HANDS ON: Is this green Omega Seamaster 300 the most attractive ever?

Zach Blass

Green, green, oh… green. In 2021, green was the undisputed colour of the year with every watch manufacture under the sun presenting a design in the hue. Sure, you can’t go wrong with a black or white dial – their versatility is unmatched. But collectors need colour to liven up their watch boxes, and even first-time buyers often seek pieces that are a bit more spicy. One year on, a Hulk-ish diver arrived that proved there was still demand for sports watches with green dials, with Omega finally rendering their beloved Seamaster 300M Professional with a green ceramic bezel and dial. In the process, it’s fair to say, they smashed it out of the park.

Familiar Seamaster features

The watch is every bit the modern Seamaster 300M Professional you know and love, its stainless-steel case 42mm in diameter, 13.7mm thick, and 50mm lug-to-lug across the wrist. A screw-down crown at 3’ helps secure the 300 metre depth rating, and the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup-style helium-escape valve is situated at 10’. The case displays an elegant mix of brushed and polished finishes, with lovely cambered and bevelled lyre lugs that hug the wrist well.

Its green ceramic bezel insert displays a full 60 minute timing scale, the scale formed from white enamel inlaid into the insert. The luminous pip, at the 12’ position on the bezel, shines green in darkness. The dial, however, utilizes bi-coloured lume, with the applied circular hour indices, central hours hand, and central seconds hand coated with blue SuperLuminova. The central minutes hand stands out with a green luminescent coating to match the pip of the bezel. Why? Because the minutes hand is closely tied to the functionality of the bezel’s timing scale. So, having the two match is a meticulous design choice that heightens the legibility of the dive functionality.

Green waves

Its dial, like the insert, shares the same material and colour. Like previous models, the dial is laser-cut to form a wave pattern – a nod to the GoldenEye era of Seamaster divers. Also like its insert, the ceramic dial plate has a shiny gloss finish. There is so much depth to this dial, with its sunken and wavy laser-cut channels and highly raised applied indices. At the centre of the dial, the hours and minutes hands are skeletonized with luminescent lines framing the carved out metal and a circular plot of luminous material situated within the tip of each hand. The central seconds hand has a stick shape, with a lollipop-style tip also coated in SuperLuminova. One aspect many appreciate about the modern Seamaster 300M Professional is the positioning of the date complication at 6’. This better maintains the symmetry of the dial, and the fact Omega has taken the time to produce a dial and bezel matching white-on-green date wheel earns them an A+ from dial purists. Moreover, an A++ move Omega has made is to have a shorter applied index beneath the date window, so there is no gap in luminescent presence.

The Seamaster 300M Professional Green can be purchased in two configurations. The first is a nine-piece link bracelet that combines broader brushed surfaces with narrower polished surfaces. The bracelet is very accommodating to size thanks to the push/slider incremental micro-adjustment on the underside of the folding clasp, and it even has the more traditional fold-out dive extension so you may fit it over a wetsuit if needed. The second is a dial-matching green rubber strap, secured to the wrist with a pin/buckle system, if you prefer a more casual and colourful aesthetic that doubles down on green.

Co-axial power

Inside the watch, beneath a screwed-down exhibition caseback is the in-house calibre 8800. The automatic movement utilises the famed co-axial escapement, created by the legendary George Daniels and further refined by his apprentice Roger W. Smith, inserting some high-horology into the equation. As required by METAS Master Chronometer certification, the calibre 8800 is resistant up to 15,000 gauss, in part thanks to its anti-magnetic silicon escapement, and the movement is regulated to run within 0 to +5 seconds per day – an especially attractive regulation parameter to those who hate losing time like I do. It also has a full balance bridge, ensuring the movement has a higher degree of shock-resistance. While it’s a highly technical movement, some nicely machined aesthetic embellishments have also been performed to the calibre – most notably the Geneva Waves in arabesque found on the winding rotor and bridges.

The Omega Seamaster Diver 300m pricing and availability:

The Omega Seamster Diver 300m in green is now available from Omega boutiques. Price: $8,250 AUD on bracelet, $7,775 AUD on rubber.