane amount of titanium utilized for the watch.

Most titanium watches will make a case from the stuff and call it quits, but not the Ultra Light. Not only is the case made from Gamma Titanium — a particularly resilient form of the alloy used in aircraft — but the dial is also fashioned from Grade 5 titanium. What’s more, the hand-wound movement was Omega’s first to be crafted from titanium, making nearly every component on the watch titanium.

omega watch movement seen through a display caseback — The Ultra Light was Omega’s first watch to use a movement made of titanium.

Another first for Omega that debuted on the Ultra Light is the unique telescoping crown that can be pushed into the case when not in use. This makes it so the crown isn’t jutting into your wrist, something I’m sure the athletes wearing this watch greatly appreciate.

The Aqua Terra Ultra Light debuted back in 2019 with an astronomical price tag of $50,000. The pricing, so out of line with the rest of the Aqua Terra line, has long perplexed many enthusiasts. Granted, the innovation was impressive, but who would buy it at that price? Who was this quirky sports watch for?

To me, the Olympics have given us an answer. With the Ultra Light prominently displayed on the wrists of so many winning athletes, it is truly living up to Omega’s billing of it being the “ultimate athlete’s watch.”

omega watch crown — The telescoping crown is one of the Ultra Light’s more unique, athlete-focused features.

The Halo Watch

The Ultra Light is a halo watch. Just like how car brands use halo cars to sell the rest of their lineup, Omega is using this watch to pitch itself as a performance luxury brand to a wider audience.

It’s not a watch Omega expects the average consumer to stroll into a boutique and purchase. It’s the watch that the average consumer sees winning a gold medal on the wrist of their favorite athlete, which in turn convinces them to go to their local authorized dealer and pick up an Aqua Terra in stainless steel. Or a Seamaster Diver. Or a Speedmaster.

The Ultra Light costs $50,000 because that’s what it costs. It’s not a normal Aqua Terra; it’s a watch that’s designed to perform for serious athletes.

And while I don’t think the Ultra Light is actually helping anyone at the Olympics win their events — the more logical explanation for the watch’s success rate is that Omega tends to pick the best athletes to be its ambassadors — the effect it has on the public remains the same.