Newest purchase: Peculiar Seamaster Mariner III

A week ago I decided to jump on this watch solely based on a couple of low-res pictures. Today it arrived and I thought that I would share it with you.

It is a 1983 Seamaster Mariner III, cal. 1430, ref. 396.09850. Coming straight from the top of the quartz crisis it is a peculiar blend of a Constellation and a Seamaster. I see that it has been postet to OF a couple of times, but in general there is very little reference of it online.

The seller said that it has been in his grand dads drawer for the past 30 years so in that sense it is the watch that we are all looking for. The condition is quite pristine - especially the dial and crystal, whilst the bracelet has few superficial scratches. The purple-ish discolouration on the hippocamp emblem is simply the protective plastic which is starting to deteriorate at places. It can be completely peeled off. I have not given it a clean yet so any spots that you see may very well be just dirt.

I cannot agree with myself on whether I like this style or not - and whether I should pass it on or keep it. What do you guys think of it?

IMHO its a keeper!

It doesn’t suit you, give it to me!

Only you can decide whether you like the style or not. Personally, I think it looks lovely.

Great design, ordinary movement, maybe a tad small (what's the diameter?) they should really have it on display at the museum...but they don't !
Where did you get the Mariner III name from ? I'd written an article around 2009/2010 where I got a few names wrong hehe...according to Omega this is the Mariner III : https://www.omegawatches.com/watch-omega-seamaster-mariner-iii-st-396-0986

Diameter is 33, but doesn't look that small due to the case design in my opinion. I got the name from the Omega database entry: https://www.omegawatches.com/watch-omega-seamaster-mariner-iii-st-396-0985

The watch you are linking to is the 396.0986 whilst this is the 396.0985. The names of the two watches seem to be the same though..

Cleaned it up and took a couple of photos. Stunning.

I had one similar to this i picked up a few years back but a Constellation, My first omega. I liked it a lot despite being Quartz. I think it wears a little bigger than the 33mm suggests and i loved the slimline profile on the wrist . It was moved along about a year ago

That's not the same watch and it's officially 36mm if memory serves. I would say it's more "interesting" with it's 1332/1333 movement (Project "Lynx", that could be the last Omega "in house" quartz movement), striped dial and it's linked with the Omega Marine Chronometer Saga since it was launched at the same time as the 1525 deck chronometer designed for the French Navy.

Its cool, Id keep it.
It kinda looks like. take off of the Royal Oak LOL

very nice , congrats

Yes just appeared to look similar but not the same, I like your Seamaster. It looks nice, i would keep it

The comment is by webvan and not me (op). Anyhow, thanks for sharing. Interesting that Omega would have two so similar watches in two different lines at that time. One would have thought that the design would differ more so that there would be a watch for each taste.