Watching Femke Bol bolt through the last lap of the mixed 4×400m relay was an admirable event to witness. The long legs of the 24-year-old were whirring into speed, becoming almost invisible save for her perfectly formed torso that glided across the track. She was coming up from fourth place and was making up ground at an increased pace. Then she took third, then second, then burst out in first place, crossing the finish line with arms struck out, baton in hand. Then Bol and fellow Dutch team mate Lieke Klaver hugged each other in ecstatic shock, celebrating with restrained belief that they’ve just won themselves their first gold medals in the Paris Olympics. Bol’s final lap in the relay was particularly impressive, timed at a remarkable 47.93 seconds. In her 400-meter hurdles segment, Bol dominated in heat three, clocking 53.38 seconds, the fastest time of the morning and the fastest heat ever recorded in Olympic history.

Golden moments have been shared by other track and field athletes, namely Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh who secured the gold medal in the women’s high jump. For Team England, Keely Hodgkinson emerged victorious at the 800m race, clocking in at 1:56.72 minutes. 

World records and gold medals aside, all four athletes had on the same particular piece of racing gear — the blue-accented Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra “Ultra Light”. The watch is, as the name implies, an extremely lightweight timepiece that, if its added weight was any concern to the runners’ equilibrium, is insignificant at best.

Creating the most lightweight Aqua Terra model ever

Now that we’ve established the most important factor in such a sports watch is its weight, one could say Omega foresaw this when they launched the titanium Aqua Terra in 2019. Omega’s approach to creating the ultra-lightweight Aqua Terra was to work in collaboration with Omega’s sports ambassador, Rory McIlroy, the Northern Ireland pro golfer who pocketed US$15 million upon winning the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program last year.

According to McIlroy, his insight into what athletes need in a watch guided the creation of a timepiece that combines refined styling with extreme robustness and unparalleled comfort — a watch so light and comfortable it doesn’t interfere with the fluidity of a golf swing.

To which, the only materials that encompass the watch are aluminum, ceramic (in the bezel), and two kinds of titanium. Central to the Ultra Light’s lightweight ruggedness is its use of Gamma Titanium, which Omega uses for the first time. 

It’s another name for the chemical compound titanium aluminide (TiAl), a high-performance alloy, which stands out for its remarkable properties and diverse applications in advanced engineering fields. This intermetallic compound combines titanium and aluminum (reportedly making up 32%-33.5%), resulting in a material known for its lightweight nature and exceptional strength at elevated temperatures with a threshold of over 600 °C. One of the most significant advantages of TiAl is its high specific strength, meaning it offers substantial strength relative to its weight, making it ideal for applications requiring robust yet lightweight materials.

In addition to these, it boasts excellent oxidation and corrosion resistance. These properties make it particularly valuable in aerospace and automotive industries, where weight reduction and high performance are crucial. 

So you can call it overkill, but Omega has adopted this material anyway to fashion one of the most lightweight and durable sports watches in the field. The use of gamma titanium is present in the watch’s case, caseback and telescopic crown, the latter being a space-saving feature that remains recessed into the case when not in use, thus preventing interference with wrist movements.

To further reduce weight, Omega minimized the material used for the dial, shaving it down just enough for a time-only display. When paired with its sporty fabric strap, the Aqua Terra UL weighs a mere 55 grams. Its sleek, aerodynamic silhouette is designed for comfort, hugging the wrist seamlessly. 

Omega’s first manual-winding movement in titanium

The manual-wind Caliber 8928 Titanium is Omega’s first movement constructed entirely in titanium, featuring bridges and plates made from ceramised titanium. This material not only reduces friction but also adds an attractive dark gray hue. The watch boasts Master Chronometer and METAS certification, with resistance to magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss. The movement also features two barrels mounted in series, providing up to 72 hours of power reserve.

It’s currently listed at USD 53,400 at retail, which definitely puts it on the extremely high end of the spectrum, joining A. Lange & Söhne’s limited-edition Odysseus that comes with a day/date function at USD 56,500. But of course what the Aqua Terra UL provides, other than a construction so lightweight that it makes absolute sense for Bol to fly through her hurdles, is, possibly, the only watch to have a movement made completely out of ceramised titanium. In the same league, one would be reminded of the prowess of F.P.Journe’s Octa Sport that utilized aluminum in its entirety — case, dial, and movement — coming up to just 53g that includes its fitted rubber strap. Case in point, the Aqua Terra UL is a watch that performs as you need it to — keeping time without weighing you down, especially when you have speed records to break and medals up for grabs. 

Tech Specs: Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Ultra Light 150M

Movement: Manual-winding Caliber 8928; 72-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; central seconds
Case: 41mm × 13.5mm; titanium; water-resistant to 150m
Dial: Gray
Strap: Black rubber strap with titanium foldover clasp
Price: US$53,400