SMP 300 pressure testing

[TheRedBaron]

Hi all - quick question! I have a SMP 300 that I’d like to take for its first yearly pressure test. I swim with it quite often, so I’d like to follow the Omega recommendation.

My local watchmaker only has a pressure taster that goes to 100m, and even the Omega boutiques I’ve called said that they’d have to send it off for about a month.

How/where do you all get your pressure tests done? Should I just part with the watch for a month and send it off?

 

[borre]

That's why I bought an Ultra Deep, just to be sure 👍

 

[borre]

borre

That's why I bought an Ultra Deep, just to be sure 👍

I wonder how long a pressure test will take for that one 😲

 

[Annapolis]

FWIW, I’d be quite happy with 100m. Presumably you’re not swimming at 300 feet below the surface, and that’s plenty of water resistance to withstand the normal vectors of swimming—by an extreme margin.

300m is absurd: way more than pretty much anyone in the world would ever actually need. It’s a technical marvel—a vanity spec—not a practical feature.

I doubt anyone other than Omega could do this for you. You might see if a boutique has the equipment? But otherwise I’d wait for when it needs a full service to get that certification again… and be more than happy with 100m in the meantime.

 

[Archer]

TheRedBaron

My local watchmaker only has a pressure taster that goes to 100m, and even the Omega boutiques I’ve called said that they’d have to send it off for about a month.

Unless you are planning to take the watch deeper than 100m, that should be sufficient. Is the tester your watchmaker has a dry tester? That would be the preferred method for an on the fly test of an assembled watch.

borre

That's why I bought an Ultra Deep, just to be sure 👍

What the watch is rated for has little to do with the life of the seals. I say this often on forums, but I have never received a watch that had water inside it that failed because it was taken past it's rated depth, or because someone dove into a pool, or were able to move their arms at the speed of Aquaman under water. Watches leak because people don't maintain the water resistance, and with dive watches in particular often believe that because a watch is rated for a great depth, it gives them some sort of "insurance" where they can ignore the maintenance for a longer period of time before something happens.

All the watches I've received that had water inside had that water in them for one of two reasons - washing hands, or doing the dishes. These are dive watches with screw down crowns...none of those bells and whistles matter if you don't maintain the seals.

Annapolis

I doubt anyone other than Omega could do this for you.

Any Omega certified watchmaker can test it to the full depth rating plus 25% as Omega standards require - they must have the equipment to do this testing in order to be fully certified.

 

[Annapolis]

Archer

Any Omega certified watchmaker can test it to the full depth rating plus 25% as Omega standards require - they must have the equipment to do this testing in order to be fully certified.

That’s good to know.

 

[borre]

Archer

Unless you are planning to take the watch deeper than 100m, that should be sufficient. Is the tester your watchmaker has a dry tester? That would be the preferred method for an on the fly test of an assembled watch.



What the watch is rated for has little to do with the life of the seals. I say this often on forums, but I have never received a watch that had water inside it that failed because it was taken past it's rated depth, or because someone dove into a pool, or were able to move their arms at the speed of Aquaman under water. Watches leak because people don't maintain the water resistance, and with dive watches in particular often believe that because a watch is rated for a great depth, it gives them some sort of "insurance" where they can ignore the maintenance for a longer period of time before something happens.

All the watches I've received that had water inside had that water in them for one of two reasons - washing hands, or doing the dishes. These are dive watches with screw down crowns...none of those bells and whistles matter if you don't maintain the seals.



Any Omega certified watchmaker can test it to the full depth rating plus 25% as Omega standards require - they must have the equipment to do this testing in order to be fully certified.

Indeed, dept rating is worth nothing with a bad seal.

Every Omega certified watchmaker can also test to 6000m + 25% ?

 

[Archer]

borre

Every Omega certified watchmaker can also test to 6000m + 25% ?

The Ultra whatever it's called must go back to Omega. Everything else can be done by an Omega certified watchmaker.

 

[Speed2Sea]

Annapolis

FWIW, I’d be quite happy with 100m. Presumably you’re not swimming at 300 feet below the surface, and that’s plenty of water resistance to withstand the normal vectors of swimming—by an extreme margin.

300m is absurd: way more than pretty much anyone in the world would ever actually need. It’s a technical marvel—a vanity spec—not a practical feature.

I doubt anyone other than Omega could do this for you. You might see if a boutique has the equipment? But otherwise I’d wait for when it needs a full service to get that certification again… and be more than happy with 100m in the meantime.

To your point:

The deepest scuba dive ever recorded was achieved by Ahmed Gabr, a 41-year-old Egyptian on September 18, 2014, in the Red Sea off the coast of Dahab, Egypt. Gabr reached a depth of 332.35 meters (1,090 feet 4.5 inches) after nearly 10 years of preparation and training

 

[Walrus]

The only reason I’d be more than 10ft deep in water is if I were dead. Or rescuing my cat if he got carried away at the beach he loves the water and goes deep.

 

[Annapolis]

Re: that record setting dive, I suspect he wasn’t wearing a $6,000 luxury watch when he did it.

 

[Speed2Sea]

Annapolis

Re: that record setting dive, I suspect he wasn’t wearing a $6,000 luxury watch when he did it.

Word is that he was wearing a Speedmaster 😁😁😁 Ha!

In this Facebook post from 2014, Ahmed says his first choice for a dive watch is his Seiko SBBN013 Master Marine. However, it is uncertain if he used that specific watch during the record dive.

Edited: Jun 18, 2024

 

[TheRedBaron]

Archer

Unless you are planning to take the watch deeper than 100m, that should be sufficient. Is the tester your watchmaker has a dry tester? That would be the preferred method for an on the fly test of an assembled watch..

Thanks Archer. I have taken it SCUBA diving, and I plan to keep doing that, but only up to a depth of 40m. Anything below that and I wear my diving watch.

Yes, the tester they have is a dry tester. Thank you very much for the assuring response.