The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Chronograph, Now in Grey and Orange

During the “Time To Move” event organized by the Swatch Group, Omega unveiled most of this year’s novelties. This included, among others, the fully redesigned Seamaster Diver 300M Chronograph. Still, this wasn’t the only diving chronograph that Omega was going to launch… It also had this cool, fresh-looking Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Chronograph in orange and grey up its sleeve.

This new version of Omega’s professional diving chronograph is in the same vein as the time-and-date PO 600m we showed you recently, relying on the same orange colour for its bezel. This new colour scheme marks a sort of back-to-basics for the brand, which pays tribute to the signature colour used in 2005 when the Planet Ocean sub-collection was introduced. Even though black was the most sold model, most of us link the early PO watches to this bright colour. And it is back!

Orange isn’t the easiest colour but in the context of the Omega Planet Ocean, it is one that makes sense. When used on the chronograph version of this watch, however, Omega takes a slightly different tack from the time-and-date version. The non-chronograph model features an orange bezel combined with a bright white ceramic dial. For its chronograph, Omega chose differently – and wisely, if you ask us.

The base is identical to the watch we’ve known for some years already, meaning the updated chronograph version of the Planet Ocean 600m, which was introduced at Baselworld 2016 – an update that included an uprated movement, some visual changes and mainly, new colours/materials. Basically, we’re looking at Omega’s robust, bold, higher-end diving chronograph.

The main novelty this year is colour. The bezel is similar to the time-and-date model, with a polished ceramic insert in a rather dark orange tone (which can appear red in certain light conditions). It is nothing like the anodised aluminium orange insert used back in 2005 (much more yellow), however, the choice of colour here is rather attractive. The 60-minute diving scale is executed in white liquid ceramic and Super-LumiNova (a new process pending patent).

Contrasting with this bright bezel, these new versions of the Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Chronograph opt for a cold-coloured dial, in ceramised titanium. Slightly grained and matte, its reflections are accentuated by rhodium-plated hands and indexes, as well as orange touches such as the varnished hand on the 3 o’clock subdial, the applied number 12 and the tip of the central seconds hand. The display features the 12-hour and 60-minute recorders in one single sub-dial at 3 o’clock and the date window at 6 o’clock.

Two models feature this orange bezel. The first, under the reference 215.32.46.51.99.001, is worn on a striped NATO strap in orange, grey and white. It is secured by a steel pin buckle – a casual, fresh, quite surprising look. The second, under the reference 215.30.46.51.99.001, is worn on a 3-link stainless steel bracelet with an extendable foldover clasp and diver extension – a deliberately tool-oriented option.

Powering this watch is the Omega Calibre 9900 introduced in 2016, the evolution of the well-known in-house calibre 9300. This movement is an automatic integrated chronograph with a modern column-wheel and vertical clutch architecture. This powerful and solid calibre beats at 28,800vph and boasts 60 hours of power reserve.

Price and availability

This new orange and grey version of the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m Chronograph will be available in stores from October 2019. It will be priced at EUR 7,500 on a NATO strap and EUR 7,800 on a steel bracelet. More details at www.omegawatches.com.