Style Edit: 7 new Omega Seamaster models for 2023 – take a deep dive into the Swiss watchmaker’s classic collection, reimagined from dressy to rugged
Since 1948, the Seamaster collection has helped to make Omega synonymous with the sea. Now, for 2023, the storied Swiss luxury watchmaker has taken a deep dive into the collection, expanding it with a range of seven new models that trace a journey from the surface of the ocean to the inky darkness beneath. Their progression from dressy to rugged is also marked by a gradation from bright to dark in the use of the range’s distinctive Summer Blue shade.
The new timepieces are a continuation of the rich tradition of Omega dive watches that stretches back even further than the introduction of the Seamaster. It began in 1932, with the introduction of the Marine, the first watch sold to ordinary diving enthusiasts, not just military customers. Featuring a protective outer case as well as an inner case that contained the delicate components, it was tough enough to withstand a 73-metre dive beneath the waters of Lake Geneva.
It was the demands of the military during the Second World War, though, that really gave divers’ watch technology a boost. Omega supplied more than 110,000 wristwatches to British forces, allowing the manufacture to hone its expertise in water resistance, anti-magnetism and robustness.
Three years after the war ended, the Seamaster was born. Putting the lessons Omega had learned from its military adventures into a civilian watch, it was just as at home on land as at sea. Its key innovation was the introduction of the O-ring, a rubber gasket that quickly became standard in divers’ watches.
The collection continued to further define the codes of the modern divers’ watch with the introduction in 1957 of the Seamaster 300. Immediately eye catching for its outsize luminous indexes and numerals, it also introduced a key piece of technology: the bidirectional rotating bezel.
Model after groundbreaking model followed, with the introduction of Omega’s Marine Division in the late 1960s helping to stimulate yet more innovation. Over the years, its watches have accompanied many of the world’s most noted explorers and adventurers on their exploits. Legendary diver Jacques Cousteau tested out the Seamaster 600; free diver Jacques Mayol took the Seamaster 120 “Big Blue” down to a then-record 101 metres in 1981; and the Ultra Deep accompanied Vescovo in his sub to the very bottom of the ocean. Expect Omega to continue to be the choice of those who push life to its limits, beneath the water and above it.
1. Aqua Terra
The emblematic dress watch of the Seamaster collection, the Aqua Terra has been notable since its introduction in 2002 for combining a classic gents’ watch aesthetic with a discernible marine influence. The piece is now available in three new models, in 38mm and 41mm sizes, which come with symmetrical cases and crowns in stainless steel.
2. Aqua Terra Worldtimer
A very special edition of the Aqua Terra, the Aqua Terra Worldtimer features a spectacular depiction of the globe from above at the centre of its dial. The 43mm watch also features 24-hour reading with day and night indications, and a circle of global destinations in silver around the dial. Like the new Aqua Terra, it’s water resistant to a depth of 150 metres.
3. Seamaster 300
Double that depth, and you have one of the classics from the Seamaster range: the Seamaster 300. The latest version of the watch – first introduced in 1957 – features a symmetrical 41mm case and a crown in polished and brushed stainless steel, along with rhodium-plated hands, recessed hour markers and open numerals in light blue Super-LumiNova.
4. Diver 300M
Rated to the same impressive depth – well beyond the limits of regular scuba gear, in fact – the Diver 300M is a 42mm take on a model first released in 1993. It comes in a stainless steel case featuring a Summer Blue wave-pattern ceramic dial that’s surrounded by a diving scale, with rhodium-plated skeleton hands and raised indexes in Super-LumiNova, plus a helium escape valve.
5. Planet Ocean 600M
The Planet Ocean 600M nominally would allow divers to plunge even further into the bathymetric depths. Originally launched in 2005, when Omega introduced a coaxial escapement to the Seamaster range, it’s water resistant to 600 metres and now comes in a 39.5mm stainless steel case, inside which is a Summer Blue ceramic dial surrounded by a blue ceramic bezel with a diving scale.
6. Ploprof
The new Ploprof reinvigorates a classic from the 1970s. Its unmistakable design features a uniquely shaped case in O-megasteel, a screwed-in crown and a security pusher at 2 o’clock, surrounding a sun-brushed Summer Blue dial. Also water resistant to 600 metres, it’s incredibly robust, with the crystal directly fixed to the monobloc case.
7. Ultra Deep
The prize for the most rugged dive watch of all, however, goes to the Ultra Deep. This is based on the watch that accompanied submersible pilot Victor Vescovo on his record breaking dive down 10,928 metres to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and it’s guaranteed water resistant to 6,000 metres. Inside a case in O-megasteel, its lacquered dial depicts that journey down to the deepest of all depths.
- The 7 new models get progressively darker as their depth ratings increase – from the dressy new Aqua Terra Worldtimer to the Seamaster 300, Diver 300M, Planet Ocean 600M, Ploprof and Ultra Deep
- Diver Jacques Cousteau tested out the Seamaster 600, Jacques Mayol made a then-record free dive with the Seamaster 120 ‘Big Blue’ and Victor Vescovo took his Ultra Deep to the bottom of the Mariana Trench