15 January 2014 | OMEGA , 30 minutes on the wrist , Go deeper! ,

30 (diving) minutes on the wrist

The OMEGA Seamaster Diver Professional 300m

The OMEGA Seamaster Professional Diver 300m you are about to read today is not any diving timepiece found among the many available we were willing to describe. This is the diving watch in its purest form, hour only, round case, oversized luminous indexes, and a helium escape valve placed exactly where you expect to find it:

And the OMEGA Seamaster Professional Diver 300m illustrated has not been the 1^st in the pipeline of the revamped Seamaster series launched, in the early 90's, but rather an evolution. A range whose guidelines were to fulfil the needs required by authentic wristwatches for divers; never the less was the 1993 Seamaster series endorsed by professional diver Roland Specker, who wore it while swimming underwater and setting two world records in the waters of the Lake of Neuchatel.

The original OMEGA Seamaster Professional Diver 300m boasted some interesting technical features such as the COSC certification (please read the lettering "Chronometer") and a 300m waterproofness. All enclosed in a stainless steel 41mm wide round case, whose case back was solid as it has to be a diver's watch, with the Seamaster series' hallmark: the Seahorse medallion and the “non-skid waves” engraved on it.

This timepiece has, in my opinion, at least two touch points: the dial is a long standing hallmark of the Seamaster series, made out of a blue navy “wave decoration” plate, whose colour slightly changes with light, shifting from a matt to a strong, vivid blue. That design is Seamaster's hallmark even now, but blue navy has now been replaced by a different, darker one:

The second one is the bezel, which is highly mirror-polished as it is the steel case, far different from what it is used today, such as ceramic inlays, that have widely replaced the classic graduated scale on an aluminum ring. It gives the OMEGA Seamaster Professional 300m Diver that luxurious touch, not easy to find even in many other today's classy timepieces. And how not celebrate the beauty of the (super) luminous baton hour indexes with the stunning triangular oversized hour marker at 12.

There's a special reason this OMEGA Seamaster Professional 300m Diver is meaningful! It was worn and advertised by a charismatic and beloved New Zealander back in 2000: Sir Peter Blake. He wore it during the “Blakexpedition”, an ecological expedition supported by OMEGA and the United Nations in 2000 to protect the marine eco-system. That is why we did choose, above all, this OMEGA Seamaster Professional 300m Diver.

(Photo credit: Omega press; Horbiter's proprietary photo shooting)

Gaetano C. @Horbiter - Watches & Luxury

TWITTER @Gaetano Cimmino

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