zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: Hello Everyone in the Omega forum… I am not
: exactly a "long time lurker" but,
: I did do some serious scanning of this forum
: when I was researching this, my latest watch
: purchase. So, now that I am in possession of
: a new Titanium Seamaster 300, I thought I
: would share the experience with fellow fans
: passionate about Omegas.

: A bit about myself -- I am an oceanographer,
: and am actually one of the few who dives
: professionally for their job. My current
: collection consists almost entirely of dive
: watches and includes a vintage Doxa Sea
: Rambler, Heuer Pro1000, Seiko Diver, among
: some other odds and ends (Casio G-shock, and
: yes, a Rolex Day Date). Alas, I brutally
: abuse my time pieces, once I put them on my
: arm, they hardly come off. So, after
: mangling my Heuer in a hiking fall, and my
: trusty Doxa had been repaired and serviced
: so many times it is now a total Frankenwatch
: not fit for dive operation, it was time to
: get a new "trusty steed".

: In my research for a new, automatic dive
: chronometer, it came down between a
: Seamaster and a Submariner (a pretty common
: decision) and after researching things like
: this forum, I was coming down heavy on the
: side of an Omega. A trip to Leo Hamel
: Jewelers in San Diego won me over, and I
: walked out with a new Titanium Seamaster
: 2231.50 (a big thank you to the wonderful
: folks at Leo Hamel, I couldn't recommend
: their service more).

: Why the Seamaster? I decided I needed another
: reliable, solid and trouble-free piece.
: Being automatic is important to me, because
: I have been trapped out in the field with a
: watch failing due to battery problems. Of
: course the Submariner is a beautiful, iconic
: time piece and does possess a certain cache.
: However, I feel the current prices are
: ridiculous and Submariners (and all the
: copies) seem to be on everyone's arm as
: merely a piece of 'bling'. For functionality
: and performance with respect to cost, I
: think Omega beats the Rolex hands down.

: As I mentioned I dive a lot for work, typically
: 100 - 200 work dives a year. I have done 4
: saturation dive missions and often trimix
: dive on projects as deep as 100 meters using
: SCUBA as well as a closed-circuit
: rebreather. I use various dive computers for
: primary time keeping, but need a rugged
: watch as a back up timer. I wear my dive
: watches (including this Omega) mercilessly;
: in the pool, the ocean around the globe,
: under ice, in caves, in the shower, in the
: sun and sand, in the machine shop and during
: construction and work on ships in the field.
: The crystals, cases and bands all get beat
: up and scratched -- hard won battle scars
: (the clasp on this Seamaster is already
: getting 'christened'). I figure that if a
: watch is advertised as being rugged
: chronometer built for diving in the 'real
: world' it better be able to handle a dunk in
: a soapy, hot shower, get crusted in salt and
: pretty much withstand anything that my arm
: can.

: What I like about the Seamaster.

: The dial is totally functional and easy to
: read, even in low light. A brief blast with
: a dive light at night and the dial glows
: like a beacon. The bezel has one of the
: nicest 'feels' of any that I have tried with
: good, positive positioning. The band is
: extremely comfortable and locks securely
: closed. It adjusted easily even for my
: smaller wrist diameter. I opted for the
: Titanium model because I fell in love with
: its distinctive coloration and lack of
: "shiny bling..". For its size, it
: is amazingly light -- it disappears on your
: arm. Nobody has ever commented on it (and I
: feel it is advantageous to not advertise its
: value when walking about in some locations).
: And, I must say that I was impressed with
: the Omega packaging (certifications, box,
: etc).

: A bit on case size. I know that many people
: have struggled with the decision between the
: full and mid-size case. I thought I would
: have a similar issue, however, after one
: look at both the full and mid-size side by
: side and on my wrist, the decision was easy.
: Go for the full size. The mid-size is just
: too small, even on my relatively small wrist
: it looked unusual. I was wearing my old Doxa
: in the store and it has the same size case
: at the Seamaster, and although it is a total
: 'brick' (very thick), it looked much smaller
: sitting beside the Seamaster because it has
: a relatively smaller dial for its case size.
: However, on my wrist, the Seamaster looked
: about the same as the Doxa and not
: overwhelming in presence (and wow! so much
: lighter!)

: So, right now I couldn't be happier with my
: purchase. Time will tell if the watch is as
: dependable and rugged as I suspect it is.

: Here are a few token pictures of the Seamaster
: as well as a somewhat blurry shot of it in
: action a few weeks ago (I apologize for the
: low quality of the images!). For the dive
: geeks out there, the computer is indicating,
: among other bits information, a current
: depth of 263 feet, a first decompression
: stop at 156 feet and a gas trimix with 15%
: oxygen and 55% helium. When wearing a
: wetsuit, I tend to keep the dial and band
: under my sleeve for protection.

: Dale

Very cool post.

In regards to your watch collection, you have a set of tool watches. We have recently started a tool watch forum, ChronoTools, and would love to see all of your watches there.

As a matter of fact, this thread probably deserves reposting over there.

thanks for posting

Sam aka Hewybaby