Review: Omega’s Seamaster Aqua Terra Is the Best Luxury Everyday Watch On the Market

Founded in 1848 under the name of the La Generale Watch Co, the Omega brand now stands as one of the world’s most eminent luxury watchmakers. In the company’s more recent history, it’s released some of the most coveted modern timepieces on the market from its Constellation to its Seamaster Professional Diver to its iconic Speedmaster — the latter of which was the first watch ever worn on the moon. 

Another significant addition to the Swiss horologist’s pantheon of iconic timepieces is the Aqua Terra — a contemporary dive watch that first joined the Seamaster lineup in 2002 before being released in its latest iteration — the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M — in April of 2022. Having evolved over the last two decades, we’ve gotten our hands on the new Aqua Terra 150M, putting it through its paces in this hands-on review in order to discover if the latest version of the watch remains one of the best everyday wear-focused GADA references that money can buy.

The first thing that jumps out at you when unboxing the Seamaster Aqua Tera 150M is the watch’s stunning overall fit and finish. The combination of brushed and polished surfaces boasts an unmistakably premium feel that outshines other fine Swiss-made timepieces including that of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual — a statement that speaks volumes considering the OP’s admittedly top-shelf craftsmanship and finish. 

Alongside its incredible attention to detail, the watch also sports a simple yet handsome design. From its distinctive arrow handset to Omega’s hallmark twisted lugs to its shark tooth-like indices to its symmetrical mirror-polished case, the Aqua Terra 150M’s individual visual elements come together to form an extremely cohesive — and incredibly attractive — industrial design. The watch’s highly-calculated design is furthered by its equally thoughtfully considered dimensions, with a thickness of 12 millimeters, a 19-millimeters lug width, a short 45-millimeter lug-to-lug measurement, and a mid-sized 38mm case width that looks as great on the wrist as it feels. 

Omega’s Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M is crafted around a 38mm stainless steel that features a fixed steel bezel with a mirror-polished finish and a trusty screw-in crown. Water resistant down to 15 bar (or as its name suggests; 150 meters), the case comes mated to a matching bracelet (which we’ll touch more on below). In typical Omega fashion, the case also features various levels of polished finishing techniques that together better bring out the lines, angles, and curves of the housing’s design. What’s more, Omega’s signature twisted lugs are also present on the 38mm item, albeit in a slightly modified, updated form with minor variations between the twos’ finishes. Turning the case over reveals a sapphire exhibition window that puts the watch’s movement on full display. A decorative wave-patterned ring also encompasses the reference’s transparent case-back — a simple yet satisfying design decision that undeniably speaks to the watch’s overall attention to detail. 

As previously mentioned, the case features a lug width of 19 millimeters. And while it comes paired with a beautifully-designed bracelet, the 19mm width is a fairly uncommon size — a fact that brings us to our first minor gripe with the Aqua Terra 150M. Unlike more standardized 18mm and 20mm lug sizes, the Omega’s 19mm width makes it markedly more difficult — albeit not impossible — to find bands and bracelets from third-party manufacturers. We will acknowledge that utilizing an 18mm or 20mm size would mess with the watch’s otherwise perfect symmetry. This problem is, however, mitigated to some degree by the fact the Aqua Terra 150M just happens to come paired with a beautifully-designed bracelet. 

Complementing the Aqua Terra 150M’s symmetrical steel case is its equally-attractive dial. Sitting beneath a domed, scratch‑resistant sapphire crystal with anti‑reflective treatment on both sides, the watch features a brass dial that’s been lacquered and sun-brushed from the center, out. Omega offers this watch in a variety of references with vibrant dial color options, including a Saffron variant, a Terracotta version, and the Atlantic Blue reference (seen here) — the latter of which we tested and thoroughly believe to be the best option for daily wear use.

Keeping time is a thoroughly-polished faceted seconds hand that’s capped off with an arrowhead and is contrasted via a brushed minute and hour handset — the latter of which are dauphine-style items with the tips lopped off. Additionally, these rhodium-plated hands have also been liberally-filled with white Super-LumiNova lume — a treatment that’s also been bestowed upon the dial’s brushed applied indices. Rounding out the dial is a vertically-brushed applied Omega logo sitting just under the 12 o’clock marker while a date window sits squarely at 6 o’clock. And, while it’s another very minor gripe, we didn’t love how the date window was implemented into the design, lacking a frame — as well as the general cohesion present on the rest of the watch’s industrial design. 

Boasting a completely novel bracelet design, the newest Seamaster Aqua Terra comes paired with an attractive three-link item comprised of compact rounded links that form an oval shape from the side. Like the watch’s bezel, the bracelet’s center links have been polished to hell and back, before being mated to brushed outer links. Constituting the only brushed finish on the entire timepiece, the outer links provide a nice bit of contrast against the rest of the Aqua Terra 150M’s mirror-polished surfaces. 

Crafted from stainless steel, the bracelet also plays a significant role in the watch’s everyday wearability, falling somewhere between sporty and dressy on the visual spectrum — an aesthetic that bolsters its versatility and allows it to blend into a wide variety of settings and wardrobes. As much as the bracelet has going for it, we wouldn’t call it perfect, and that’s for one main reason; its clasp. Just like with the Aqua Terra 150’s earlier predecessors, the 2022 reference’s band is equipped with an Omega-branded butterfly clasp that we feel could really benefit from being jettisoned in favor of a more standard folding clasp. Not only would a folding setup be easier to operate, but it would also likely provide some much-needed adjustability. The watch’s otherwise stellar overall design makes this shortcoming stand out that much more, too. 

Just as impressive as the Aqua Terra 150M’s 38mm case is the Swiss-made motor that it houses. The watch is kept ticking via an in-house designed and manufactured Calibre 8800 movement that runs on Omega’s exclusive co-axial escapement. This self-winding movement also sports a free-sprung balance with a silicon balance spring, automatic winding in both directions, and a 55-hour power reserve. The watch’s exhibition case-back also allows the movement’s rhodium-plated finish, Geneva waves in Arabesque, and trademark red printing to be viewed. 

Alongside boasting Master Chronometer certification from METAS, the movement is also of the Chronometer variety — meaning it’s undergone extensive precision testing in order to receive a certificate from the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (i.e. the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute). This ultimately translates to a movement with a COSC-beating precision rate of zero to plus six seconds per day, the ability to withstand five thousand Gs, and a beyond-impressive magnetic resistance of up to 15,000 gauss. 

Despite having already set an incredibly high bar with its predecessors over the last 20 years, the latest Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M manages to deliver on an even more impressive take on what was already one of the best everyday luxury watches that money can buy. From its attractive industrial design to its truly unparalleled level of fit and finish, the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M is a premium GADA watch that’s truly worthy of its $6,000 MSRP — a price that’s even easier to justify when you consider the immense versatility of this everyday-ready watch and the fact it makes for a sound investment. Long story short, the Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra 150M remains the very best everyday watch on the market, period, bar none, full-stop. 

The Best Everyday Watches

Interested in checking out a wider selection of great GADA timepieces? Then be sure to head over to our guide to best everyday watches for more EDC-friendly timepieces.