omega seamaster from its origins to today...

Omega Seamaster… from its origins to today

It was in 1946 that the Seamaster model project was initiated, a prototype model whose purpose was to allow Omega to enter the very closed circle at the end of the 1940s of manufacturers who mastered the waterproofing of watch cases.

As in many innovations of the time, it was on the observation of an all too frequent need to return certain military models to the workshop that the engineers of the Biel firm were alerted: During the Second World War, on the Of the 110,000 watches manufactured by Omega for the British Ministry of Defense to equip its armed forces, more than a third will end up out of order and the vast majority will be returned to the repair workshop more than three times. The quality of manufacture is in no way in question, whether it is the "weems" watches of pilots of the royal air force, the Omega "dirty dozen" of the Royal army or the watches intended for the Royal navy, the majority of maintenance operations are due to frequent and corrosive exposure to water splashes... As there is no question, for budget reasons, of equipping all the armed forces with totally waterproof watches (like the unit’s Italian navy with the Panerai model) …

The solution takes shape around a “water resistant” watch. A watch model produced in 1932 by Omega responds to this characteristic: The Omega Marine model, a rectangular watch whose crown is protected by a sliding case in which the watch is inserted, but this rectangular model does not correspond to market needs because proves to be too complex and uneconomical to manufacture. Many mechanical challenges have to be met: tightness of the case and the back, of the crown, of the dial-case joint in contact with the glass. For this, the life cycle of the Marine model will be a valuable asset for Omega.

It was finally in 1957 that the first seamaster 300 was born. This model was produced at the same time as the first speedmaster and the railmaster, allowing Omega to respond to a demand for specialization of uses in the world of wristwatches.

Land air sea, resistance to the elements is the sole leitmotif of the teams of engineers who designed these three models marketed with great publicity in 1957, it must be said that the watchmaking world has been largely oriented towards waterproofing for a few years. … blancpain and its fifty-phatoms is widely recognized by diving professionals, Rolex unveils the Submariner, and many manufactures are working on waterproof watches.

The first Seamaster 300 model is powered by the 28 SC-501 caliber with 20 jewels, it will be equipped with a screwed back with double protective seal, water resistance is guaranteed up to 200 m. This was followed by a variation of the formula on less specialized city models with an extension of these mechanical characteristics on the "urban" constellation and Seamaster ranges of the 1950s and 1960s. At the same time, a professional Seamaster or "professional diver" range will continue to evolve with the development and marketing of the "ploprof" Seamaster 600 model in 1970 which will equip professional comex divers in Janus dives before the Rolex models submariner and sea-dweller and allow Commander Cousteau to carry out numerous deep immersions.


The practice of deep diving is now possible thanks to a waterproofness guaranteed by omega up to 600 meters. This new possibility is due to a very particular architecture of the Seamaster ploprof: monocoque case structure, a winding crown and a glass isolated from the water by an ingenious system of super compressed seals, all produced using machining methods state-of-the-art technology at the time. A model that will forge the professional legend of the Seamaster model and place it at the top of the charts of diving watches.

On November 4, 1981, Jacques Mayol snorkeled at a depth of 101 meters with his Omega Seamaster, smashing the diving record off the island of Elba.


It was in 1993 that a new architecture was designed for the Sea master 300, water resistant to 1000 m, it was equipped with a helium valve taking the characteristic shape of an additional winding crown housed on the case at eleven o'clock. A characteristic model which will dethrone the legendary Rolex submariner by equipping agent 007, during the James Bond film "Golden-eye" and which will no longer leave its wrist through the following Opus while continuing its evolution. An evolution which will see the return of the "broad arrow" on the 2019 model, a nod to its British military affiliation which underlines the vocation off the beaten track of this model much appreciated by collectors.