Omega Launches Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Boutique Collection Under the Radar

While watch launches are often accompanied by much fanfare and all the bells and whistles in order to drum up excitement and interest (we’re looking at you MoonSwatch), occasionally watch brands like to quietly put a watch out into the world. That’s the case with the six new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Boutique Editions that were added to their website over the weekend without so much as an Instagram post heralding their arrival. But that in itself creates its own excitement as whispers of “Did you see the new Omegas?” disseminate across forums and social media.

Let’s get into it then. The six new watches are split into groups of three – a time and date sub-collection and a chronograph sub-collection. Starting with the time and date models, they all share the same dimensions and construction, measuring 43.5mm in diameter made from stainless steel with ceramic bezels. The chronograph models use the same materials but have an increased size of 45.5mm with the addition of extra pushers flanking the crown.

As you’d expect from this collection, all six watches have 600m water resistance ratings, making them suitable for serious divers.  A key part of that deep water resistance – or rather something that lets them operate at those kinds of depths safely – is the inclusion of helium escape valves. As their name suggests, they allow excess helium that builds up inside watches due to pressure changes to escape, preventing damage to the internal mechanisms – you can see the valve located at 10 o’clock on the case. It’s often debated how necessary they are on more generic divers like the Seamaster Diver 300m, but at depths that the Planet Ocean can operate at, I for one would prefer to be safe than sorry.

The time and date Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Boutique watches all have hyper legible dials with 12/6/9 Arabic numerals, a date at 3 o’clock and then large, lumed hour markers everywhere else. The chronographs are bicompax with small seconds and a 12-hour timer, the date window is then moved to the 6 o’clock position.

Aesthetically, there are three designs mirrored across the two sets of time and date and chronograph models. Each is pretty distinct from the others while maintaining the same core concepts. The first edition features a matte anthracite colour dial with matching grey ceramic bezel. The second is vertically brushed steel with a green bezel and lastly there’s a beige edition with a bronze coloured bezel (a new colour of ceramic for Omega). For the chronograph models the subdials are matched to the bezels.

The grey model feels particularly safe in my opinion, although that doesn’t mean it won’t be popular. It follows hot on the heels of the Dark Grey GMT, a watch that does the grey colour concept better thanks to its ceramic case. However, if your budget doesn’t stretch to the tens of thousands, then the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Boutique Grey is a solid alternative.

My personal favourite is the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Boutique Edition Beige time and date, the combination of the sand coloured dial and bronze bezel is the most distinct compared to any pre-existing Planet Ocean watch. I don’t mind the addition of a chronograph but I think the purity of purpose that comes from a clean dial on a diving watch is more attractive.

In terms of availability, well, these are boutique editions meaning they are only available from select Omega boutiques. Sometimes that term can also include brands’ online boutiques but that’s not the case here, you’ll need to visit a physical store. Price-wise, the grey and green time and date models are £6,700, the beige is £7,100 (likely due to the new ceramic colour) and on the chronograph side the grey and green are £8,500 with the beige up at £9,100. Ultimately these won’t be the highlight of Omega’s year, but they’ll undoubtedly become firm favourites in at least some collections.

More details at Omega.

​Oracle Time 

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