Planet Ocean 600M Advice

[hj245]

Afternoon all,


Looking for a bit of advice and to possibly vent. 3 months ago I was gifted a Planet Ocean 600M by my soon to be wife. 2 days ago I was unable to open the clasp and remove the watch. After about an hour of trying (but not forcing) the clasp opened. I began to inspect and noticed that a screw was missing from the clasp. I’ve taken the watch into my AD and was told it’ll need to be sent to Omega and likely take 8-10 weeks. As you can imagine I’m pretty unhappy, mostly because I get married in 2 weeks but also due to the watch effectively breaking so soon. Also, to an amateur like me it’s just 1 screw. This is my first luxury watch so please enlighten me if I’m wrong. Mainly interested in other peoples thoughts here or if by any chance anyone has a suggestion

 

[140dave]

Sorry to hear.
Any chance you have an OB nearby that you can check with vs an AD? You may have more luck if they have an in-house technician.

If not you can always explain the wedding situation and ask them (your AD) to swap bracelets as a favor. Some will, some won’t, it isn’t policy to do it but sometimes sales people will make a call if they feel it is warranted.

 

[hj245]

That’s a a fantastic idea, I will certainly try

 

[Donn Chambers]

H hj245

Afternoon all,


Looking for a bit of advice and to possibly vent. 3 months ago I was gifted a Planet Ocean 600M by my soon to be wife. 2 days ago I was unable to open the clasp and remove the watch. After about an hour of trying (but not forcing) the clasp opened. I began to inspect and noticed that a screw was missing from the clasp. I’ve taken the watch into my AD and was told it’ll need to be sent to Omega and likely take 8-10 weeks. As you can imagine I’m pretty unhappy, mostly because I get married in 2 weeks but also due to the watch effectively breaking so soon. Also, to an amateur like me it’s just 1 screw. This is my first luxury watch so please enlighten me if I’m wrong. Mainly interested in other peoples thoughts here or if by any chance anyone has a suggestion

Unfortunately, this is a known issue with Omega clasps — it’s infrequent but does happen. See this thread:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-300-clasp-issue.132461/

You really shouldn’t have to send in the entire watch to get this done, just the bracelet, so I would fight them on that, maybe even call Omega directly or go to a boutique.

For your wedding, just wear the watch on a nice leather strap.

 

[Meme-Dweller]

I would be wondering why there was a screw missing on the clasp of a new watch. Replacing the screw would not fix the issue, as the missing screw may have allowed some parts inside the clasp to shift, specifically one or both of the tiny little springs giving tension to the push buttons and the two locking hooks. If they're out of alignment, broken, tangled, or just old, that clasp would stick as you described.

I replaced both clasp springs on one of my old Planet Oceans recently because they were old/weak, and as
I picked them up with tweezers, they both broke in half (not pictured). Replacement was pretty quick, took about 5 minutes.

With Omega, they're just going to replace the entire clasp with a new one as opposed to diagnosing & repairing.

 

[hj245]

Donn Chambers

Unfortunately, this is a known issue with Omega clasps — it’s infrequent but does happen. See this thread:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-300-clasp-issue.132461/

You really shouldn’t have to send in the entire watch to get this done, just the bracelet, so I would fight them on that, maybe even call Omega directly or go to a boutique.

For your wedding, just wear the watch on a nice leather strap.

Donn Chambers

Unfortunately, this is a known issue with Omega clasps — it’s infrequent but does happen. See this thread:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-seamaster-300-clasp-issue.132461/

You really shouldn’t have to send in the entire watch to get this done, just the bracelet, so I would fight them on that, maybe even call Omega directly or go to a boutique.

For your wedding, just wear the watch on a nice leather strap.

thanks for sharing, I hadn’t come across. What a shame it’s a known issue. Like you and someone else said, I think a new strap is my only option for a quick fix.

thanks all!

 

[Annapolis]

As documented elsewhere on this forum, I had this same issue happen with my 300m professional diver—twice. Both with the original clasp and the one Omega replaced it with. After the new one came in I sold the watch. I know it’s an issue that’s supposedly been fixed, and most owners haven’t experienced it. But I wouldn’t buy another one of those until they’ve done a redesign.

…none of which helps you.

What might: after it happened the second time and my AD wanted to (again) send the entire watch back to Omega (and refused, again, just to give me a new one entirely) I insisted that they just send the bracelet in and give me—free of charge—a new Omega rubber strap with hardware. They did, and I was able to keep wearing the watch for the 6 weeks or so that the bracelet was gone. (Obviously I sold the strap too once I ditched the watch.)

I would firmly but politely request that they do this for you. A $$$$ watch shouldn’t have this issue, and if it costs Omega a $$$ strap (which probably costs them $ to produce) to keep a customer happy, then they shouldn’t balk. Just be sure to request the hardware (pin buckle, spring bars) too, as those are packaged separately. My AD tried to get away with just sending the strap: that was an unpleasant conversation for them.

 

[hj245]

Annapolis

As documented elsewhere on this forum, I had this same issue happen with my 300m professional diver—twice. Both with the original clasp and the one Omega replaced it with. After the new one came in I sold the watch. I know it’s an issue that’s supposedly been fixed, and most owners haven’t experienced it. But I wouldn’t buy another one of those until they’ve done a redesign.

…none of which helps you.

What might: after it happened the second time and my AD wanted to (again) send the entire watch back to Omega (and refused, again, just to give me a new one entirely) I insisted that they just send the bracelet in and give me—free of charge—a new Omega rubber strap with hardware. They did, and I was able to keep wearing the watch for the 6 weeks or so that the bracelet was gone. (Obviously I sold the strap too once I ditched the watch.)

I would firmly but politely request that they do this for you. A $$$$ watch shouldn’t have this issue, and if it costs Omega a $$$ strap (which probably costs them $ to produce) to keep a customer happy, then they shouldn’t balk. Just be sure to request the hardware (pin buckle, spring bars) too, as those are packaged separately. My AD tried to get away with just sending the strap: that was an unpleasant conversation for them.

Good advice, thank you

 

[Ofan]

Annapolis

As documented elsewhere on this forum, I had this same issue happen with my 300m professional diver—twice. Both with the original clasp and the one Omega replaced it with.

Do you remember when your watch was manufactured and when you first received the replacement class?

I would be interested to know whether it only affected the first deliveries of the Diver 300M or also those that are currently being delivered.

Perhaps Omega has revised the Clasp a little in recent years.

 

[Annapolis]

I bought it in 2021---can't know when it was actually manufactured. Quite possible it sat in the dealer's inventory for a few years, as these aren't fast sellers, I don't think.

Read all about it here (including all the details---a few of which I may have gotten wrong in my post here. It's been a few years.):

https://omegaforums.net/threads/clasp-stuck-in-brand-new-seamaster-300-professional-diver.135932/

 

[ErichPryde]

@hj245 Super sorry to hear this happened to you. Last year the same thing happened to my SM300- I contacted my local Boutique and they ordered the new clasp to location and installed it for me under warranty once it arrived. They didn't even ask me to send the watch to Omega. I find that suggestion fairly absurd on the surface, but assume it is because either the AD in question is not capable of installing the new clasp or because Omega does not rate them as qualified to handle the repair or has to "verify" the watch for themselves. It's not a great customer service solution, but I understand Omega can't just take every bracelet walking in off the street to replace under warranty without some sort of double check.


If whatever repair requires you to be without a watch, I'd probably throw it on a NATO or rubber strap, and then send it in after the wedding. I hope that doesn't happen- but whatever does happen, it is just a watch, and I genuinely hope it has a fairly minimal impact on your wedding (but understand how frustrating this situation is!). Congratulations on the wedding! I hope you and your partner have many, many happy years together.



@Ofan my SM300 was purchased in Aug 2023, and given that it was a Summer Blue, was likely fairly new production. My replacement clasp has some minor cosmetic differences. I cannot be sure, but given the issues Omega has had with these clasps, I think it's possible that they changed the source of the clasps they use. The new one hasn't given me any issues.