You could say Marisa Abela is having the time of her life. Fresh from winning a BAFTA TV award for her searing performance in cult show Industry, the actress is in Japan for the first time. ‘The first thing I did was visit a couple of temples this morning, which is really peaceful and really beautiful to see. I went to a bamboo forest and then I went to a food market just now. The food here is pretty amazing,’ she reveals of her whistle-stop tour around Kyoto.
The trip is the first in her new role as an OMEGA ambassador, a brand she’s long admired. ‘My first ever watch was an OMEGA. It was a two-tone Constellation, with a mother of pearl dial and I still wear it all the time,’ she says.
However, Abela may have just had her head turned by OMEGA’s newest – and most ambitious – women’s watch launch, the Aqua Terra 30mm. Four years in the making, the watch holds all the technical excellence of an Omega movement – precision stability, water resistant to 15 metres – but in with a record 30mm dial and 3.8mm thin, it’s also elegant and discreet. Such was the challenge, even the minute hands had to be redesigned to shave off the arrowed tip. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that the watch designers have left the back of the Aqua Terra open so a wearer can admire their craftsmanship.
‘People think small is easy, but it’s actually way more difficult the smaller it gets,’ says Raynald Aeschlimann, the President and CEO of OMEGA. The Aqua Terra 30 mm has been one of his personal missions over the last few years: driving the team to achieve a timepiece that is technically excellent on the inside but beautiful on the outside. There are 12 styles to choose from: ranging from the entry level stainless steel bracelet (£5,900) to a 18k gold version set with 46 diamonds and a mother of pearl face (£35,900). ‘Do ladies buy watches because of the precision? Not really, I don’t think,’ expands Aeschlimann. ‘But if a watch runs late, they aren’t going to be happy with the timepiece they’ve just purchased.’
Abela agrees women care as much about what’s inside as out. ‘I think any time you choose an OMEGA it says that you care about craftsmanship. But the Aqua Terra 30 mm – with its open back and its precision built into such an elegant watch - means you’re not willing to compromise on style or substance.’
Tonight, Abela is styling the black dialled stainless-steel bracelet with a sharp white suit, but says she loves the versatility of it. ‘Something about the black dial really gives it an edge, it feels rock and roll to me,’ she says. ‘It kind of styles itself. Just all black, a cool suit or jeans and a t-shirt would also be great. But a slinky black dress would also look so good with it.’
But, more importantly, it keeps Abela bang on time – something she values. ‘It's the most easy, simple, peaceful way of showing people that you care about their time and value the sacrifices that they make to be with you, working.’
Applying that same precision to work is what she believes has helped her emerge as one of Britain’s most exciting actors of today. Whether it’s her punchy performance as the ambitious but troubled investment banker in Industry or her poignant portrayal of Amy Winehouse in Back to Black, Abela isn’t afraid of taking on a challenging role. Next up is a remake of Highlander, alongside Russell Crowe and Superman star Henry Cavill. ‘It's just about choosing projects that you are passionate about, not saying yes to anything that you have doubts about in your mind, stepping into it, because if you believe in something, then it's easy to perform,’ she says of her approach to acting. ‘So remembering why it is that you chose something in the first place and jumping in wholeheartedly.’
Hattie Brett's first job in journalism was editorial assistant of Grazia – and in 2018, she returned to the brand as editor-in-chief. That means she oversees all the editorial content across print, digital and social. She loves campaigning on issues that really matter to her audience, for example calling on the government to hold an inquiry into the cost and accessibility of childcare.