Omega Seamaster Diver 300m “Vancouver 2010” Limited Edition

While some have hinted at parsimony when referring to the meagre Omega offerings for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics (particularly compared with the treasure trove of models released during the Beijing extravaganza), this may well be a bonus for serious collectors. A run of 2010 pieces for each of the 41mm and 36.25mm versions points to genuine future collectibility. It’s a watch to pass on to the next generation, so if you purchase one do make sure you keep the boxes and papers!

The Seamaster Vancouver is a thoughtfully designed collectors' piece that is quintessentially Canadian in its colour palette and evocative of the Winter Olympics program. Its colours are taken from the Canadian national flag: a snow white lacquer dial with a red embossed Seamaster logo, black Omega symbol and lettering set against an anodised red bezel with silver index and numbers. The bezel sits strikingly within the classic scalloped case rim and signature Seamaster beveled lugs.

The hands are also part of the Seamaster Professional livery, skeletonised and coated with super LumiNova. The centre sweep is nothing short of dinky, featuring coloured Olympic Rings as a counterweight to the red-tipped “business side” of the sweep. Simple round hour indices coated with Super LumiNova mark each hour.

One or two commentators have questioned the choice of a Seamaster as a commemorative Olympic watch, hinting that a chronograph of some sort is more proper. To me, it’s refreshing to see a configuration with a simple date window do the honours, and aren’t we getting a tad weary of all those big tool watches, the functions of which people rarely ever use, commanding all the attention? In my opinion, the uncluttered snow white dial is infinitely more suggestive of the conditions in which this Olympic competition will be held.

The Seamaster Vancouver case houses a chronometer certified Omega coaxial calibre 2500, reviews of which appear in other posts below. It’s a proven workhorse that matches up to any Rolex calibre you care to mention. The caseback design continues the Canadian theme, showing the Winter Games logo and “Ilanaak”, an abstract sculpture that denotes “friend”.

This Seamaster carries all the fruit of the Seamaster Professional series and retails at around the USD $3800.00 mark, probably a few hundred less after a bit of spirited bargaining. As a collectors piece, particularly for Canadians wishing to commemorate the games, it represents good value. For me, an eminently collectible one of two thousand and ten (for each case size) that screams “out of the ordinary”.

Omega Planet Ocean Diamond Bezel Collection

It had to happen – a Seamaster that not only glows in the dark but glitters in the light!

The Seamaster Planet Ocean Bling and Planet Ocean Chronograph Bling collection are either a group of multi-purpose time-keepers or a family of glittering wetsuit wannabes. Designed for men (and women who have a penchant for big watches), It’s doubtful that these watches will ever grace the wrists of those who enjoy recreational diving on sunken hulks: they could however be an attractive accessory for the heiress or daddy’s little princess who fixes her sights on diving on the odd sulken hunk after having consumed one too many gin slings!

And while the only thing brand ambassador Nicole Kidman is ever likely to dive into is a cocktail frock, she was reported to have not wanted to take her Seamaster Planet Ocean Bling off after a feature photo shoot. It is not known whether her motives were based on avarice or aesthetics, but there are enough diamonds on the bezel of the Seamaster PO Bling to excite the attention of many a Hollywood diva.

In the flesh, the PO looks striking and not at all over-the-top. The uncompromisingly masculine styling of both Planet Ocean models are somewhat softened by their glittering bezels, making these watches equally at home in the boardroom as they are in the lap pool. The uni-directional rotating bezel features a Super-LumiNova dot on black triangular ground at 12 o’clock.

The Planet Ocean chronometer is powered by the coaxial calibre 2500, a proven performer in the Omega stable and comes in case sizes of 45.5mm and 42mm, the latter with 45 slightly smaller diamonds totalling 1.73 carats. The lacquered black dial sets off the diamond polished applied Arabic numerals. Diamond polished rhodium-plated hands are coated with white Super-LumiNova. The stainless steel screw-in case back is stamped with the recognisable Seahorse medallion and the integrated black alligator strap is clasped by a stainless steel fold over.

The chronograph model, also shown above, at 45.5 mm, sports 45 sizeable diamonds totalling 2.65 carats. It has a small seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock, a 30-minute recorder at 3 and a 12-hour recorder at 6, with a small date window at 4:30.

While these watches are not for everyone, they certainly fit the bill for the man or woman who likes to show off a tad with an aggressively styled jewellery watch….or two

Click here for a picture review of these and other Planet Ocean models

The Omega De Ville Co-Axial Chronoscope

The Omega De Ville family has risen from bona fide hoi polloi to patrician status over the short span of forty years. As in real life, it’s amazing what can be achieved with several successful dips into the gene pool over a generation or two. The latest De Ville offspring - the Chronoscope triplets - have handsome bone structure, rather sporty leers and enough pheromones to beguile any tool-watch sophisticate.

Inspired by the success of the De Ville Rattrapante collection, the De Ville Co-Axial Chronoscope is available in a selection of matt black, red and silver dials with contrasting sub dials that facilitate the reading of the chronograph functions. The dial is a masterwork of design with faceted hour markers that allow the light to literally dance. A superbly machined 24 hour chapter ring and a guilloche tri-compax sub-dial configuration sitting within a brush finished sphere combine with colour contrasts to spectacular effect. The red and black version is simply stunning.

The Chronoscopes are powered by Omega’s calibre 3313, self-winding movement with Co-Axial escapement, while the GMT version features the calibre 3603 version of the 3313. The column-wheel system is designed to ensure a smooth start to the sweep of the seconds hand when the chronoscope is activated. It also provides precision stop and reset functions that do not interfere with the main timekeeping function of the watch. As mentioned in earlier reviews, a number of ‘fixes’ were applied to this movement, which are believed to have corrected problems experienced with earlier versions.

The 41mm case is available in polished or brushed 18-carat yellow or red gold and stainless steel. Its sculptured lugs, convex bezel and a series of curved and straight lines on the case side, create the appearance of an indestructible leviathan. This is very strong design indeed.

With its certified chronometer status, 52-hour power reserve and water-resistance to 100m, the De Ville Co-Axial Chronoscope offers excellent performance coupled with eye-gasmic looks. Starting at a little over $6000 USD (although 1000 dollar discounts are not unheard of) this is one helluva watch for the money.

Click here for a review of the GMT version

Omega Seamaster Chronometer Bond 2531.80.00

It has taken Omega thirty years to recover from the disasters brought on by the Quartz Crisis. The introduction of cheap Quartz and throwaway watches in the 1970s brought the Swiss watch industry to its knees. The Seamaster 300M Professional, known as the “Bond Seamaster”, has made an immeasurable contribution to the revival of Omega’s Fortunes, more than any other marque in the Omega family. 

In the 1960s Omega was the number one watch company in Switzerland, out-selling and out-ranking Rolex as Switzerland’s high–value, sub-haute horlogerie watch brand. The price of an Omega chronometer was respectably higher than that of Rolex and the brand name was as close to a household name as you could get. That was then, and now is now, and Omega continues to make headway towards the coveted spot of King of the Production Watch Brands, in no small way bolstered by its Bond association.

The Seamaster Bond Professional has become one of the world’s best known land-lubber diver’s watches since Pierce Brosnan first sported an earlier example in the 1995 Bond movie, Golden-Eye. The watch made its market debut in 1993, and it’s endurance for more than 16 years is a testament to both its design and performance. In the world of watch design, sixteen years is a very long time. 

  

The signature guilloche dial with its wave pattern endows the watch with a stylishness that’s as much at home at a business meeting as it is on a sun-drenched beach. The appearance of the uncluttered dial changes as the light quality fluctuates, and the broad, albeit skeletonised, hands provide both functional and aesthetic rewards. The hands are tipped with a super-luminescent material, as are the applied markers, and this makes telling the time at night a reasonably effortless enterprise.

Whether it’s a splash in the spa or a serious dive, the Bond Seamaster is up to the job. It features a helium release valve that is very useful in a decompression chamber where helium in the atmosphere can penetrate and build up in the watch, ultimately popping the crystal if the pressure isn’t relieved. While the nearest to a decompression chamber most owners will get is an unnaturally long stint in the dog-house avoiding the recriminations of a woman scorned, it is a nice feature to have on a watch.

Framing the dial is a unidirectional rotating bezel designed to track the remaining air supply available. A choice of either black dial and bezel or blue dial and bezel is available, depending on your selection of case metal, but for my money the blue waved dial and complimentary bezel is the better option. 

The case contains a confluence of interesting lines: deep polished chamfers extend to the breadth of the lugs; twin arcs extend protection to the screw-down crown and counterbalance beautifully the circular bezel, making this watch a classic no matter where it is worn. Powered by a calibre 2500 automatic movemen, proven over three decades, the Bond Seamaster is a watch for all seasons. 

To return full circle to the Rolex-Omega nexus of the 1960s, click here for a comparative review of the Bond and Rolex Submariner by John Hollbrook. And yes, the Bond wins!

Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200M

The 1970 Omega Ploprof was one of the most aggressive and robust dive watches ever produced. As a piece of design it exuded 1970s brutalism at its best, and as a piece of hardware it could withstand the incredible depth pressures amounting to tons on the total surface of the watch when submerged at over 1000 feet. The Ploprof (a shortening of the French ‘plongeurs professionels’ which means ‘professional divers’) was equipped with a calibre 1002 movement, a mildly disappointing power plant with fundamental design problems that were corrected in later editions of the movement.

You would be lucky to pay less than $6500.00 for a vintage Ploprof these days. In these times of big, brash and chunky watch design, the Ploprof has an allure that transcends its purpose as a dive watch and it was only a matter of time before Omega unleashed this monster in an updated form.

You could say that the Ploprof is horology’s answer to the Hummer. The new version makes the same ‘Get outa my way’ statement, and, like the Hummer, performs best in its intended environment. The new Ploprof 1200M, as its name suggests, is water resistant to an astounding 1200 metres (4000 feet). While you may have the life crushed out of you at that depth, the mighty Ploprof will remain seaworthy.

The watch in its new form has a better movement than the original. Under its reinforced bonnet is the Omega Co-Axial calibre 8500, a power plant shaping up to be a classic in production watch design and technology. It is an automatic calibre driven by a highly efficient bi-directional rotor transmitting energy through two barrels that provide the watch with a power reserve of 60 hours. The movement is adjusted and certified to chronometer standards.

Time and date adjustments are made by unscrewing the crown, positioned at nine o’clock, to release the protective buffer and then pulling the crown to the appropriate position. The hour hand can be adjusted separately to accommodate different time zones.

At the 2 o’clock position is the bezel-release security pusher with an orange anodised aluminium ring. Pressing the pusher allows the bezel to be rotated in either direction and then locked firmly in position, ensuring that it cannot be accidentally shifted during a dive. The Ploprof has an automatic helium escape valve located on the side of the case at the 4 o’clock position. This feature allows helium atoms to escape during decompression, and is particularly useful for professional divers operating from diving bells.

The case is made of brushed stainless steel and has polished bevels. The centre piece of the two-piece oriented caseback features a background of straight, parallel waves with a polished Omega logo, the word “Seamaster” and the famous Seahorse on a matt surface.

The Ploprof 1200M is available either with a brushed mesh "Sharkproof" bracelet or on a rubber strap in a choice of black or orange. Let’s hope that you never have need of the sharkproof feature, which, in many ways, is overkill. The bracelet also features an extra divers’ extension to 26 mm so that the watch can be worn comfortably over a diving suit.

With prices starting at around the seven and a half thousand dollars mark, this is the ultimate in diving watches with a price to match.

Omega Speedmaster 3212.80.00 Chronograph

A COSC certified chronometer with chronograph features in the sub haute horlogerie echelon, where Omega, Rolex, IWC and other iconic brands perch comfortably, usually commands a price of six to ten thousand USD. And yet the Omega Speedmaster 3212.80.00, powered by one of the most resilient chronograph movements on the market today, requires an investment of less than $USD3000.00 after haggling……sometimes a lot less.

Under the dial is an Omega calibre1164 self-winding movement with a reserve of 44 hours. This calibre manufactured by Omega’s sister company ETA is based on the famous Valjoux 7750 ‘tracteur’. First released in 1973, the base calibre is one of the most ubiquitous chronograph movements used in watches today and is a proven performer over time. Click here for a history of the movement.

Finished to Omega standards that elevate the power plant to that of a high-value movement, the Speedmaster 3212.80, adequately serviced, will last two lifetimes.

Because of the widespread use of the base ETA calibre, most watchmakers know their way around the movement, and so when the warranty runs out you need not pay premium servicing prices. Click here for a review of the calibre by Walt Odets.

While the dial comes in white, silver, black and blue, the most eye-catching combination is the blue dial framed by a blue tachymeter bezel, creating a striking contrast with the brushed stainless steel case and bracelet which, incidentally, has a fold-over-clasp-with-double-push-button-safety. This combination delivers a degree of panache often unattainable in the clunkier tool watches.

The dial has a date display at three o’clock and an assymetical sub-dial configuration that really works as a piece of design. The skeletonised pointed index hands and arrowhead centre sweep, combined with the classic Speedmaster case lines provide a reference point to the Speedmaster’s heritage.

Few would disagree that the Omega Speedmaster 3212.80.00 is one of the best buys in the Omega range.

Omega De Ville Hour Vision Annual Calendar

The name De Ville was coined by Omega’s U.S. agent Norman Morris in the 1960s to add a sliver of working class respectability to a collection of entry-level Seamaster monocoques that were part-assembled in America. It was a name closely associated with automobile manufacturer, Cadillac. The commandeering of the De Ville name by Cadillac - translated from French, it means ‘City’ - was quite appropriate, when you consider that some of its models in the 1960s were the size of a small one. 

Omega so liked the name that it adopted it and there evolved a complete collection of watches under the De Ville banner, which, by 1967, had become the largest collection within the Omega stable. From its lower price point origins of simple, but youthful models adaptable to the latest fashion trends, the De Ville has come to exemplify urban sophistication - with a price tag to match.

While the Constellation lays claim to ‘Dress Watch’ status, it is the De Ville that has become a symbol of style and elegance. From the design and finish through to the in-house calibre 8611 co-axial movement that facilitates an instantaneous jump calendar complication, the Hour Vision Annual calendar is a watch for those who appreciate excellent case sculpture, function without the fussiness of a tool watch and high tech horology.  

The novel features of this watch are threefold. The annual calendar feature that factors in months with 30 and 31 days, the glass casket-like construction of the case that offers four lateral openings made of sapphire crystal and a cutting-edge silicon balance spring that offers an unprecedented level of accuracy in a series production watch.

The Deville Range comes in eight models and a limited edition signature piece: four in red gold and four in stainless steel, all with dials identical in design to that of the Limited Series. Prices start from around the 8500 dollar mark, give or take 500 dollars depending on the generosity of the authorised dealer. For a high-value watch, this price is in the medium range, and I truly believe that Omega has hit the ‘Classic’ mark with this beautiful timepiece.