Omega Ultra Deep Planet Ocean 6000M Co-Axial Master Chronometer 45.5 mm Seamaster O-Megasteel White Dial Reference: 215.30.46.21.04.001 - A More Flexible Diving Monster, A Review (plus Video)

As you all know by now, my first love, in terms of style of watch, is a diver. Over the years, this love affair has its ups-and-downs but the interest remains. One area that is close to heart is the technology used. Divers with 1,000 meters or more water rating pique my curiosity and I have collected a number of dive watches with such capabilities (please click here to learn more about them). 

In 2019, I read about the dive done by explorer Victor Vescovo onboard the mini-submarine DSV Limiting Factor. He dived to 10,927 meters down the Mariana Trench. Attached to the outside of the mini-submarine was the specially made Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Ultra Deep Professional. In March 2022, Omega announced the launch of the 6,000 meter capable Ultra Deep Planet Ocean Seamaster series to the general public.

In December 2022, the first batch was delivered to the Malaysian market. I happened see one and I was keen to have it. Unfortunately due to Omega taking over the dealership of their watches from the major dealerships in Malaysia, in the last few years, I can't used my network of friendly dealers to source for one. As such, I had to approach Omega like any walk-in customer.

I expected to have the worst customer experience going through this route. I supposed I was prejudiced from my experience with the Rolex Boutiques in Kuala Lumpur. The constant lip-service of "..we don't have stocks but we are happy to put you on our waiting list..." was something that I also expected to hear from the Omega Boutique. How wrong was I.

In mid-January, I went to the Omega Boutique in Gardens and spoke to one of the dealers there. I surprised that they have the titanium model as well as the white dial with rubber strap in the store. I told the dealer that I would prefer the bracelet model with white dial and she promised that she will try to source one for me. A few days before Chinese New Year, I received a message from her that she got one in the store. A few days later I went to the shop and, as they say, the rest is history.

 

The Series

The series consist of two styles that differentiate in terms of the core material used and the lug design. The first group is made out of six models using the O-Megasteel alloy (more about this later) and the second group consist of one model made out of Grade 5 titanium. For the first group, a conventional lug design was incorporated while for the second group, a 'Manta' lug design was used. 

Below is the first grouping. To be fair, there are three different dial colours to choose from which they can be paired either with a bracelet or a rubber strap. Note that the price difference between a bracelet version and a rubber strap version is only RM1,350. Depending on which dial colour that you fancy, I strongly recommend that you get the bracelet version. It is always cheaper to move from bracelet to strap instead of the other way around.

 

215.30.46.21.03.001	215.32.46.21.03.001	This is the blue dial with black ceramic bezel that comes in either bracelet or rubber. MSRP: RM49,200 (B); RM47,850 (R). Weight: (B) - 254 gm (R) - 170 gm
215.30.46.21.06.001	215.32.46.21.06.001	This is the grey dial with orange ceramic bezel that comes in either bracelet or rubber. MSRP: RM49,200 (B); RM47,850 (R). Weight: (B) - 254 gm (R) - 170 gm
215.30.46.21.04.001	215.32.46.21.04.001	This is the white dial with blue ceramic bezel that comes in either bracelet or rubber. MSRP: RM49,200 (B); RM47,850 (R). Weight: (B) - 254 gm (R) - 170 gm

 

Below is the titanium model with the Manta lugs. Although much lighter than the O-Megasteel versions, the Manta lugs limits the strap choice to just a NATO (or perhaps ZULU strap) style strap as there are no lug holes for the spring-bars to attach to. Based on some of the reviews written about the watch, the NATO strap makes the watch sits even higher on the wrist which increased its 'wobbliness' when compared to the other models.

 

215.92.46.21.01.001

Made in sand-blasted Grade 5 Titanium and paired with a NATO strap. This model has the Manta lug design that limits the choice of straps to just NATO as there are no lug holes for spring-bars to latch on to. Lug-to-Lug: 54.0 mm (about 2.0 mm longer than the O-Megasteel version due to the Manta Lug design) MSRP: RM52,450 Weight: 123 gm

Of all the options available, what caught my eyes was the white dial with blue ceramic bezel version. The contrast between the white and blue is very pronounced yet not too loud to be too obvious on one's wrist. This was the model that I acquired.

The Watch

Omega Ultra Deep Planet Ocean Co-Axial Master Chronometer Seamaster is the new flagship of the brand. Capable of diving down to 6,000 meters or 600 BAR of water pressure, the watch is able to withstand a pressure of 6,118.3 metric tons per square meter! As the watch has a surface area of 16.3 square centimeters, at that depth, the watch face is subjected to a weight of 9.97 metric tons on it. For perspective, it is just like having five (5) Mercedes Benz W223 S500 4MATIC balancing on top of Omega Ultra Deep! Just incredible.

As the watch is certified under the ISO6425:2018 standard for saturation divers’ watches, the watch must have an additional 25% security margin built into the official water rating. This means that the Omega Ultra Deep can go all the way down to 7,500 meters without any issue. This capability was achieved by a number of innovations introduced by Omega.

First is the general design itself. It is full of technology in the form of four patents pending; one for the case-back; one for the conical crown; one for the crystal gasket; and one for the shape of the sapphire crystal. All these technology combined to produce a very strong watch that can operate without the need of a helium valve.

Apart from the new technology highlighted, Omega also adopted a new production method for the sapphire crystal, called the Edge-defined Film-fed Growth (EFG) process. That production method was created by Comadur, a company that is part of the Swatch Group. This EFG process can produce a perfect sapphire that can easily sustained intense pressure.

 

Finally, a new alloy called O-Megasteel was developed by Omega with one of its partners as the core material for the casing and bracelet. A nickel-free alloy, it is said to bring better hypoallergenic properties, as well as better resistance to corrosion. It offers approximately twice more yield strength than other steel alloys. Where as O-Megasteel is registered at 560 MPa, as a comparison, 316L steel is between 200-250 MPa, 904L is 220 MPa and grade 5 titanium is between 800-900 MPa. Moreover,

its hardness, which indicates the resistance to scratches, O-Megasteel is 40% stronger than any alloy, having a hardness of 300 HV while 316L steel and 904L steel have hardness of 200 HV and 175 HV, respectively. 

 

 

 

Despite the new exotic material and manufacturing processes, the watch is still built like a tank. To ensure some level of comfort to the wearer, Omega has redesigned the lugs somewhat. Despite the width of 45.50 mm, the new lug design only added 6.45 mm to make the overall length (lug-to-lug) at just 51.95 mm. If you compared to the Omega Seamaster PloProf which has an overall length of 55 mm (for the PloProf, it is longer from left-to-right instead of lug-to-lug), it is not that bad (I have the stainless steel PloProf which is no longer in production). 

 

The addition of the 5.2 mm semi-conical EFG sapphire crystal does bumped up the height of the watch to 18.12 mm. Nevertheless, it is quite close to the PloProf's 17.5 mm height considering the PloProf is only capable to dive to 1,200 meters; i.e. only 20% of Ultra Deep's capability.

 

The size and materials used make it a heavy watch. This could be a red line to many people as the watch weighs in at 254 gm. Again, when compared to the previous diving flagship for Omega, the PloProf at 282 gm, it is lighter.

 

The model I got has a solid white dial with a blue bezel. Over the white paint is a transparent lacquer. This has the effect of making the dial look enamel-like which is cool. The scaling, markers and hand-set such as the applied hour markers, the applied Arabic numerals and the broad-arrow hands are similar to what one get on the Planet Ocean series. As I got the white dial version, the numerals and seconds hand (the pointy tip) are painted in blue to blend with the colour of the bezel. All elements are made of 18k white gold and filled with white Super-LumiNova luminous paint of differing luminosities. For the applied hour markers, they give off a blue emission; for the hours and seconds hands, they also give off a blue emission; and for the minutes hand, it gives off a green emission.

There are printed items on the dial. These are the seven lines of text and logo as well as the minute track. The “Ω” logo, “OMEGA”, “PROFESSIONAL”, “6000m/2000ft”, minute track and “SWISS MADE” are printed in grey while the words “Seamaster” and “ULTRA DEEP” are printed in blue.

 

Protecting the dial is a unique sapphire crystal produced internally by OMEGA, using a process called EFG. “Edge-defined Film-fed Growth” creates a crystal that is defect-free. When machined and polished, it create a bevel edge-domed protuberant sapphire crystal of extraordinary strength and clarity. Coupled with anti-reflective treatments on both sides of the crystal, it offers superior visibility. To be able to withstand the immense pressure at 6,000 meters, the sapphire crystal on the Ultra Deep is 5.2 mm thick.

 

 

 

As you can see from the photo above, the sapphire crystal extends slightly above the edge of the bezel. This increase the likelihood of side impact damage but due to the thickness of the crystal used, the possibility is lower.

The unidirectional bezel has a blue ceramic insert with a white enamel diving scale. There is a luminous pip at 12:00 to fulfill the standards of a certified dive watch. The bezel moves in increments of 120 clicks for a full rotation. The bezel movement is precise with no play or looseness.

 

You can also see the screw-down crown which is signed. The crown protection module that is rather new for Omega. Instead of a full protection like the PloProf or a partial protection like a Planet Ocean, the Ultra Deep has a slightly higher shoulders protecting the crown.

 

Although technically the Ultra Deep does not have a dedicated helium escape valve, the watch does have one option if it becomes necessary via the crown. As a helium escape valve is not needed until the diver is in a decompression chamber and thus out of the water the crown can be used to allow helium atoms to escape. Moreover, this is generally considered a worst case scenario as the construction of the Ultra Deep will not let helium into the watch in the first place. 

The watch casing is paired with a beautifully crafted steel bracelet that has wide, polished edge on its outer links. The bracelet is a new design, as well and the clasp features a push-button six-position micro adjust with 2.3 mm of incremental extension to a maximum of 9.6 mm. On the bottom of the 'PUSH' button seen above is the diver's extension which add an additional 23.4 mm of length to the bracelet.

 

The case-back consists of two sections. The primary case-back is made out of the O-Megasteel metal. Within it features a grade 5 titanium medallion with a laser-engraved Sonar emblem and the Omega Seahorse at its center. As the titanium portion contacts the skin, the likelihood of any allergic reaction in minimized. 

The engine that powers the watch is the in-house Omega Calibre 8912, which is an automatic 3.5 Hz (25,200 BPH) movement with a Co-Axial escapement, free-sprung balance with a silicon balance spring and two barrels mounted in series. Total power reserve is approximately 60 hours. This movement uses 39 jewels with the capability to resist magnetic fields reaching 15,000 Gauss. The movement is a Master Chronometer by virtue of it being tested under COSC standard and METAS certified. Its accuracy has been adjusted to 0/+5 seconds per day.

 

Although the movement does not have any obvious complications like a day or date function, it has a jump-set hour hand that allows you to quickly jump the hour hand when setting the time. 

 

I would also like to add a quote from Omega regarding the quality and thoroughness of the testing done on the movement: 

 

“Behind the elegance of every Master Chronometer timepiece is the highest level of testing: 8 tests over 10 days, to ensure superior precision and anti‑magnetic resistance. Our Master Chronometer watches are tested and certified twice. Firstly, the movement is tested by the Official Swiss Chronometer Control (COSC) with precision criteria of -4/+6 seconds per day. Then the complete watch and its movement undergo eight Master Chronometer tests set by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS) with criteria of 0/+5 seconds per day

Additionally, a selection of test watches a given shock-resistance tests equivalent to 5,000 g to ensure our complex mechanical mechanisms are also extraordinarily robust. Not just for everyday use but for highly active sports”, according to Omega.

 

Above is a luminous shot of the watch in the dark. You can clearly see the blue and green emissions from the Super-LumiNova paint.

The Wearing Experience

When I got the watch, I noticed that I can't unfold the divers' extension. I went to the boutique and they had to keep the watch until an Omega technician comes over the weekend. After investigating the problem, they decided to replace the whole clasp. This is was only negative experience I had with the watch thus far.

 

 

As we all know that this is a large and heavy watch I shall not provide any comments regarding its footprint on the wrist. Instead, I shall focus on its ability to fulfill the job it was designed for. This could be tricky as I am not a diver! Below is a video of the watch on my 6.75 inch wrist.

 

With the crown in the screw-down position, The Ultra Deep is like a nuclear attack submarine, can dive deeper with any care in the world. The current depth rating, although impressive, it does not make practical sense as no one can survive in such environment unless entombed in a thick capsule. Gimmicky from a practical point of view but spectacular from the technical point of view.

The size may be off-putting to most as a daily wear. I suspect demand may not be as high, unlike the 300 meter Seamaster. The fact that I just walked into an Omega store and examples were available attest to the uniqueness of the design and the size of the market for such watches.

As highlighted earlier, I also have in the collection the Omega Seamaster PloProf which has a more unique design than the Ultra Deep. The PloProf is more eye candy than the Ultra Deep but with less capabilities. Nevertheless, I believe Ultra Deep is more flexible when compared against the PloProf. For me, the contemporary design of the Ultra Deep is more practical in most environment it is expected to be used in.


The Purchasing Experience

 

I went to the Omega Boutique at the Gardens, KL. I was very lucky that the first representative that greeted me was not only friendly but also very helpful. Hats off to Ms. Celine.

In the earlier part of the review, I highlighted the frustration that I have when dealing with high-end watch boutiques (especially the Swiss made ones). Omega's was an exception. The experience I had was positive. Now that my details are in the system, I was told that I will get VIP treatment. We'll see....

The Packaging

I was lucky enough to see how the watch was packaged from the factory to the dealer. A lot of people think that a new watch gets packaged directly into the formal watch-box from the factory. In reality, the watch travelled in a simple package. It is only at the dealers' when the watch is packed nicely into a standard watch-box. In the case of Omega, my watch actually moved is this simple cardboard box as shown below. 

As you can see in the photo below, the inside of the box is very simple and utilitarian.

For the Omega Ultra Deep, the formal watch-box has three layers. 

The first layer is the protective or transport watch-box which is made out of thick cardboard. Painted white, it is signed with the logo and brand in silver paint.

Taking the top off, you will find the box has been separated into two sections; the larger portion for the primary watch-box and a smaller secondary section for the manual and other documents.

Despite just being a protective storage for the primary watch-box, Omega took the pain of lining the inside of the cardboard box with soft felt-like cushion cover. 

The primary watch-box is very luxurious. Made out of wood (I believe it is Maple wood), there is a safety button that you need to press before you can open the box. That button is the medallion in front of the box. Meanwhile, the logo and brand is inlaid into the wood.

By pressing on this medallion, it releases a catch and the box can then be opened.

The thick walled wooden box is covered with felt and trimmed in red with the logo and brand also printed in red in the center of the top cover. The watch sits in the center. Nevertheless, the false floor of the box can be lifted to reveal a sunken section that holds the third and final section of the packaging.

This final section is a travelling watch-box that can be used as a standalone. 

Made out of red painted leather (not sure if this is real leather, as it does not feel like leather to me), the box is secured using a strap and button.

The embossed brand and logo over the strap looks very nice indeed.

Having pull all the stops to use quality material for the packaging, using faux leather for the final piece is rather tacky. I like to believe that Omega did use actual leather but it doesn't feel like it.

 

Door Gifts

 

As the dealer was not able to give me any discount, they did give me a couple of free gifts. One was a signed leather credit card holder and the other is a set of lapel pins from the 2022 Summer Beijing Olympic.

 

Specifications 

Case Material: O-MEGASTEEL, special stainless steel alloy made by Omega

Case Surface: Brushed and polished

Diameter: 45.50 mm

Lug Width: 22.00 mm

Thickness: 18.12 mm

Length: 51.95 mm

Dial Colour: White

Weight: Approximately 254 gm

Bracelet Material: O-MEGASTEEL; tapered from 22.0 mm at the lugs to 18.0 mm at the clasp

Clasp: Patented fold-over clasp with push-button lock and comfort setting (6 adjustable positions for a range of up to 9.7 mm) and diver extension (2 x 11.8 mm)

Crystal: Domed 5.2mm EFG sapphire with AR treatment on both sides

Bezel: Polished blue ceramic bezel with Liquidmetal 60-minute scale, unidirectional 

Crown: Screw-in and signed  

Case-Back: Polished, brushed and sandblasted screw-down solid Grade 5 titanium medallion with graphics

Water Rating: 6,000 m or 600 bars

Dial: Transparent lacquer dial in white

Index: 18K white gold indexes with Super-LumiNova paint with blue emission

Numbers: 18K white gold Arabic numerals, varnished on top in blue

Handset: Polished and multifaceted 18K white gold arrow hands with Super-LumiNova paint; blue emission for hours & seconds hands; green emission for minutes hand; seconds hand with varnished tip in blue

Movement: Calibre 8912, self-winding movement with Co-Axial escapement, Master Chronometer certified by METAS
Jewels: 39

Frequency: 25,200 BPH; 3.5 Hertz

Power Reserve: 60 hours

Magnetic Resistance: 15,000 gauss

Complications: Free-sprung balance with silicon balance spring, two series-mounted barrels and jump-set hour hand

International Standard: ISO 6425:2018 standard for saturation divers’ watches

Warranty: Five (5) years

Purchase Date: 25 January 2023 

Vendor: Omega Boutique, Gardens

Serial Number: xxxxx

MSRP: RM49,200; EUR12,100

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