Omega

Ruckdee
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Patience is a 45.5 mm virtue. And I am liking it a lot.

Just when I thought I could keep myself sober from watches for a year or two, Omega launched a timepiece at Baselworld 2011 that I could not find a reason to dislike … the new Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph.

You might have noticed that I am rather obsessive-compulsive when it comes to watches and designs. But still I could not find anything to fault this watch apart from its relatively large size. I have been an advocate of the Planet Ocean collection ever since its introduction in 2005. At least 20 people have bought the watch, new or used, because of my suggestion. The only thing which is weird about all this is I have never owned a Planet Ocean myself. I felt it was going to be redundant with my Seamaster Pro 300M and then I added the 2009 Ploprof to my collection when it came out.

I quite liked the outgoing Planet Ocean Chronograph, though. I came close to buying it a few times but the slanted date window and the smallish hour totalizer were bugging me. Besides, I felt the watch wore too big on my 6.5” wrist. I didn’t feel like pushing it, especially when the dial design is not totally to my liking. I told myself to be patient and that perhaps one day Omega will come out with just the watch that I’ll like. And now they have.

The new POC addresses the issue for me. The smallish hour totalizer is gone and better yet the new movement puts hour and minute totalizers together just like that on the IWC Big Ingenieur Chronograph which I like. The date window is now centered. And even the price tag is reasonable, compared to its predecessor and the current time-and-date siblings. The “oversize” issue was dutifully dismissed. I placed the order the moment I was confirmed of this price in my currency and waited all these months.

Good things always come in red bag.


Typical white outer box…


…containing the red case that gives a scent of new leather.


I want this new purchase to be able to serve the daily wear function if and when I want to plus I am not prepared to part with the kind of money Omega asks for the titanium model with ceramic+liquidmetal bezel. Naturally enough, the choice for me is to get the all-black version of the watch!


As I understand it, the matt black bezel is ceramic while on the orange model the bezel is made of aluminum. It turns crisply in one direction with pronounced clicks throughout.


Massive case is roughly the same thickness as the Ploprof. The Helium Escape Valve is shown here also.


Applied Omega logo and hour markers


Combined hour and minute totalizer is the star of the show for many and the dealbreaker for others. The concentric rings inside the subdials are barely visible to naked eyes. Orange chronograph minute hand moves constantly in small increment unlike conventional chronographs where it moves once at the turn of the minute.


The matt dial has a particular sheen to it. Dates are printed quite thick almost like an emboss but this photograph does not bring out that detail well enough.


A parade of metallic hands over the continuous second subdial at nine.


New crown is massive with sandblasted finish on the background behind the polished Omega logo.


Black ceramic rings over the chronograph buttons. Omega’s presentation says you cannot damage the chronograph mechanism if the reset button is in advertently pushed when the chronograph is running. And the manual still says the chronograph buttons on Seamaster chronograph watches with depth rating of 300 and 600 meters can be operated underwater. I have tried none of these so far.


Fine brushed links like on the outgoing model…


…only difference is that the new POC has the screw-and-pin system bracelet.


And a new, smaller clasp about the size of that on the current Moonwatch. I find this adequate for actual usage but it would have been nicer if Omega gave us the longer Seamaster clasp. I kind of miss that half page of inscriptions on the clasp, too.


The simple clasp features a diver extension but no fine adjustment for length.


Diver extension as viewed from the outer side.


Sapphire case back is surrounded by a fine brushed metallic ring.


Model name is properly represented on the case back as well.


This column wheel chronograph movement offers 60 hours of power reserve. In a year or two, we should learn from the collective owners if it is as free of problems as the earlier in-house movements. I will refrain from commenting on the performance of Caliber 9300 at this time as my experience with it is limited. But I can tell you that out of the box accuracy is better than my Ploprof with Caliber 8500 which lost about three seconds daily.


Let’s not forget also that the lume is blue for the most part of the dial, with the exception of green lume on the minute hand and the bezel dot. It’s a nifty and practical idea but I’m not crazy about it. I hope the lume material will age to the same and not different yellow 15 years from now.


And here are the compulsory wristshots…

Too big and too thick for my wrist but I wouldn’t worry about that anymore. For me now it’s the matter of owning a nice watch which is too large for my wrist or not having the opportunity to own and appreciate it at all.


Clasp is a bit too short for people who have already become acquainted with typical Seamaster clasp. Watch comes with one half link which I am not using.


Perhaps the watch will look like a better fit from the perspective of somebody else, looking inward.


Up close and personal with the new POC. You may notice that the black bezel is not really black. It is somewhat grayish and that becomes more pronounced in this shot where flash bounced off and down from the ceiling.


One more close-up shots to demonstrate how effective the AR coating is


The new Planet Ocean Chronograph wears very much like its predecessor. In a way, it is like wearing the Broad Arrow GMT or the Broad Arrow Rattrapante, only thicker and slightly wider in diameter if you can relate more easily to them. I wish I could weigh the watch today but the battery on my digital scale died. I held it side by side with my Ploprof (previously weighed in at 250 grams) and the weight difference is minimal. I would presume that the POC weighs somewhere around 230 grams with the number of the removable links that I still have on the bracelet. No complaints whatsoever about wearing comfort.

I am so glad I waited for this new release. It is as if the patience pays off and this 45.5 mm beast is my reward!

Correction of technical and historical facts is welcome. I haven’t had the chance to sleep much this past week and I can hear the distant protest of my brain cells already. Photographs may have a yellow cast from the wallpaper and a red cast from the Omega watch box itself. And, yes, my DSLR is back-focusing with the macro lens after I had it fixed for a front-focus issue with my primary lens. It was a real pain with this photo session. But I was eager to cope with it as this will be my last watch purchase in quite some time. It’s time for me to take care of other, much neglected interests in life.

Hope you enjoyed this photo review. Bye!



Ruckdee

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