Hello, I am new to the forum, and an happy owner of few Omegas in my family. I apologize if this argument has already been discussed, I did search bud did not found anything about it, so I decided to check with the community. Nothing important, just a personal though I have about the PO dial.

I recently gifted my wife a Planet Ocean 39.5 mm, which she absolutely loves. I love the watch as well: I am impressed by the built and details quality, and I am considering the chrono version for myself.

I have on the radar the Planet Ocean Chronograph, which ticks almost all my marks. Especially the movement, and its magnetic resistance, is a plus for me, as in my job I have the chance to run into or work close to strong magnetic fields or apparatuses. I also like divers in general for their robustness, and the bezel serves me well as a minute-precise extra timer.

I want my “personal” watch follows me in my daily life, as well as in any reasonable adventure, so to “collect and record” my own history, in some way, since my love for tool watches in general. This is what makes watches special to me: they can tell the story, or even many stories, of the people who have worn them. Nothing against simply collecting them, I have few ones sitting in a drawer most of the time as well, but in general, my daily watch is the most important one to me. My grandfather Omega is still with me, and seeing it beating after surviving through WWII and many other adventures on his wrist, makes me connecting with fond memories and happy moments.

Now, about the Planet Ocean Chrono, my (silly?) remark: the hours markers break the second scale, making it impossible to finely gauge the actual elapsed time, if the seconds hand stops over them. Moreover, at a quick glance, they even make it difficult to swiftly recognize which second the hand is closest to, when it is above the markers. I know, nowadays who really uses mechanical watches for precise/professional timekeeping? Nobody. Yet, I tend to use them, mostly because I enjoy it, and time to time they even turn out to be practical tools.

However, while nobody will ever use the PO, or any similar watch for that matter, to actually dive to 600m, the watch has been designed to survive it, perfectly meeting the specifications. So, on the same fashion, why to make a chronograph which does not allow you to read the time with its intrinsic precision (¼ of second for practical purposes) 20% of the times (12/60) you use it? It is like saying it is resistant to 600m depth, but only if you do not stop diving at exactly 100m, 200m, 300m, …, in which cases water will flow in! We all know that these watches are no more the divers tool of the trade, yet they still are purposeful built machines, so I would expect some thoughtful design when it comes to their core performance.

I know the Seamaster Professional 300 is a great alternative, with the same movement, and actually offers a dial with perfect seconds scale legibility. I also consider the SP having a more legible dial in general, yet I much prefer the Planet Ocean design and bracelet (I owned a non-chronograph SP, and did not like too much the bezel shape, and definitely the bracelet). An alternative I like is the Blancpain Bathyscaphe Chrono (which has the advantage of being thinner), but that one is out of my budget.

To get back to the point: anyone other than me considers, or has considered, such detail a relevant issue in the Planet Ocean Chrono?


Thanks for the attention, and all the best to everyone for this new year!

Bardotto

 

I don’t see it as a big issue. Even if the second scale is broken, it should be easy to estimate if you can see the other lines. Not sure my eyes are good enough for that...

Anyways... timing something to that degree of precision really should be done on a dedicated or digital device