Why The OMEGA Seamaster Diver 300 Makes More Sense Now Than Ever

the omega c master family is one of the most storied and highly regarded in the world of watchmaking although it has had its fair share of changes over the years as well as model iterations it's probably safe to say the leader of the collection over the last three decades or so has to be the omega c master diver 300 meter a dive watch inextricably tied to james bond and has helped set the standard for what a modern luxury dive watch should represent surprisingly though i've never actually covered this watch out of the 500 videos i posted on this channel however let's change that today we're going to take a closer look at this blue dial ceramic version and discuss where this watch is positioned in the contemporary market of luxury dive watches let's jump in [Music] [Music] now before we jump into this video looking at this new seamaster omega just unveiled a wide variety of new models for 2022 i was fortunate to get my hands on pretty much all of them recently so we put together a comprehensive blog highlighting some of the new models including a new green seamaster diver 300 meter which is a perfect crossover with the video here today a new collection of aqua taras and a variety of eye-catching colors the new seamaster ultra deep with a depth rating that certainly matches the name and some new speed masters including the moonshine gold models and the 57 line of speed masters coming with a manual wound caliber on the inside as well as pretty wearable dimensions check it out now it'll be in the description full right up on teddybalduster.com and if you want more content like this sent to you every single week be sure to subscribe to the newsletter on the website on the blog page check it out teddybalazar.com so when it comes to omega seamaster is a name that can be traced all the way back to 1948 though it was not until 1957 when the first now traditional diving seamaster watch that we really know what that rotating bezel was released now today along with the speedmaster the seamaster is easily one of the two leading pillars for the brand complete with an impressive selection of models each with dozens of variations that can overwhelm even the biggest watch nerds out there with its immense size to set the stage as we dig into the seamaster diver 300 we should take a moment to consider a couple entries in the modern seamaster collection as it relates to dive watches starting with the model that remains closest to the original design that we've covered in the past we have the seamaster 300 which lives underneath omega's heritage umbrella taking a heavy dose of the vintage design inspiration from the omega c master 300 of the late 1950s and 60s however originally debuted in 1993 the seamaster that receives the most fanfare and attention from enthusiasts is without a doubt the seamaster diver 300 presenting a professional diving oriented but still luxury watch complete with a manual helium release valve a signature wave engraved dial master chronometer certification a notable james bond connection and coming in with a price right around five thousand dollars for this video we have the blue dial ceramic version on a bracelet but digging into the watch itself let's discuss wearability now here we have a 42 millimeter case diameter paired with a 49.7 millimeter lug to lug and thickness of 13.5 millimeters for me the watch wears slightly smaller than its size wearing like a 41 millimeters in practice exhibiting noticeable presence without feeling overly bulky in keeping with the professional diver positioning and his 300 meters of water resistance the diver 300 meter also comes in with a reasonable thickness for those metrics at 13.5 millimeters in thickness though the highly faceted case architecture does help in just breaking up the visual perception in heft but i do want to be clear here the seamaster diver 300 is not a small watch and part of that is a result of the protruding element at 10 o'clock the helium escape valve this manually operated screw down approach is generally considered the most polarizing aspect of this design and does optically add to the actual and perceived distance of the case at 3 a screw down crown is polished and sign working in tandem with the screw down case back and securing the watch's 300 meters of water resistance as is often the case with omega the diver 300 is impressively well finished across the case and bracelet with primarily linear brushed surfaces across the central case with eye-catching hits of polishing on the signature turned 20 millimeter lugs set between them we have a five-length style bracelet with screwed in links that is mostly brushed with tiny polished elements on its inner links and evokes a feeling of 90s design without question this bracelet does not taper culminating with a milled push-button deploying clasp with a well-executed micro-adjustment extension system that is about as good as anything i've experienced in the price segment while also offering a traditional folding extension these included perks in the clasp do come with some size at the end results creating a bubbled seven millimeter thickness and a length of 42 millimeters resting on top of the case we have 120 click unidirectional lapse time bezel with a blue ceramic insert color matched to the dial it is easily gripped by the way of its scalloped edges and action is near perfect with little to no play along with the satisfying audible response the sloping nature of this bezel provides a smooth transition to the very slightly domed sapphire crystal that is coated with anti-reflective material on both sides killing reflections completely and exceptionally well giving a nice view of that striking dial underneath it is important to note that some will mention the double ar and the sometimes challenges that come with that and maybe showing some wear or some light abrasion scratches on the front side of the crystal i have owned watches with this i have not really i'm not the most hard on my watches compared to some people but that is something to keep in mind yes you are killing the reflections but this is some risk that could come with this double ar effect so defining characteristic of this watch in recent years has to be the laser engraved wave motif that traces its lineage back to 1995 and the blue dialed seamaster diver 300 worn by pierce brosnan in goldeneye and marked the first time omega appeared on the wrist of double07 rather than being stamped the waves here are deeply cut into the glossy blue ceramic dial surface and creates an effortless texture backdrop that lends itself to cohesively tie the remaining dial elements together at the dials outskirts a unique railway-esque style minute track works in tandem with the applied circular and rectangular indices in denoting the time along with rhodium-plated skeletonized handset that has become a quick identifier for this model family while there is considerable amount of text it's executed with a fairly small typeface that assists in making it less obtrusive with the omega word mark seamaster in red and the professional all at 12 with the coaxial and master chronometer and the depth rating at 6. for the eagle-eyed there is the dial ceramic construction that is going to be noted with the zr02 very lightly engraved just below the dial center with a date aperture neatly tucked into the six o'clock position for nighttime use both the indices and hands are thickly filled with super luminova and the watch glows well in practice with blue loom used everywhere except for the minute hand and the bezel marker which glow green to denote their diving specific functionality overall the style balances the legibility necessary in any good dive watch design with the opportunity to display omega's finishing prowess in the department now virtually the entire front-facing surface of the watch is glossy making this diver 300 feel a lot more eye-catching than the average tool watch and does subconsciously exude looks associated with its luxury position yet unlike many dive watches in this instance we do have an open sapphire exhibition case back that offers a glimpse of the caliber 8800 oscillating within so it would be fair to say that omega has compared to the majority of the other major mass-market luxury brands been instrumental in offering innovation to the often stale world of watch just movement technology for decades most prominently with the form of the coaxial escapement pioneered by dr george daniels in the 1970s the coaxial system utilizes a three pallet system rather than the traditional two pallet system with the swiss lever in order to reduce sliding friction and increase the length of the service interval omega has leaned into the coaxial statement since 1999 and now utilizes the system in the vast majority of its calibers even recently being unveiled in the new speedmaster professional the 8 800 caliber included in this diver 300 offers nearly the full suite of modern omega movement tech including a master chronometer certification approved by metas the swiss federal institute of metrology which includes eight strenuous tests including an upped accuracy standard of zero to plus five seconds a day a range of deviation that is higher than that of the cost standard while also testing the watch fully cased up rather than just the movement this watch also has the benefit of high resistance to magnetism offering up quoted resistance up to 15 000 gallons apart from this the 8800 utilizes a free sprung balance with a silicon balance spring with a bi-directional winding with the oscillating weight and looking beyond the list of technical specifications this caliber is all in all well decorated for the price with spiral waves across the rotor and the bridges you have some beveling and polished screwed heads this finishing is done by machine but the fact that this upgraded caliber is visible at all with a nice attractive look in this price range when many other dive watches out there say the rolex submariner is not showing anything off i think is nice to see now just for general operation here we are looking at 25 200 vibrations per hour 3.5 hertz does feature hacking and hand winding hacking stop in the second hand when you pull the crown to the farthest position and has a power reserve of 55 hours this is going to be operated on a single barrel unlike some of the other omega coaxial calibers with the dual barrel system and speaking anecdotally to accuracy of this particular example we tested it at five different positions and it's right in line with its certification of zero to plus four seconds a day when testing across all of those five positions so now with the review portion out of the way let's talk about the seamaster diver 300 and it's positioning now just speaking to the title of the video is it the perfect dive watch for five thousand dollars now i don't think there's necessarily a perfect watch out there for any price range but i would say that this is a class-leading dive watch and kind of sets that gateway and window into the world of luxury dive watches of course you have to think about the black bay that's really probably right there as well but for five thousand dollars this falls in a unique range because i would say this is much more similar to watches that are selling for say seven to eight thousand dollars if not more than that than it is to something like the black bay in terms of finishing is you know close in some ways but omega has really delivered a nice package here now i do want to talk about some of the common points of criticism for this watch and when people look at this piece and collection now you have to think about when was this watch created and what did it really indicate for omega back in the 1990s when this case silhouette was really created it was a time where omega was a different brand you're coming off the court's crisis and omega was in a point of recovery compared to where they're at now really being solidified as one of the leading manufacturers and they were before that but the industry was changing and simply put they were looking for that next stage to really allow them to ascend back into i would say mass acclaim in popularity and bond was that and with the connection to 007 pierce brosnan this watch absolutely changed omega in the last three decades so it makes sense they have so much allegiance to the design but in many ways i think there are small points that make it feel a bit dated the helium escape valve i think for some is just going to be completely unwarranted even those that have a diving background they'll understand that this is not needed also talking about the bracelet although very well done i think some will also bring up perhaps that it is going to look a little more 90s than maybe it should and the clasp although good is going to have a bubbled effect to it that you can feel some presence on the back of your wrist but as you're quickly noticing i mean these are points that are more from the design perspective when you get into really where this watch is positioned from i would say what is a 5 000 watch what should it look like what should it feel like in many ways this is it this is a well finished watch great in-house movement with some up spec accuracy magnetic resistance and actually available at retail price and you also get many variations and dial colors i also really like this watch on the rubber strap i almost we don't have it for this video but just having some experience with many of these models i actually do almost like it more without the bracelet i just think it feels more effortless and true to the dive watch dna that this one kind of exudes and with that wave dial that ceramic bezel this thing just looks the part it does have a tendency to maybe have some blingy elements to it and some will say that that might be going in a direction against what the seamaster classically was but i think at the end of the day there's a reason why this watch just does so well and that is because it almost represents what a 5 000 dive watch should be i think it's priced appropriately it's positioned appropriately and i think it makes a lot of sense why this watch along with the speedmaster are just two staples and i would imagine maybe one of the best-selling if not the best-selling model from omega this considered i think it would be interesting to have omega maybe revisit this design i like how with the no time to die release that they put it on a milanese kind of mesh style bracelet with titanium it completely transformed how the watch wore and also looked with its silhouette i think it just looked more modern and i think with that actually going forth and now the bond just connection and with daniel craig kind of moving out of the position of bond and really what the next years are going to kind of unfold like i think there are questions about what is the future of this model family going to look like dropping the helium escape valve maybe changing up the bracelet design just changing that i mean keeping the silhouette intact but maybe making some modifications maybe looking into different case sizes the honest truth is this watch yeah probably is maybe the best dive watch you can find for five thousand dollars but there's also still a lot of room to grow if you ask me and i think that's an encouraging sign and as things are changing with the market dynamics i think it's a great position to be in as a manufacturer in a 2022 market but all right guys that is my take on this omega c master diver 300 meter and just the line what is your take i know people absolutely adore this model family and for good reason but i'd love to see your take where do you see a position do you think it has to be updated in some way let us see your take down below i know people have a lot of opinions about this one also if you enjoyed this video please give it a thumbs up subscribe and hit the bell icon that really does help out the channel and i would appreciate it definitely check out that blog on teddybaldthestar.com and we're also an authorized dealer of over 30 brands quick and fast fulfillment dedicated customer support and a full factory warranty for all the products that we offer if you want to stay up to date with the content as well be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and be sure to follow on instagram where you can see some great photos of watches in the process but guys thank you again so much for watching be well and i will see you all very soon

Channel: Teddy Baldassarre

Views: 713,766

Keywords: teddy baldassarre, teddy watch review, teddys watch collection, watch collecting guide teddy, omega seamaster, omega seamaster diver 300, omega james bond, omega seamaster diver james bond, james bond watch, james bond rolex, best dive watch 5000, best dive watch 10000, rolex submariner alternatives, best luxury watch 2022, best dive watch 2022, best luxury dive watch, best dive watches 2022, guide to watch collecting, best luxury watches, best affordable watches, hodinkee

Id: v5NOuPJ1lXw

Length: 14min 52sec (892 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 15 2022