In June 2009 I bought my first mechanical watch. It was the Omega Seamaster 300 (2255.80.00), which I blogged about here. It was a great watch but unfortunately it wasn't quite all I was looking for in a watch, and once the shiny bezel became a little scuffed, it looked unsightly. Also in truth, I had always wanted to own the Planet Ocean ever since I first saw one.
In 2011, Omega took their Planet Ocean which was launched in 2005 and made version 2.0 so to speak. The bracelet was given screws, which is watch circles is considered superior to metal pins. The aluminum bezel was replaced with a scratch proof ceramic material, much the same as what Rolex decided to do in 2010. Also a couple of very minor changes were made to the face (applied numerals and a slight font change). But probably the big announcement is the in house movement, complete with a see through exhibition display back enabling the owner to see the movement of the watch.
The original Planet Ocean has a detailed engraving on the back of the watch depicting the Hippocamp; a mythical seahorse-like creature said to draw Poseidon's (Neptune) chariot. According to Omega, this has been a fixture on Seamaster watches in one form or another since 1960 when an artisan was inspired by something he saw in Italy. The connection was said to allude to the waterproof nature of the watch, this model capable of 600m or 2000ft below sea level.
The reason I was prompted to buy this watch right now was the fact that I cannot justify the six thousand or so dollars Omega wishes to charge for their new version. As nice as it is, I have a hard time with the massive price hike. While the original Planet Oceans retail at $4,500, a savvy shopper can find an authorized dealer willing to sell for the low $3K area, which while still not cheap is a lot easier to stomach than five or six grand. If you're willing to just buy off the Internet, I've seen the price as low as $2,700 as of this month. Keep in mind an unofficial Internet purchase will lower the future resale value.
With that preamble out of the way, I'll go ahead and review my new purchase based on my short ownership of it:
Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean XL 45.5mm 2200.50.00
Box
Part of the excitement of getting a new watch is unboxing, but you can read about that just about anywhere. Basically it's the standard Omega red box, enclosed in a white cardboard box. You get an international instruction manual, pictograph card telling you what features the watch has, an international warranty card, and a certification that the watch meets the Swiss chronometer standards (referring to accuracy of the watch, and certifying that specific watch with serial number). It's all pretty standard stuff. A smart person will carefully place this box and content, including receipt, somewhere safe. If you are ever to sell the watch you'll always get more for it with the original packaging and documentation.
Bracelet & Clasp
The bracelet and clasp are brushed stainless steel. Other options are available, but mesh and leather straps do nothing for me. This same watch was given a lot of publicity in the Bond movie Casino Royale where James Bond (Daniel Craig) wore the version of this watch that comes on a rubber strap for about half the movie. It looked good that way, but probably a little too casual for some situations in my opinion, which probably explains why he wears a different Omega Seamaster in the black tie and casino scenes.
Speaking of Bond, I have mixed feelings about the connection. I think it worked great in Casino Royale for example, but the Pierce Brosnan days where his Omega contained magic weapons and communication devices got a bit silly.
In any case, the bracelet feels solid, and comfortable. It doesn't catch hairs or jangle, and it has been nicely smoothed so as not to dig into the skin. The edges are polished, which contrasts nicely with the brushed main surface.
The clasp is engraved with Omega Ω Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean, and the clasp is released by simultaneously pressing two buttons on the sides; an action that is just about impossible to perform by accident.
The only real criticism of the whole bracelet / clasp set up is that the clasp is easy to scratch over time, although supposedly it doesn't take much to brush those scratches out at the jewelers. As to the bracelet there are no minute size adjustments, so you size the bracelet by removing links or using the supplied 'half-link' which gets you pretty close.
I had a similar 'Speedmaster' bracelet on my last watch and found it did the job very well.
Case
The case is solid and imposing at 45.5mm. Subtle it ain't. And apparently the 2011 version is even thicker, which is hard to imagine. But if you are looking for a slim or lightweight watch, you need to look elsewhere.
Omega has brushed and polished different parts of the case beautifully to reflect light in a variety of different ways, adding a lovely texture to the appearance.
On the back of the watch, you'll find the aforementioned Hippocamp engraving. There is also a serial number engraved on the watch, along with a special laser etched symbol that is supposed to be hard to fake. Where the back is removed there is a tiny spot of what looks like red plastic. Like a wax seal, this will fall off if you take the back off the watch, so if you can still see it, you know it has not been opened since it left the factory.
Face
The face is matte black, with twelve applied indices that are coated generously with Super-Luminova that glows fiercely in the dark. Each of these is rhodium plated so look shiny and mirror like, matching the arrow hands, which are also quite shiny. An Omega logo is also applied under the tweleve o'clock spot.
The seconds hand moves seven times a second and is tipped with an orange color.
The numerals are at 12, 9 and 6, and on this model are white, although orange is available on other Planet Ocean configurations.
The date is at the three o'clock spot, white numbers on black, and easily visible. The date flicks from one day to the next around midnight pretty quickly.
Close to the ten o'clock spot you'll see the helium release valve marked with 'He' - the chemical symbol for helium. In theory this can be unscrewed in a diving bell to prevent excess pressure in the watch blowing out the crystal. Since this will affect about 0.01% of people reading this, I'll move on.
At the three o'clock position you'll see a sizable crown. You can unscrew this to wind the watch, pull out once to adjust the date, pull out one more spot to adjust the time and stop the seconds hand while you do that.
Bezel
The bezel is clean and functional. As is typical with a divers watch it only rotates counter clockwise and can be used in theory to time how much oxygen you have left. It looks clean and I like the font choice.
Movement of the bezel is smooth and precise, with 120 clicks for one complete revolution. The 45.5mm version that I have has scalloped tooth finish, whereas the 42mm version is more coin edge in design.
Movement
The watch contains the Omega 2500 caliber movement which is produced by taking the ETA 2892-A2 movement and heavily modifying it to include the co-axial movement invented by famed watch expert George Daniels. There are some watch snobs who point out that this movement is not strictly an in-house movement, since ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse and Omega are both owned by The Swatch Group, Ltd., and so is more in-family as opposed to in-house. But I don't much care. You are talking about a top of the line and well proven movement, enhanced substantially by Omega to include co-axial technology, which allows the watch to operate with little to no lubrication. This in turn means that service intervals are 7-10+ years, much longer than a traditional movement.
This mechanical watch winds itself as you move around, and has 44 hours of power reserve. So if you leave it off for the weekend, you might find it dead on Monday.
As far as accuracy goes, it is an officially certified chronometer, which is always a good start. It seems pretty spot on, with a tendency to run a second or two fast per day. But it's not fair to draw conclusions in the first few days.
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| Omega 2500C Movement - As seen with the watch back removed |
Conclusion
I love the clean looks of this watch. I was sitting on a plane the other day. The guy next to me was wearing a Rolex Submariner that if it were real would probably have cost around six grand. Next to mine the watch looked small, old fashioned, and unremarkable. If it wasn't for the cache of the Rolex name, you wouldn't give it a second look in my opinion.
The attention to detail in the design has me admiring it each time I check the time. To me it is a truly beautiful watch. It is a massive step forward from my original Seamaster, and I don't regret the purchase at all.
As I mentioned earlier it is a heavy and imposing watch, so if you don't like noticing that you have a watch on, you might consider the lighter and smaller 42mm version, especially if you have smaller wrists.
The anti-reflective coating is applied to both the inside and outside of the crystal, which can make finger prints show up more easily, and is allegedly prone to scratching, prompting some people to remove the outer coating, and leaving the crystal bare. Thus far this is the only negative I see.
If you think you might like to get an original Planet Ocean, start looking now. They will not be making any more of these, and you'll be forced to buy second hand or the much more expensive newer version if you want one.
I will probably write an update in a few months and let you know how it's going...
