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What’s the One Omega You’d Keep If You Could Only Keep One?

Felix_La_PuBelle
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In reality the factual answer is this one because my wife gave it to me:
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But if I set that fact aside as a thought experiment it’s probably this one:
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and of course I would have buried these two in the yard and said I got rid of them until I can come back later to retrieve them:
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OneTwo
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If we’re only talking my omegas and not the Tudors, this one will never leave the box
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BAJJ
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This is quite the tough question 😁. I have 5 Omega’s, 3 vintage and 2 modern. Do I pick the first Omega I bought, the SMP 300, or my most worn, the C case with linen dial, or the most elegant, Constellation 167.005, or the last one I bought, my Globemaster.
Definitely won’t be a Speedmaster as I flogged my 3861 a while back.
Surprised to say, but I think it would be the Globemaster, it spans both vintage and modern and to my eye it has a very appealing wrist presence.
Thankfully this is hypothetical 🤣.
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B
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I own 7 Omegas at the moment including RM, SMP, AT, PO(2) and SM(2). This is the one I'd keep:

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Felix_La_PuBelle
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Trog Trog
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This is a no brainer for me, if I owned one. And bonus that my wife may not notice this is different than the one she gave me. 🏴‍☠️
 
Tek74
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The only Omega I currently have is a Speedy Hesalite. As much as I enjoy it, if I could only have one Omega forever, it would probably be a Seamaster 300 Diver variant due to its versatility. Yes, this will likely be my next Omega purchase.
 
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Tek74 Tek74
The only Omega I currently have is a Speedy Hesalite. As much as I enjoy it, if I could only have one Omega forever, it would probably be a Seamaster 300 Diver variant due to its versatility. Yes, this will likely be my next Omega purchase.
I understand your reasoning but I own Planet Oceans and a 300 and IMO the AquaTerra is more versatile as an only watch. It's casual yet still dressy enough for almost everything and with 150m water resistance I wouldn't hesitate to dive with it. I bought a DateJust over 30 years ago and the stated water resistance was 100m (IIRC). I took it diving in Okinawa the next day down to about 120ft. I wanted to know whether or not the 100m claim was true. It was and I dove with that DateJust for the next year until I got transferred back to the USA. I'm convinced my AquaTerra would be up to the task as well. Don't misunderstand. I love my Omega divers but for the hypothetical theme of this thread I'd choose the AT for my only Omega.
 
YY77
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I bought a DateJust over 30 years ago and the stated water resistance was 100m (IIRC). I took it diving in Okinawa the next day down to about 120ft. I wanted to know whether or not the 100m claim was true. It was
🤔
So you didn't actually test if it was WR to 100m then?
 
Tek74
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I understand your reasoning but I own Planet Oceans and a 300 and IMO the AquaTerra is more versatile as an only watch. It's casual yet still dressy enough for almost everything and with 150m water resistance I wouldn't hesitate to dive with it. I bought a DateJust over 30 years ago and the stated water resistance was 100m (IIRC). I took it diving in Okinawa the next day down to about 120ft. I wanted to know whether or not the 100m claim was true. It was and I dove with that DateJust for the next year until I got transferred back to the USA. I'm convinced my AquaTerra would be up to the task as well. Don't misunderstand. I love my Omega divers but for the hypothetical theme of this thread I'd choose the AT for my only Omega.
You made a good point on the Seamaster Aqua Terra maybe being the most versatile Omega. Good all-around looks and acceptable 150m water resistance. I'm just drawn to a specific 300 Diver variant, so my initial opinion was surely a bit jaded.
 
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YY77 YY77
🤔
So you didn't actually test if it was WR to 100m then?
Obviously no. That would be over 300ft deep. I'm a sport diver not a pro. The deepest I ever took it was 180ft (60m). That was the deepest no decomp depth we computed. This was all before everyone had dive computers. Everything was done manually and we timed our dives on wristwatches. We used Navy dive tables for that particular dive to figure out how deep we could safely go because civilian sport dive tables stopped at 120ft (might have been 150). In any case we wanted to go deeper than that so we used the Navy dive tables. If any one is interested the safe bottom time at 180ft for a no decomp dive was 8 minutes. We planned and executed a decomp stop at 20ft on the way back up just because.

The point of the conversation was that you don't need a watch specifically designated as dive watch to use while diving. The watch I used was a Rolex Oyster Perpetual DateJust. It's whole history is based on the idea of it being extremely water resistant so I decided to test it and see. It actually was up to the task and I had no issues with it over the course of a year's regular diving. Any watch properly certified (and regularly tested) as having a water resistance sufficient for your intended dive depth plus a little margin will work just fine. The DJ was rated at being approximately 3 times the depth I would normally dive to. That was more than enough margin in my mind. Face it, most of a dive watch's aesthetic is just that, aesthetic. Any watch properly certified to 100m water resistance will serve as a dive watch for a sport diver. Besides, almost no one is using a dive watch these days to time their dive. It's all about dive computers. Serious divers might use a watch as a backup. An AquaTerra (or OP) is just as capable a desk diver as any 'real' dive watch and most 'real' dive watches have never been any where near an air tank.
Edited:
 
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ErichKeane ErichKeane
120ft? Thats Speedmaster depth!
In theory yes but without a screw down crown I wouldn't take my Speedy diving! Plus the safe depth margin is a little too slim. About 30ft. That's way too close for comfort. However, technically it's doable but not with my watch. 🤣
 
ErichKeane
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In theory yes but without a screw down crown I wouldn't take my Speedy diving! Plus the safe depth margin is a little too slim. About 30ft. That's way too close for comfort. However, technically it's doable but not with my watch. 🤣
I hear this reasonably often? But TBH I can't remember EVER discovering the crown on my watch 'out' when I didn't want it to be. IS this something that happens to people? Do you just look down at your wrist during the day and go 'oh shoot, how did my crown come out'?
 
B
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ErichKeane ErichKeane
I hear this reasonably often? But TBH I can't remember EVER discovering the crown on my watch 'out' when I didn't want it to be. IS this something that happens to people? Do you just look down at your wrist during the day and go 'oh shoot, how did my crown come out'?
It has happened to me but the truth is I almost certainly never screwed the crown down in the first place. I agree with you. It seems extremely unlikely if not down right impossible for a crown to become unscrewed during normal wear.
 
YY77
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In theory yes but without a screw down crown I wouldn't take my Speedy diving! Plus the safe depth margin is a little too slim. About 30ft. That's way too close for comfort. However, technically it's doable but not with my watch. 🤣
I would not worry taking whatever Omega diving to the depth it has been tested, they stand by their WR certification.

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mydeafcat
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I started my Omega journey in 2008 with a new 2254.50. Since then, I’ve bought a SM30 (1963); a 14391 (1962); a SM Geneve 165-002 (1968); a 3570.50 Speedy (2011); and an Aqua Terra 41 green dial (2023).

The winner, without question:

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ErichPryde
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The point of the conversation was that you don't need a watch specifically designated as dive watch to use while diving

Conversely, almost nobody who wears these watches is diving, and the very few individuals who are are probably recreational divers that aren't going to exceed much past 100 ft ( most will stay within guidelines set by PADI).

It follows that essentially nobody wearing these watches needs more than several hundred feet of true water resistance, even 150M is incredibly excessive.

If essentially nobody needs a watch that even has 150 M of water resistance, then the Practical difference between wearing that or watch that has 300 M of water resistance becomes effectively zero.

TL;DR it's all personal preference, wear the watch you love
 
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