Omega Aqua Terra VS Rolex Explorer

Let’s put both of these Swiss luxury watches up on the board and compare them side by side. We’ll compare feature by feature with both watches, the Omega Aqua Terra vs Rolex Explorer. We’ll start with the biggest differences and then work towards similar features. Let’s start with obvious cosmetic differences such as the different hands and hour markers used on these two collections.

The Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra is a COSC certified chronometer, the highest designation that a watch can get from the Official Swiss Chronometric Testing Institute known as COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres). The accuracy of a COSC certified chronometer is a standard 99.994% accuracy or -4  to +6 seconds per day.

The Rolex Explorer is also a certified chronometer from COSC but they also have the Rolex designation of Superlative chronometer.

What’s the difference between COSC certified Chronometers and Superlative Chronometers? After the Rolex watch movements arrive back from COSC with a COSC certified chronometer designation, Rolex places the calibers in the case and conduct further in-house testing and only release the watch with a Superlative Chronometer designation when the watch proves to be precise to -2 / +2 seconds daily accuracy.

The Omega Aqua Terra has a water resistance of 150m / 500ft

The Rolex Explorer has a water resistance of 100m / 330ft

Both of the watches have ample water resistance for activities such as swimming, snorkeling, and showering, NOT in hot water, though. For a full explanation of how water resistance works,  visit our water-resistance page.

The Omega Aqua Terra featured here is a 41.5mm watch. However, there are many ladies sized Omega Aqua Terra watches. Their sizes are 30mm, 34mm, and 38.5mm

The Rolex Explorer is a 39mm watch. The Rolex Explorer II series has larger watches at 42mm

The Omega Aqua Terra featured in this comparison is the 41.5mm model # 231.10.42.22.01.001. It has a lower price than the Explorer. There are other Aqua Terra watches that are less expensive than the Aqua Terra featured here such as the 231.13.42.21.02.002 which has an even lower list price. The Rolex Explorer featured in this comparison is the 39mm Rolex Explorer 214270 Black Luminous. It is currently selling for $7,000 at PrestigeTime.com.

The Rolex Explorer featured in this comparison is the 39mm Rolex Explorer 214270 Black Luminous and in general, you can usually find better discounts on an Omega watch than you can find a Rolex. This is because of the difference in brand value and the resell value. Rolex has typically one of the highest resell values in the industry and this also affects the percentage of a discount that stores (online or brick and mortar) would be willing to give you on a new Rolex Explorer. The higher the demand and resale value of the product, the lower the discount. So in terms of List price the Rolex is more expensive. With an Omega, you can expect steeper discounts even if the list price is the same as the Rolex.

The Omega Aqua Terra is available in several materials including stainless steel and precious metals such as yellow gold and rose gold. However, there are larger and smaller options as well such as the Aqua Terra ladies automatic which is a 34mm watch. Larger versions of the Omega AT include 43mm men’s watches such as the Aqua Terra Annual Calendar 43mm and the Aqua Terra 150m Co-Axial GMT Chronograph men’s watches.  In addition, there are several two-tone options such as the Aqua Terra Co-Axial Day-Date which has an 18kt rose gold and stainless steel duotone case and bracelet.

The Rolex Explorer (at the time of publishing this comparison) is only available in stainless steel although that could change.

Omega Aqua Terra watches are available with fabric straps and leather straps as well as stainless steel and gold bracelets.

The Rolex Explorer (at the time of publishing this comparison) is only available with a stainless steel bracelet.

Omega Aqua Terra collection is available with battery-powered quartz movements as well as the more common mechanical automatic movements. There are quite a few different mechanical movements (AKA calibers or sometimes spelled in its native French as calibres) used in the Aqua Terra collection. In the past few years, Omega has added updated movements to the Aqua Terra series, calibers that use components with anti-magnetic properties to fight any electromagnetic interference on the caliber’s precision and these newer models have prestigious COSC and METAS certifications.