Rory’s watch wasn’t the same $137,000 Omega De Ville Tourbillon that he was wearing when he won the CJ Cup last year. This week he defended his CJ Cup title while wearing his trusty Omega Seamaster 300M that he has had on his wrist most of the year.
WOTW Specs
Name: Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Co-Axial Master Chronometer
Reference: 210.32.42.20.10.001
Limited: No
Date: 2022
Case: Stainless Steel
Bezel: Green Ceramic
Dial: Green Ceramic
Size: 42mm
Movement: Calibre 8800, 35 Jewels
Power Reserve: 55 Hours
Glass: Saphire Crystal
Waterproof: 300 Meters
Bracelet: Green Rubber Strap
Price: $5,100 (~$5,200)
Omega’s Seamaster is one of the most famous names in watchmaking and has a history that dates back almost 75 years. The first Seamaster debuted in 1948 during the celebration of Omega’s 100th anniversary. Omega had been making dive watches since 1932 that were worn by some of the diving and exploring pioneers. The Seamaster had more water resistance capability with the use of rubber gaskets. Previously dive watches used lead or shellac to seal the case, but those materials did not handle temperature changes well.
Rory’s Seamaster 300M was introduced earlier this year and saw him wearing it at the Masters. The case is made from stainless steel with a diameter of 42mm and has the traditional screw-down crown on the right side. On the left side is a manual helium escape valve, right around 10 o’clock. Helium escape valves are found on a plethora of dive watches and are used to release pent up gases in the case. Dive watches are designed to take on massive pressure from the outside and keep water out, but they are very poor at decompression. During saturation dives the divers can live in pressurized capsules for days to decompress from deep ocean dives. In these capsules the divers breathe air that has helium, to replace the nitrogen, and those tiny helium molecules can get past all the seals and gaskets in a dive watch. So as the diver decompresses the helium pressure builds up inside the watch and would damage it if there was no HEV. The caseback features a large display window where you can view the expertly finished rotor on the mechanical movement.
That movement is Omega’s Calibre 8800, a self-winding automatic with Omega’s Co-Axial escapement. In mechanical watches the escapement is an important piece that controls the power coming from the spring. There is traditionally two different escapements used in movements currently, the Swiss lever and Omega’s Co-Axial. The Co-Axial escapement was created by a British watchmaker named George Daniels about 50 years ago. Daniels brought his new escapement to all of the luxury watch brands and only Omega was interested in using it. Since then Omega has been using the escapement in most of their watches. The Calibre 8800 is constructed out of materials that are antimagnetic and it can withstand magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss. The 8800 runs at 3.5hz and offers 55 hours of power reserve.
On top of the case is a unidirectional bezel made from stainless steel and containing a ceramic insert. The green ceramic insert features a diving scale etched into it with a small dot of luminescent marital at 12 o’clock. The dial is matching green ceramic with “waves” laser engraved into it. Large hour makers and hands are filled with Super-LumiNova luminescent material for easy reading in low light. The date window sites at 6 o’clock and the whole assembly is covered by a scratch resistant sapphire crystal. A matching green rubber strap holds the Seamaster on the wrist and comes together with a stainless pin buckle.
Omega has been turning out some really great watches recently and collectors have taken notice. Omega lists this piece as unavailable on their website and has for a few months now. I don’t know if it was a limited run or that the demand was just that high for this color way. The retail price is $5,100 if you can find one at an Omega boutique but you can get one on the secondary market for a small, around $100, premium.
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