Written by: Travis Farris

That’s a lot of fancy packed into one watch.

Omega SA is one of the most well-known creators of luxury watches around, and its no wonder with its founding dating back over one hundred and fifty years. A large collection of luxury products are available from the Swiss watchmakers, but is one of their lines, the Constellation Chronometer 123.55.38.21.58.001, worth the purchase of a luxury timepiece?

Well, maybe. I’ve a mixed opinion on this product. The base design of the face/dial is strong. Diamond hour marks on the gold watch face look interesting and a nice contrast, although silver-and-gold is one we’ve seen before, especially in watches. There use of gemstones for functionality is fairly extravagant and innovative, and the ring of diamonds around the bezel lends some much needed color to this specific setup.

The issue I raise with this particular product is its lack of variety. Silver and gold is, to be perfectly honest, rather bland with all the different materials available for decoration, and the bulk of this watch is gold. With the fully-gold bezel, bracelet and dial, it seems blunt, overly flashy and uninteresting. Diamonds aside.

But fear not! As is standard with a lot of luxury watch models, the Constellation comes in several color schemes, and most of them are rather impressive. In fact, you’ll find just about any gold/silver/black combination you can think of, even with diamonds in some models, so options are available as far as color – and expense – goes. The shape of the bracelet itself is again something I’m not too fond of, but I could understand appreciation of its its strong, solid appearance over the thinner styles out there.

Functionally, it’s a fine instrument, as can be expected of high-end machinery such as this. The date is displayed in place of a 3-hour mark. The sapphire crystal covering the face is scratch- and glare-resistant, and it sports an impressive water resistance of 100 meters. A clearly-luxury watch that can handle swimming is a nice addition. Also interesting to note is the transparent back, allowing for visible inner workings. Obviously this won’t show up when wearing the watch, but it’s more interesting than some random steel plate back there.

Luxury items are all about personal preference, and the Constellation is no exception. I myself would look elsewhere, but if you like the design of the picture displayed in this profile, check out Omega’s website. A staggering thirty variations of the single Constellation design are available, so if you are looking for specific mix-ups of color, material, or expense, you’ll find exactly what you need.