BaselWorld 2018: Introducing The New Omega Seamaster Diver 300M

For me, I think I will buy. I have had it with the 2500 movement. My Planet Ocean has become magnetized three times! Twice last year while traveling overseas. Upon my return to the U.S. from the second trip I went to Omega in Jersey and they de-magged it. Tested it and it was back to +3 a day. Two weeks later, it was gaining 30 seconds! It had been magnetized again! I had to drive five hours to get it de-magged and tested. No clue how it was magnetized for the third time.

Okay so got it back to +3 and it was running consistently, then I stuck it in my safe and haven't worn it since. That was October last year, right before I moved to China (for a 2 year stint). I wore my Seamaster 200 "Pre-Bond" quartz instead and no longer have to worry about my watch being magnetized. Great beater. Miss the Planet Ocean on my wrist, but wasn't going to risk it again.

My best friend had the Seamaster Professional with the 2500d movement and his was magnetized twice. After the second time he was so disgusted he sold it at a huge loss. Everyone i know with the 2500 movement has had this issue.

I love the first gen Seamaster 300 Professional, especially the 2254 and the Electric Blue. Those two are perfection in their design (those sword hands are gorgeous!), but I will not buy one due to the movements not being anti-magnetic.

And so when I get back to the U.S. I will sell my Planet Ocean, at a huge loss, and buy this new Omega.

#1. I like the new design and relocated date.
#2. The look of the wave dial is fantastic to my eyes.
#3. I love that it has the micro-adjusting clasp!
#4. 42mm is perfect for me. 41mm seems a tad small. 45mm is a tad big.
#5. And that 8800 movement should allow me to travel through airports without worrying about my watch being magnetized.

I am in. 100%.

Finally, I should have an Omega diver that I can actually keep and not flip.

Wave length to large 😒
Bond bracelet 😬
Skelleton hands 😲
Modern movement 😗
That grey and blue dial 🥰.

Have to see it live.

It gets my vote

What amazed me about the old wave dial was how the waves could look 3D as if they were coming out of the dial right at you, and yet the printing was flat and right on top of the waves and not distorted by the 3D waves, so that I could stare at the optical illusion for hours.

This wave dial doesn't have any of that mind blowing goodness.

It's not terrible, and I wont say I'll never buy one, but I can say that I'll ever sell my blue Bond quartz with waves or my black SMPc with glossy dial.

I actually like the grey. On the more general sense I’d like to see in person to really evaluate the dial, wave pattern etc.

I don’t like the date at six on this model. I always like the assimetry of the smp300 which is enhanced by the bezel shape and of course the HE valve. The model is elegant within a very original shape. I’d prefer the date at 3, or even 4 or 5.

Size doesn’t bother me in principle, I have to see it in person. It’s like the new AT size. I get it, but is it an improvement? Not really, just a different size.... maybe more proportioned.... maybe

For nearly a glorious decade they have been not. Looking back in nostalgia:

However the Blake version is a SMP Diver, wasn't it? That's all I was saying.

Very cool! I like it. Better see it in person

He is sporting the non-LE Railmaster 😀

I think the waves are way to bold on all but one or two color dials. Not a fan of the skeleton hands either.

I was going to ask what the hell hes wearing, for a second I thought older AT, with the rio swim lane strap.

But it’s a two tone NATO, and no idea with the face yet. Probably the Rail like you said.


*edit, picture attached of the RM he’s wearing.

Though I prefer the older Blake wave dials, I'm dithering over whether the new iteration or the Rio 2016 Olympic Limited Edition wave execution would take second place (a distant second place mind you 😉).

This new one, no, I won'd be buying one. But my (now previous generation) SMP 300, sure. Yes I have a dive computer, but I always wear a mechanical dive watch as a backup.

I have a soft spot for the Seamaster Professional, as it was my first "real" watch. I've owned at least seven of them, including Bond models (quartz and automatic), ceramic ones, sword hands ones (2254/2255), etc., but eventually flipped them for the beauty of the Planet Ocean (of which I now own three). My daily wearer is the 39.5 PO with the 8800 movement.

My reaction to this new SMP is really mixed. The HE valve is the worst part about it. Cartoonishly large. It also now lines up with the 10:00 marker; a small point, but this was a pretty handy way of spotting fake SMPs in the past.

The lume-filled indices on the new model also seem considerably larger in proportion to the dial than the previous models, kind of like a Seiko Sumo diver, which I think gives up a little of the subtlety of the previous model but makes it more "toolish." I think this model will be harder to "pull off with a suit" than previous models because of the larger and more prominent white indices.

With the larger indices everywhere else, and the huge ones at 12:00, the indices kind of give the visual sensation of a circle with a hole in the bottom. The 6:00 date works better on the new AT or the Globemaster, to my eyes at least, than this model.

On the wave dial, I agree with others, this must be seen to be fully evaluated.

The 8800 movement and micro adjustment clasp are definite positives. This one also has more "U-Shaped" bracelet end links that angle down almost 90 degrees from the lugs, just like the newer PO 39.5. From a fit standpoint, they are definitely a positive for the PO 39.5, as they let the bracelet more easily curve around the wrist without gaps around the lugs. That might help blunt the impact of the slight increase in case diameter.

At this point, not seeing a lot of reason why one would pick this over a Planet Ocean 39.5, which has the same movement but is a step up, and can be bought LNIB used for around $4K.

I was just handling a 2254 thinking how perfect it is only to fiddle with it trying to turn that scalloped bezel! I will say that on the SMPc or even the 2534 it is easier to turn and this one will probably follow suit. There is a bit of a trick to turning the bezel but I never get it right on the 2254. In a way I see it as a plus since it is more difficult to turn it without intending to.