Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Delma Oceanmaster Lume… Nighttime Legibility for Real-World Sailing
Full-lume, full-spec nautical tool with points-of-sail planner, reliable movement, and all-night legibility. But also a little fun.
Delma isn’t a newcomer pretending to be a tool-watch brand. The independent, family-run company has been crafting robust sports watches in Lengnau since 1924 and has earned its reputation with capable (or highly capable) divers since the late 1960s. Within that foundation, the Oceanmaster line (introduced in 2017) is the brand’s nautical instrument: a large cushion case, a nautical bezel, a tactical planner, and points-of-sail markings that resonate with sailors. We’ve seen meaningful offshoots like the Antarctica (with proceeds to ASOC), the Tide, and the Oliver Heer Ocean Racing (OHOR) edition that went full-lume for Vendée Globe testing. The Oceanmaster Lume, which we’ll explore in detail today, takes the field-proven ideas and makes them a permanent, multi-colour series with cleaned-up specs and nicer detailing.
Case & wearing experience
In the metal, the 44mm cushion case (13.8mm in thickness and 51mm lug-to-lug) reads as purposeful rather than oversized. Sure, it isn’t a small watch, but it has that cool, instrumental design that you sometimes want in such a watch. The profile is mostly satin-brushed with crisp, polished bevels that catch light just enough to break up the mass. The unidirectional nautical bezel has deep, positive clicks and a knurling you can grab with wet fingers. The crown screws down with a reassuring thread, seated cleanly without a hint of grit, and the integrated guards don’t obstruct operation. A helium escape valve is found at 9 o´clock. And the 500m water-resistance ensures you’re safe if you fall overboard…
A nice surprise with such a depth rating is the presence of an exhibition back. Delma’s sapphire window is thick and well-sealed; the brand clearly wanted owners to see the movement while retaining the Oceanmaster’s “overbuilt” character. The whole thing feels like a watch designed to be knocked about on a deck, then rinsed and worn to a dinner onshore.
Bezel logic that sailors will use
Unlike a diver’s 60-minute insert, this one carries a 360° nautical/compass scale that works with the dial markers. If you do sail, the workflow is straightforward: set your course/layline on the bezel, reference the points-of-sail triangles/rectangles on the dial to assess angle to wind, and use the minute track for timing manoeuvres. If you don’t sail, you still get a distinctive, functional aesthetic. And even if the classic 5-minute markers of a dive watch aren’t present, the scale remains graduated with the same spacing and keeps the logic of a dive watch – it’s not the most immediate read, but your brain should normally do the maths pretty quickly.
Dial options & night behaviour
By day, the fully luminous dial reads like a matte colour with high contrast: pastel blue, green, orange, or yellow. The colours are soft and pretty fun, making for a less serious take on the nautical/dive watch with a black or navy blue dial. The tactical planner and points-of-sail indicators are crisp and legible without cluttering the minute track. Applied indexes are tall and precise; the framed date at 6 o’clock is cut cleanly.
Kill the lights, and the entire dial glows (colour-tuned Super-LumiNova), while the hands (C3) and indices (BGW9) pop brighter in a distinct hue, so you don’t have to search for the time indication against a glowing background. The hands remain dominant even after a few hours of complete darkness, exactly the behaviour you want when you come off a night tack. The red central seconds hand has a lumed tip that’s easy to pick up without drawing attention away from the minutes hand.
Movement & operation
Delma sticks with the Sellita SW200-1 automatic, operating at 28,800 vibrations/hour, providing 41 hours of reserve, with quick-set date and hacking seconds. Through the display back, this alternative to the ETA 2824 can see the customised rotor. Winding torque is smooth, and the crown action is crisp. This calibre was obviously chosen for its fair price, serviceability and parts availability as much as accuracy; for a watch meant to live at sea, that’s the right call.
Bracelet & clasp
The three-link steel bracelet matches the case finishing (brushed outers, polished centre links) and articulates well considering its 24mm width. The double-push button deployant is secure and low-profile. A tool-less micro-adjust would be nice for on-the-fly fit over a wet-weather cuff, but sizing via links gets comfortable quickly.
Thoughts, availability & Price
The Delma Oceanmaster Lume feels like a productionised version of the Oliver Heer Ocean Racing full-lume concept: same core utility, now in four colours, with better night legibility, and a display back that doesn’t compromise the 500m rating. If you sail at night, the luminous design makes immediate sense. If you don’t, you’re getting a distinctive, perhaps overbuilt 500m nautical tool with real personality and a sensible serviceable movement, precisely the kind of honest proposition Delma has traded on for a century.
Released as part of the brand’s permanent collection, all four editions of the Delma Oceanmaster Lume are priced at EUR 1,500, CHF 1,350 or USD 1,650 and available from the brand’s webstore. For more details, please visit www.delmawatches.com.
