Welcome to our forum and thank you for the kind words.
To follow your Chevy/Ford analogy, the answer to that would be... yes and no.
Let's take them one at the time.
Case.No comparison here. The Omega Seamaster Chrono will be much larger and thicker. If you have small wrists, the Seamaster will be quite large. Actually, the classic "Bond" Omega Chrono is just about the grand daddy of them all when it comes to thickness.
MovementHard to compare the two since you are talking about two different type of movements.
The Colt will be powered by a modified ETA2824 movement, which is a very simple but very robust movement. It really is the workhorse of the Swiss watch industry. It can be found in watches costing as little as 150 dollars, all the way to the ones with a high 4 digit price tag.
Given my experience with the ETA2824, I found it to be a good, solid and accurate movement. I currently own a Hamilton, and I used to have a Breitling SuperOcean SteelFish X-Plus, both powered by the ETA2824. Unlike the more "pedestrian" brands, Breitling orders the movement completely in pieces and the assembly work is carried by Breitling Chronometrie, where everything is "Blueprinted and Balanced" (to stick to car talk) then sent over to COSC for certification.
Omega offers the Seamaster Chrono with three different movements.
The "Bond" Chrono with the skeleton hands is powered by a movement vased on the Valjoux 7750. If the ETA2824 is the workhorse of the "time and date" Swiss watch industry, the Valjoux 7750 is the equivalent in the Chrono world. An extremely robust and solid movement, the 7750 is found in most Swiss chronos, from about 600 dollars all the way to 10.000+. (IWC... etc). The 7750 will last a lifetime, it has been around for about 40 years almost, and it is cheap to service and fix should it have problems.
To sum those up, look at the ETA2824 and the Valjoux7750 as the Chevy 350 of the watch world. It might not be fancy, it might not make the most horsepower, and it might not incorporate the latest and greatest technologies, but man... it is cheap, parts are everywhere, and it will run forever with little or no maitenance.
Back to the other two movements that you might find in the Omega Seamaster Chrono.
While the Bond is powered by the 7750, easily identified by their 6-9-12 subdial arrangement, The Seamaster Professional and the Seamaster Planet Ocean models are powered by Omega's 33xx chrono movement (3-6-9 subdial positioning) which is considered by many to be one of the top three chronos out there, along with the Rolex 4130 and the Zenith El Primero.
The 3301 can be found in the Seamaster AquaTerra Chrono (I got one of those, the most accurate mechanical I have ever owned) and in the sword hands Seamaster Professional models. The Planet Ocean uses a co-axial (read: even more high tech and expensive) version of the 3301. It is supposed to have better accuracy and longer periods in between service calls.
While I have owned a V7750 watch (Breitling Chrono Avenger) and the 3301 (Seamaster AT Chrono) I have never owned the coaxial version, so I can not speak for it.
Resale ValueOmega will win this hands down. The Colt is their entry level piece and because of that you can pick one up for about 60% off MSRP slightly used if you do your homework. Omega should run about 40..50% off MSRP slightly used with all the papers.
Bottom line.
They are all great watches that will last a lifetime. If size and money is a concern, then go with the Breitling.
If you want a larger watch with chrono functions and do not mind spending nearly twice the money, you can NOT go wrong with the Omega.
Now.... did you wanted to know all this stuff or did I give you way too detailed of an answer?? hahah
