Pre-Owned Omega by Analog Shift Seamaster Planet Ocean 40960054/AS04840

Why We Love It

The Seamaster 300 line was Omega's response to the Rolex Submariner when introduced in 1957.

Featuring robust steel cases with a 300 meter depth rating, rotating bezels graduated with dive-timing scales, and a metal bracelet with diver's expansion links, the early Seamaster 300s were not only functional divers that would go on to see use in Her Majesty's Navy, but are arguably one of the handsomest sports watch designs of the past century.

As it evolved, the Omega Seamaster 300 went on to see numerous evolutionary changes, and 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 line (as it 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 of the Seamaster lineage, along with the Aqua Terra line, is the Planet Ocean. Introduced in 2005, these watches features a chunkier case design with a broad arrow handset, a new bracelet design, a revised design language on the dial, and increased water resistance - no doubt to complete with the Rolex Sea-Dweller.

This particular piece, a reference 2201.50.00, dates to circa 2008 and is from the first few years of the Planet Oceans inception. Featuring a 41.5mm twisted-lug case, a matte black dial with matching broad arrow handset, a very solid multi-link bracelet with a signed adjustable locking clasp, and the always controversial helium escape valve at 10:00, these early Planet Oceans are aging quite well and really hit the sweet spot in design, proportions, and wearability.

Although large at the time, the Planet Oceans little sibling has surpassed this Reference in diameter - making this piece surprisingly versatile for daily wear. 

If it was good enough for a certain' Mr. B' on the silver screen back in 2005, then it's good enough for us.

The Seamaster Story

Since the Seamaster’s launch in 1948, it has been the vibrant, beating heart of Omega's collection.

The key to its longevity, in part, lies in its adaptability. It comes in dive watch models, which were worn by professional divers (and James Bond), or dress models favored by the likes of Mad Men’s Don Draper.

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 diver’s model.

Today, the Omega Seamaster is a collection of timepieces as varied as the people who wear them – including dress and sport models in a variety of case sizes and materials with any number of dial layouts and designs.

It is without question an important historical model and a delight to wear in any of its variations.