Omega Speedmaster Mythological Creature

April 25, 2005 7:41 PM

Can you tell me what the mythological creature on the case back of my Omega Speedmaster is?

I believe it is an hippokampoi, but a Google search doesn't yield usable results, so perhaps I'm mislead. Also, I'd appreciate if you'd chime in on the history and significance of this creature to Omega's brand if you happen to know.

posted by sled to Grab Bag (16 answers total)

Dude, it's a seahorse. Says so on the manufacturers front page.
posted by Popular Ethics at 7:53 PM on April 25, 2005

Damn. Popular Ethics beat me.

...but since it's a pretty mythic seahorse, it is a hippokampoi. No doubt about that.
posted by koeselitz at 7:55 PM on April 25, 2005

I mean, it's 'mythic' because it doesn't look like a real seahorse so much as a horse that swims in the sea and has a sea-tail.
posted by koeselitz at 7:56 PM on April 25, 2005

So why is the hippocampus part of our brain, I wonder? Odd to envision such an animal swimming around up there. Searching using "hippocampus omega watch" yields better results. Water resistant is a theory out there, evidently.
posted by lorrer at 7:59 PM on April 25, 2005

I thought it was because the Seamaster was designed as a diving watch. No idea about the Speedmaster though.
posted by casarkos at 8:09 PM on April 25, 2005

Lorrer: apparently it's because the hippocampus (the brain part) is shaped vaguely like a seahorse (the fish, not the mythical creature).
posted by wanderingmind at 8:18 PM on April 25, 2005

I guess the company's website doesn't support this, but I think it's an image of leviathan. Though I can't find anything to back me up (the wikipedia page doesn't mention it), I remember learning that the leviathan was a huge sea monster that carried the entire earth on its back.
I have no idea whether this applies to Omega's brand or not.
posted by Hadroed at 8:58 PM on April 25, 2005

According to William Blake, leviathan isn't carrying the world on his back. Dudes just chillin'.
posted by Falconetti at 9:29 PM on April 25, 2005

Sorry, Hadroed - it's a hippocampus, not Leviathian (eel/serpent).

Poseidon's great steed may have been chosen due to Poseidon's reputation as a breeder of exotic refinement.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:50 AM on April 26, 2005

Alternately, Omega may have chosen something nautical/marine in keeping with their company theme - their other great line of watches is called the "Seamaster."
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:24 AM on April 26, 2005

an hippokampoi

oi=plural in greek, so you're saying "a seahorses" (hippo=horse, and campos=sea monster).

That's to be differentiated from hippo, horse, potamus, river, or the river-horse...
posted by mdn at 9:33 AM on April 26, 2005

It looks to me that it's the Celtic (scroll down on the right) version of the Sea Horse. I think it has an "official" name but my Google-fu has failed me.
posted by deborah at 10:44 AM on April 26, 2005

Well, the greeks did it first, so I think it's fair to call the horse/sea serpent combo a greek mythological creature. But this site says the celtic version is known as a kelpie.
posted by mdn at 11:52 AM on April 26, 2005

I've heard these referred to as "hippogriff".
posted by zenorbital at 12:35 PM on April 26, 2005

Argh, scratch that, hippogriffs are half eagle half horse.
posted by zenorbital at 12:38 PM on April 26, 2005

Ahhh, that's it mdn! I had that word in mind, but just "knew" it was wrong.
posted by deborah at 1:31 PM on April 26, 2005