INTRODUCING: 2022 Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Collection
In 2019, Victor Vescovo and his team dove down to the Mariana Trench (one of the deepest parts of the ocean floor). Strapped to his Sub, was an Omega Seamaster Ultra-Deep - a seriously impressive dive watch with 15,000 meters of water resistance. The watch was made of Titanium and Omega’s “Liquid Metal” (a special proprietary metal designed to relieve stress on certain seals and gaskets).
The deepest dive record was previously held by the Rolex DeepSea Challenger (Brief article about that story here) - which made it to a whopping 10,890 meters deep. The Omega Ultra-Deep however? Well in 2019, it made it down to an even more impressive 10,928 meters - almost 40 meters more than the Rolex. Further, the watch continued to make record-breaking dives even up to recently. To commemorate and memorialize the Ultra-Deep’s place in Dive-watch history, Omega has released four brand new models into their own collection:
The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Collection.
There are 4 new watches in the Ultra-Deep Collection - three of them will be in stainless steel, and one will be on Titanium. The cases don’t measure in quite as large as the first iteration of the Ultra-Deep, but I don’t mind that. After all, the original Ultra-Deep was a dinner plate. While the original measured in at a massive 54mm x 29.4mm, the new collection measures in at a very wearable 45mm x 18.2mm - making it not quite as small as a Rolex Deepsea, but features a water resistance of more than quadruple it’s Ploprof cousin.
The watches features a 6,000 meter water resistance. This seems to be largely due to it’s slimmed down case size, but let’s be clear, 6,000 meters is still absolute insanity for a “civilian” dive watch.
The steel cases are bound to be a bit heavy, so for me anyway, I think the Titanium seems to be the most solid bet here. It also more closely resembles the original Seamaster Ultra Deep. Omega’s Liquid Metal is gone, and in it’s place is a more tenable Stainless Steel. Additionally, both the stainless steel and the Titanium model feature a Manta style Lug design (pictured below) to make swapping out the straps between the newly-designed bracelet, NATO, and Rubber straps an easy process as well as giving the watch an overall cleaner profile.
Inside the new collection is the Omega Calibre 8912 Co-Axial. This is a COSC Certified (because that’s what really matters here) that's also been seen in various Seamaster 300’s, and also the Proplof. The movement features 38 jewels, beats at 25,200 VpH, and has a power reserve of 60-hours.
The new Ultra-Deep collection comes in a number of color-ways, both bold and traditional. The more obvious colorway is the grey and blue colorway of the original Seamaster Ultra-Deep. This provides some pretty intense legibility, both in the bright sun, and dark water. The lume indices are filled all the around, and a 12, 3, 6, 9 o’ clock Arabic indice pattern sits nicely applied on the dial.
Further, there is an Orange and Brown colorway, a Black and blue colorway, and a Blue and White dial colorway. All of these provide superb legibility, and a bold splash of color. Unfortunately for those that would prefer the steel model, the original Grey and Blue colorway is only available in the Titanium model.
I’ve seen a lot of commentary on this watch include the question “Why is Omega revamping THIS particular watch?” I’ve also seen a lot of people try very hard to answer that question. Personally? My answer is simple:
“Why not?"
It’s no secret that we’re in an age of pivots and nostalgia. One brand tends to do something, and another closely follows suit, until everyone is on the train and we have 37 different variations of a Tiffany Blue dial. We’ve seen it with Green Dials (Of which Omega has quite firmly jumped to as well), we’ve seen it with re-issues, and we’ve seen it with countless other renditions (Pepsi, anyone?). We’re in a bit of a race to utility lately - specifically in the Space Travel sector. So why not race to the bottom (no pun intended)?
This is a solid release for Omega, and while I do wish the Titanium model was more widely available in the additional colorways, I don’t foresee Omega having a hard time finding buyers for these.
How much is the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep?
Price for the steel model’s comes in at a fairly modest $11,500 USD, while the Titanium model will jump up to $15,000 USD.
Read more about the Ultra-Deep on Omega’s Website.