Omega Seamaster celebrates 75 with a summer blue collection

Text: Filip Ericsson

Omega's legendary Seamaster turns 75 this year and the company is celebrating with the collection “Summer Blue” which covers most Seamaster series. The anniversary also includes an exciting comeback for the extreme diver's watch PloProf which comes in a completely new version. Eqotime shows off the beauties! 

The Omega Seamaster is today best known as a diver's watch but was to begin with something else, a civilian descendant of the wristwatches that served with various allied forces during the Second World War.  

Omega here added technology for water resistance and shock resistance that would turn out to be fitting for the civilian watches that followed at the end of the 1940s. A watch for “town, sea and country” Omega claimed in the advertising, for gentlemen who wished to be elegant in their big city environment but who did not want to be parted from their handsome wristwatch during the hike or the fishing trip.    

Omega's first diver's watch was the Seamaster 300 which came out in 1957 and ever since then the model has been associated with that. Today several series are marketed under the Seamaster flag which comprise diver's watches as well as non-divers. 

With the new collection of summer blue Seamasters Omega wants to pay tribute to its water resistant watches and has thereby provided most Seamaster series with a special version in a blue shade developed for the purpose on the dial which they thus call precisely “Summer Blue”.  

The following Seamaster watches are covered by the “Summer Blue” collection: 

Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m 38mm 

Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m 41mm 

Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer 

Seamaster 300 

Seamaster Diver 300m 

Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m 39.5mm 

Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep 6000m 

Seamaster PloProf 1200m 

The anniversary colours have a new lustre and are also unique in that the tone shifts within the dials, with the lightest shade in towards the middle. 

But not only that, the new colour is moreover unique for each model series, whose shade becomes darker the greater the sea depth the respective Seamaster model can handle. Aqua Terra with its 150m thus has the lightest dial while Planet Ocean Ultra Deep with its terrifying 6000 metres of resistance has the darkest. 

The hands and the indicators are different too, where the super-luminova coating has also been given a new blue tone. Finally the back of every anniversary watch has been given a new engraved logo in the form of a stylisation of the Greek sea god Poseidon together with Omega's characteristic seahorses. All anniversary models thus have a steel back and not sapphire crystal as several Seamaster watches usually have. 

Inside the anniversary watches the same movement ticks incidentally as in the ordinary versions, that is Omega's prominent, self-designed CoAxial movement in the 8000 series, with Master Chronometer cerification. That means accurate running as well as excellent antimagnetic properties.  

Aqua Terra

Aqua Terra 38/41mm Summer Blue belongs to those anniversary models that are not diver's watches. The model, which has existed in the Omega programme since 2002, instead constitutes the actual successor to the very first Seamaster watches, the elegant but water resistant men's watches that gave birth to the legend under the motto “Town, sea and country”.  

The dial on the 38mm variant has a smooth so-called sunray-surface while the larger 41mm version has the ribbed dial that is classic for the Aqua Terra and that is meant to be reminiscent of a teak floor on a yacht. Both sizes are sold with a steel bracelet or a light blue rubber strap. Price: 86 900 kr (38mm/steel bracelet) and 82 700 kr (41mm/steel bracelet) respectively. With a rubber strap they become somewhat cheaper.  

Aqua Terra Worldtimer Summer Blue is as the name suggests an Aqua Terra with a world time function. A versatile watch with a handsomely installed world time indicator. The Worldtimer does however have substantial measurements that hardly suit all wrists: 43mm in diameter and a thickness of 14.1mm. The person who has the right circumference on the wrist does however get a really luxurious travel watch! Price: 124 000 kr (rubber strap) or 126 800 kr (steel bracelet). 

Seamaster

Seamaster 300 Summer Blue constitutes the real retro variant in the model programme and is a tribute to the brand's diver's watches of the 60s. A pronounced 60s shape thus, but completely updated Omega technology such as the mentioned movement, sapphire crystal and a bezel in fashionable, scratch resistant ceramic creates an attractive package for many.  

The case is 41mm in diameter and the water resistance is to 300 metres. The bezel on the Summer Blue version is also in a lighter blue anniversary colour. The model is sold only with a steel bracelet for 92 600 kr. 

Seamaster Diver 300m can be seen as the volume model in the substantial Seamaster programme and has constituted a constant hit for the brand ever since its original model came out in 1993. With its blue bezel and equally blue dial with its distinctive sea waves it remained a peculiar and for many attractive alternative among diver's watches in the luxury segment.  

The latest version was shown in 2018 and took the Seamaster to a new level of quality and horological brilliance, as did the options which today are many as regards materials, functions and the colours of the dial. 

The case at 42mm and 13.5mm in thickness gives a sturdy impression while at the same time the luxury feeling is palpable. Summer Blue costs 74 100 kr with a blue rubber strap or 78 400 kr with a steel bracelet.  

Planet Ocean

Planet Ocean 600m can be seen as a less luxurious and more professionally inclined Seamaster than the above variants, a watch for the person who really uses it for its original purpose: advanced diving with tanks and a wetsuit.  

Planet Ocean exists in a large number of variants, with different materials, functions (chronograph, GMT) and case sizes (37.5-45.5mm). The Summer Blue anniversary model is however sold exclusively with a 39.5mm case and steel bracelet. Price 92 600 kronor. 

Planet Ocean Ultra Deep 6000m is the extreme outpost in the entire Seamaster programme. With its maximum depth of a full 6000 metres it is more a technical display rather than an instrument that needs to fill a need. No human being can after all dive anywhere near that deep.  

The Ultra Deep is sold with a case in titanium or Omega's own steel called O-MegaSteel, an extremely hard and corrosion resistant material that is evidently required for the watch to hold up to these depths. The Ultra Deep measures a full 45.5mm across the case as well as a terrifying 18.1mm in height.  

The Summer Blue version is sold exclusively in O-MegaSteel with a bracelet in the same material, and has a unique, slightly rugged dial is meant to resemble a sea bed. The price is 162 500 kronor. 

Ploprof

Ploprof 1200m is undeniably the biggest surprise among the Summer Blue variants as the model in connection with these now comes in a completely new version. To begin with it is thus offered exclusively as Summer Blue.  

The PloProf is a real legend with a devoted following around the world – and that is not strange considering its significant coolness factor. The PloProf immediately attracted a mythical aura when it entered the market in 1971, a myth building that was created by its enormous water resistance of 600 metres, its distinctive, asymmetrical shape, its odd technical solutions, the immense measurements as well as its terrifying price.  

That it was worn by the legendary Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli on the outside of his shirt sleeve and that the ocean film maker Jacques Yves Cousteau's film team used it in their professional practice back in the day, of course only increased the icon value. 

The PloProf was discontinued in 1979 and was not replaced until 2009 with the PloProf 1200 with, as the name suggests, a doubled depth rating. The measurements were now even coarser and few could probably wear this piece every day without feeling ridiculous.  

The new PloProf Summer Blue is just like the Ultra Deep above executed in O-MegaSteel, moreover in a so-called monobloc construction which means that the case is milled from one piece, just as with the original of the 70s.  

The measurements are still eye-numbing with 55x45mm in diameter. The thickness of 15.5mm does however mean that it actually has the same measurements as the original of the 70s which means that it is around 2mm thinner outgoing model, and thereby more user friendly on land. The water resistance is stated just as before at 1200 metres.  

The dial in the PloProf Summer Blue is executed in a deliciously “powdery”, slightly shimmering shade while the ceramic bezel is in matching dark blue.  

Like earlier PloProf watches the new version holds odd technical solutions such as the advanced crown protection to the left of the case, the extreme bezel lock in the form of a large button on the right side as well as the eye-catching minute hand that gives the dial extra character – and legibility. 

The new PloProf is sold exclusively with a blue rubber strap. The Swedish price is 178 100 kronor.  

All watches above belong to the regular range and are available already today. The PloProf is the exception and can only be ordered in November.  

Read more about the watches at Omega