In writing an Omega Planet Ocean review I’m really quite conscious of the fact that this is one of Omega’s most loved watches, though it does also elicit strong feelings in the other direction. First a question of naming. Strictly speaking this watch is an Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean, but most people find that name a bit long and have dropped the Seamaster bit. Still, I’d get tons of e-mails pointing out my “error” if I didn’t clarify.

So why is this watch both so loved and hated. I’d say the reason is not least this is because it is now closely associated with James Bond.

This watch wasn’t the original bond watch. In most of the early films, Commander Bond wore a Rolex Submariner. But since 1995 Omega has been associated with James Bond after 007 ditched his traditional Rolex for an Omega. In the movie Golden Eye Pierce Brosnan appeared on the screen wearing an Omega Seamaster professional, a watch that has since been replaced on the arm of Daniel Craig, who wears a Seamaster Planet Ocean. But as great as this product placement has been for the brand, there are some fans who think it goes a bit too far down the road of “merchandising”, especially after Omega introduced a limited 007 edition with a 007 gun logo.

For the purposes of this Planet Ocean Review I’m just going to talk about the standard (and not limited) editions.

An Overview of the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean

The Seamaster Planet Ocean is a rugged dive-style watch that has good looks and brawn. The watch is actually designed to do all of the things that professional dive watches need to do. It has a screw-in crown to provide extra-water resistance. It goes beyond just that, however, in that it adds a helium escape valve. Unless you are doing deep diving (breathing special air mixtures and allowing the gases to saturate your bloodstream) you don’t need this feature. If you don’t understand what I’ve just said, then you really don’t need this feature. But it is nice to know that this is a genuine professionals’ divers watch and not just one that has a big bezel just to look tough.

The crystal is genuine scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, not some cheap glass pretending to be crystal. Proving that this is the real deal, it is certified down to 600 meters of water pressure (2000 feet). The crystal is really nice looking and anti-reflective coatings make it more readable and help preserve its good looks.

Its movement is a self-winding Omega 2500 caliber. Thisi is one of the better movements on the market, but not the very best. It keeps time well and has a good reputation for accuracy. The only downside is that it is not a bespoke movement. It is made by ETA, which is a mass-producer of watch movements that is owned by Swatch (which also owns Omega). The newest versions now feature a home-built movement (more on that later)

Those who own the watch generally love it.

The Planet Ocean Titanium Liquidmetal also receives a substantial upgrade in the movement department. Historically the Planet Ocean models have been equipped with the ETA 2892 based Omega Caliber 2500. However, the Planet Ocean Titanium Liquidmetal is the first model in the Planet Ocean line to receive the in-house Omega Caliber 8500 (launched in 2007). The Omega Caliber 8500 is a self-winding 39 jewel mechanical movement with a power reserve (coming from 2 serial mounted barrels) of 60 hours, and a freely sprung balance which vibrates at a speed of 25,200 vibrations per hour (VPH). The Omega Caliber 8500 is an Officially Certified COSC chronometer and like most modern Omega calibers, is fitted with the George Daniel’s Co-Axial Escapement. Additionally the Caliber 8500 features a balance spring constructed entirely of silicon for improved resistance to shock and magnetism.

The dial gets a score of 5 from me.It looks fantastic, and it is VERY easy to read in day or night. Only the Omega symbol is metal that is applied. Also the hour markers are applied with metal surroundings. The dial is both functional and yet elegant somehow. Omega did a VERY good job on this aspect.

If you’d like to see a few more pictures as well as a great write-up by a blogger who attended a recent launch of the Omega Planet Ocean then check this out.

An Omega display advertisement from 1996 showing the Omega Seamaster worn by James Bond in Goldeneye

The Omega Planet Ocean Review

For many of us, a watch has become an unnecessary luxury. To get us to work on time we can easily turn to our televisions, cellular phones, iPods. In fact it is hard to find a digital device these days that doesn’t tell the time. But for a scuba diver who enters an unforgiving environment and has to time every move down to the last minute, survival quite literally rests on the quality of the dive watch they are wearing. So it is no surprise that many of the most famous Swiss watches built their reputations on the quality of their diving watches. Take Blancpain, an uncompromising producer of mechanical watches that shuns digital electronics. Although its roots date back well over 100 years, its cemented its reputation in the 1950s for specialising in selling dive watches to navies around the world.

The Blancpain Dive Watch

Among the first forces to adopt the Blancpain dive watch was the French navy, which set up a “combat swimming” unit in 1952. Its 50 fathoms waterproof watch went on to become a classic when it was adopted by Jacques Cousteau, the father of modern scuba diving. Towards the end of that decade Blancpain designed a watch to meet an American military specification with special high-visibility hands and a non-magnetic case. It was adopted by the US Navy in 1964. A slightly modified version was later taken into service by the German navy. Unfortunately Blancpain subsequently went bankrupt and was later only saved and resurrected by Jean-Claude Biver, a charismatic and insightful watchmaker who coined the phrase that Blancpain had never made a quartz watch, and never would.

The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner

Another storied Swiss watch maker that staked its reputation on making diving watches that could stand up to the toughest abuse was Rolex. The Rolex Oyster perhaps deserves recognition as the worlds first dive watch. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, which went into production in 1953, claimed to be the first watch that was waterproof to 100m. Its popularity soon spread among military and commercial divers because of its reliability and resistance to extreme conditions. Rolex also marketed it cleverly by getting explorers and divers to use it and then featuring them in its advertising campaigns. Among the more gelling publicity stunts the watch was put through was to have one descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, one of the deepest parts of the ocean. Even after being exposed to the crushing pressure of water at a depth of 11km below the sea it emerged unscathed. The Rolex Sea Dweller dive watch has also accompanied divers on the deepest recorded dives by humans swimming freely. This, however, was to a depth of little more than 500 meters. It is clear, under these circumstances, that the weak link in the chain is the human diver.

Omega Seamaster

A relative newcomer to the world of Swiss dive watches is the Omega Seamaster. Omega had another claim to fame in that its watch was the first on the moon, but it didn’t want to be left out in the dive to the bottom of the ocean. The seamaster had been around for decades but was really a statement of style rather than a functional tool for divers until the 1970s. Yet now Omega has raised the bar adding a helium release valve to depressurise the watch. It also claimed to have produced the first chronometer that could be used under water.  Many people who want a titanium watch go for one of these, partly because it was made famous by James Bond in the mid 1990s when Mr Biver (yes, he of Blancpain fame) bought the rights from the producers to get 007 to switch away from Rolex. Ever since the Seamaster has been know by many as the 007 watch.

Dive Watch or Computer?

Classical or mechanical dive watches have,  to some extent, been superseded in diving by sophisticated dive computers that monitor and calculate all the minutia related to avoiding getting the bends by staying deep for too long. Yet there is still something beautiful and simple about a mechanical dive watch with a rotating bezel and luminous hands that tells you at a glance how long you’ve been under the water. There is also something comforting about a technology that is tried and tested with little that can go wrong. And even if you don’t dive, owning a Swiss mechanical dive watch is like owning a piece of history.

Safe in the Hands of a Classic Swiss Dive Watch