It seems like something Omega would have released a long time ago, but here we are in 2022 getting the first all green Seamaster 300M from Omega. I think everyone knows what competitor this watch is clearly taking a shot at. Let’s take a look at whether this watch can hold its own against the competition or if it falls flat.
To quickly cover the basics, this is a 42mm steel diver’s watch. As the name implies, it is water resistant to 300 meters. The green ceramic bezel is engraved with a white enamel diver’s scale, whereas the dial, also in green ceramic, is laser engraved with a wave pattern in the same manner as Omega’s other comparable Seamaster 300M’s are. I’m not quite sure if I like or dislike the change back to the wave dial that Omega implemented a few years back, but it’s there regardless of what I think. The watch also has a helium escape valve at the tenth hour marker position on the case. The watch features a METAS-certified Cal. 8800 co-axial automatic movement which is visible through a sapphire caseback and possesses a power reserve of 55 hours.
The dial of this watch looks very different in real life than it does in Omega’s pictures. Omega makes it out to be closer to a dark green, but in actuality it really isn’t that dark. It changes a bit based on the light, but is much brighter than pictures make it out to be. This, I think, is a good thing. If it looked like it does in the press photos in real life, the watch would be a little too boring. The brighter green helps to give it some personality.
I’ve always liked the Seamaster’s bracelet, but that doesn’t mean it exists without flaw. Its biggest problem is the fact that its unchanging width makes it feel a little too chunky at times. Specifically, it hurts the Seamaster’s ability to be used both as a sports watch and something that can be dressed up. This is one area that the Submariner definitely takes the lead in and it really shouldn’t be this easy for Rolex to win here. If Omega decided to taper their Seamasters’s bracelet, the Sub’s lead would vanish. Having said that, the bracelet is fine otherwise. If you should choose to not opt for the bracelet, the watch is also available on a green rubber strap.
One part of this watch I really like is how they decided to lume it. Instead of just using one colour of lume for the entire watch, the designers decided to use both green and blue lume. The green lume is used for the minute hand and for the dot marker on the diver’s bezel, while the other hands and dial indices use blue lume. This distinction keeps the two indicators of what is most important for a diver, the minute hand and the diver’s bezel marker, clearly separate and in line with each other at a quick glance. This is a clear upgrade over many other dive watches as not only is the bezel marker lumed, but you can quickly and clearly tell, even in low light situations, how much time of air supply is remaining.
At the end of the day, Omega’s Seamaster not only holds it own against its main competitor, the Submariner, but even takes the lead in some categories. The design and movement, bracelet aside, all either at least are close with the Submariner or exceed it. I don’t even want to bring up wait times, but taking that into account makes the Seamaster all the more attractive of an option. Throw in the fact that the Seamaster is roughly half the price of the 126610LV at retail, and there’s no competition. Omega has a Kermit killer on their hands.
The Omega Seamaster 300M in green is priced at 5,400 USD on a bracelet and 5,100 USD on a green rubber strap.
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