Eclectic Ladymatic land

Ah, the hours that Nicole Kidman keeps.

In Dead Calm, this actress makes viewers feel the possibility of feeling claustrophobic dread on the high seas. In Eyes Wide Shut, you as the viewer could feel yourself hurtling inside Stanley Kubrick’s retro-hell artifice of a world with Nicole’s character dreaming erotically as her ex-husband does his bankrupt soliloquy. And despite that horrible prosthetic proboscis, this woman manages to communicate some inner beauty in The Hours — depression be damned.

But that’s just Kidman’s celluloid life.

The woman has things going on apart from what we can see on the silver screen. Such as her undertakings as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), some humanitarian work here and there. She keeps track of the aforementioned hours with Omega’s latest watches for women, the Ladymatic collection. The people behind the brand will tell you Nicole Kidman was chosen as Omega Ladymatic brand ambassador because she defines “elegance, grace and style for an entire generation.”

Here’s looking at you, Kid: Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman, an Omega brand ambassador since 2004, will be the face (and wrist) associated with the Ladymatic line. Asked what she thought about Omega’s decision to use a name associated with a product launched in the ’50s, Kidman said, “There’s something appealing about that type of communication. There’s a fascination with (that) era. (But at the same time) the Ladymatic watch collection represents state-of-the-industry technology.”

Its genesis began thusly.

Omega vice president Jean-Claude Monachon — who is also the Omega head of product development based in Bienne, Switzerland — says it all started in the nascent months of 2008 when Watch Group CEO Nick Hayek asked him to come up with a new line of ladies’ watch. Hayek wanted a beautiful product and he wanted Omega’s caliber 8520/8521 movement (presented during that year’s Basel Fair) as the heart of the timepiece.

“So, I went to the Omega Museum (across the headquarters),” narrates Monachon. “I looked around and there wasn’t a product that could fit the movement (within its casing) that I needed to put inside it. The watches were too small. So I came up with the idea of using a watch we launched in 2007, the (model) with the sapphire ring around the case. I replaced that with a ceramic ring at first. But then we decided to put (a series of) waves around the case, the bracelet, in the middle, the setting of the stones, on the bezel.

Wait, why waves? Waves are symbols of motion, explains Monachon.

“Having this wave design on the watch has made it different, more feminine.” And more beautiful.    

A thing of beauty is the Ladymatic watch; and those mechanical wonders are a joy forever, despite a world-gone-digital. We ask Monachon as to the reason behind it.

“Even the cars are electronic these days,” he points out. “But time is everywhere, and the watch is the only jewel for gents that bring emotions. A lot of things are industrialized, but (value lies) in things that are still made by hand.”

Emerson Yao, managing director of Lucerne Group which exclusively distributes Omega in the Philippines, explains, “A watch has a soul. There is a heart that beats inside a watch. Since it is handmade, you can pass it on to the next generation. It is a work of art, in contrast with an electronic (or digital) device.” 

Speaking of artworks, Monachon says that in creating new iconic Omega watches, their prime consideration is respect for the brand.

“Omega has been the best brand in the world since the beginning of the watch industry. You can tell right away if a person is wearing an Omega watch even from far away, since the design is so iconic. Even if it’s not one of those watches with a ‘crazy’ (unorthodox) design.” The Omega executive calls the changes in the look of an Omega watch “evolutionary,” not so much “revolutionary.”

Ladymatic for the people

“If you look at the entire Ladymatic collection, you have around 70 or 80,” says Yao. “There are watches in stainless steel, rose gold, yellow gold and white gold; there are watches with diamonds on the bezel or a full pavet; there are watches with leather straps in black or white; and there are watches with either black dial or mother-of-pearl dial. (In the Philippines) we’ll carry 15 to 20 variations, pieces that are more suitable for our market.”  

Named after a line created in the 1950s (a piece of Omega history), Omega’s Ladymatic watches are ideal for today’s women — the 21st century femme who can do everything she sets out to accomplish.

Monachon explains, “Women who are in business, media and politics, and who participate in the current of life.” And women, Monachon and et al have noticed, who wear Omega watches have expressed as much interest in what goes on inside the timepiece itself as with the watch design; thus, there is a move toward more sophistication in ladies’ watches. The Omega men happily disclosed the fact that the mechanical movement of the Ladymatic is on a par with any of the watches created for men.

Ultimately, what they want, concludes Yao, is to get the Omega Ladymatic around the wrists of women “who are leaders, who are independent thinkers and who are achievers.”

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Omega Ladymatic timepieces are available at Lucerne, Chronos and Omega boutiques at TriNoma and Greenbelt 5.