Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M 'ETNZ' Deep Black

The origin of the Seamaster can be traced from the watches Omega developed for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, but with the emergence of SCUBA diving as a recreational sport, it metamorphosed into something entirely its own: the Seamaster 300. Omega released the first Seamaster in 1948 to coincide with the Summer Olympics held in London. In a city ravaged by the Blitz, the Olympics represented a time to look forward while still being respectful of the past. For Omega, whose 40th anniversary was also that year, the manufacture’s role as Official Timekeeper represented the ideal opportunity to launch a new collection. Advertising material of the time touted the “ruggedness” of the Seamaster, more than the average wearer would ever likely call for in its life…which would prove all the more important with the 1957 launch of the Seamaster 300. As it evolved, the Omega Seamaster 300 went on to see numerous evolutionary changes — indeed, nearly innumerable variants in a variety of materials and colorways have been produced in the past 60 years. This fact alone has made the Seamaster Professional watches (as they came to be known) more desirable than their Rolex counterparts to a large portion of the collector community — simply because they don't all look exactly the same. One of the latest additions to the Seamaster lineage is the Planet Ocean. Introduced in 2005, these watches feature a chunkier case design with a ’broad arrow’ handset, a new bracelet design, revised dial configurations, and increased water resistance — all of which make it a worthy competitor to the gold standard of professional grade diving watches: The Rolex Sea-Dweller. This example, an 'ETNZ' Deep Black, was released to honor the Emirates Team New Zealand sailing outfit during the 35th America's Cup. Housed in a 45.5mm black ceramic 'twisted lug' case with a signed crown, a sapphire crystal, and a unidirectional bezel with a Liquidmetal diving scale in silver with blue and red rubber accents, it features a vertically-brushed, black ceramic dial with 18K white gold indices, a date window at 3 o'clock, an outer 24-hour track in blue and red, and a luminous 'broad arrow' handset with a blue GMT hand. Powered by the Omega Master Chronometer Calibre 8906 automatic movement and paired to a black rubber dive strap with blue and red accents, this piece ships with its factory goodies and warranty dating to 2023. For the serious yachtsman — or someone who simply appreciates a larger, well-built watch — there could scarcely be a better choice!