The Omega Seamaster 300M Bronze Gold and Burgundy that Daniel Craig teased months ago has just been released!
Zach BlassRemember that cheeky tease of an unreleased golden Seamaster with a burgundy bezel on Daniel Craig’s wrist? Today, we find out that the watch is called the Omega Seamaster 300M Diver Bronze Gold and Burgundy, as it’s finally unveiled to the world. Between its two debuting configurations, one is notably the first-ever Omega watch with a full Bronze Gold case and bracelet. Let’s take a look at this hotly-anticipated timepiece, as well as a bit of a timeline of events.
The backstory
View this post on Instagram
Despite his Bond tenure being finished, Daniel Craig continues to be a powerful ambassador for Omega, and his wrist has routinely been leveraged as a tool to leak upcoming releases in a calculated, strategic manner – a winning strategy other brands have begun to copy.
View this post on Instagram
He first did it with the crisp, white-dialled Omega Speedmaster, then a steel Seamaster with a black wave dial at the Olympics back in August. That very Seamaster made its debut three months later in November, similar to the white-dial Speedy that was released just four months after it was first teased.
View this post on Instagram
His latest stunt saw him at the Governors Awards in L.A., yet again sporting an unreleased Seamaster. Like the black Seamaster teased at the Olympics, the debut of this new Bronze Gold Seamaster with a burgundy bezel has arrived almost exactly four months after the initial tease. Perhaps this is the formula to pay attention to… But enough Craig talk. Let’s get into the specs and something you may not have expected.
The case
The 300-metre water-resistant case, still 42mm in diameter, 13.8mm thick, and 49.7mm lug-to-lug, is made of Omega’s proprietary Bronze Gold. As a quick refresher, Omega’s Bronze Gold is a bronze alloy that is enriched with 37.5% gold along with undisclosed amounts of palladium and silver – hallmarked as 9k. What this ultimately nets is a bronze and gold hybrid that has a soft pink hue but is also very stable and corrosion-resistant. Omega is not claiming it will not be susceptible to any aging or patina, though. The aging will happen very slowly, but it will never reach the point where it has verdigris-like oxidation making the case look like one of the cordyceps-ridden infected in The Last of Us. In other words, it won’t ever get super gross.
Interestingly, Omega has elected to execute the case in a full brush rather than a mixed-finish style. There are no mirrored accents whatsoever, and the same can be said for the mesh bracelet. As a result, the case feels bright, as there are no mirror-polished surfaces to offer a darker contrast. This is a dive watch at the end of the day, so it definitely suits the look, but I would have been curious to see what a mixed-finished draft of this design looked like. Framing the dial is the one element we were all 100% certain of when Craig first teased the watch: a burgundy timing bezel. The unidirectional bezel insert is predictably made of aluminium, a more common insert material for Seamaster Diver 300M models paired with a mesh bracelet.
The dial
While (perhaps lazily) most predicted the new burgundy Seamaster to have a black wave dial, it omits the model’s signature pattern for a sand-blasted finish. It offers a sense of texture, while also offering a demure look that lets the colours of the case and bezel be the stars of the show. Its black-framed, applied indices are a detail I particularly enjoy, as it makes the surrounds blend into the dial. This results in a look that feels more vintage, with indices that are painted on rather than applied and filled. The luminous material throughout retains the fauxtina of the No Time to Die model, and it matches the hue of the Bronze Gold case very well. There is also no date window to interrupt the dial, so purists can rejoice at that fact.
The movement
Inside and exhibited is the in-house, automatic Calibre 8806, a METAS-certified, Co-Axial movement with 55 hours of power reserve. The familiar and robust calibre is highly anti-magnetic (up to 15,000 Gauss), and accurate within 0/+5 seconds per day. Though industrially finished, Omega has always done a great job of decorating its calibres to a level worthy of exhibition – the arabesque waves applied to the bridges and winding rotor are quite eye-catching.
The straps
As I mentioned earlier, the Omega Seamaster Bronze Gold and Burgundy is available in two configurations. Seeing a Seamaster on a black rubber strap is not unfamiliar by any stretch, but this channelled black rubber strap does have a Bronze Gold pin buckle, the first with that feature. What is more exciting is that Omega introduced its first-ever Bronze Gold bracelet in any style, and it’s fitting for it to be mesh in this case. It’s a very silky, comfortable bracelet with a folding clasp, though I suspect some may wish it wasn’t as bulky. Nonetheless, it is a nice bracelet. With a first-ever Bronze Gold bracelet, it’s exciting that we now have a sense of how Omega prices a full Bronze Gold model.
The verdict (and the inevitable pricing discussion)
On the rubber strap, the Omega Seamaster Bronze Gold and Burgundy is priced at US$13,900. This tracks, considering the Bronze Gold-debuting Seamaster 300 Heritage model introduced three years ago has a retail price of US$13,600 on its leather strap. Moving on to the bracelet, here is where I think some people may be hit with sticker shock. Should you wish to purchase this watch on the case-matching bracelet, the retail price is set at US$27,900. That is just a little over twice the cost of the rubber strap variant.
However, once you run through the current catalogue offerings, it begins (at the very least a little bit) to make more sense. Believe it or not, the only current Seamaster with a solid gold case and bracelet is the James Bond 60th anniversary model in Canopus Gold. But you can’t really use it as a reference, given its exquisitely gem-set bezel hikes the price up to over US$150,000. Really, the only benchmark within the Seamaster range (aside from the aforementioned Bronze Gold Heritage model) is that a Seamaster Diver 300M in Moonshine or Sedna Gold is priced at US$29,300. Looking at the pricing of Omega’s Speedmaster models helps complete the picture. In solid gold on a strap, the Speedy is priced at US$30,200. Add a solid gold bracelet, and you’re at US$42,600. Though helpful, there is no Bronze Gold Speedmaster to cover each and every base.
That being said, with all of these price references in mind, it stands to reason that if a full solid gold Seamaster without gemstones existed, it would likely be priced around the US$40,000 mark. So, it would seem in the equation of a Bronze Gold Seamaster versus a hypothetical solid gold Seamaster, the Bronze Gold savings amount to around US$12,100 – and that’s not insignificant. Removing emotion from the equation and evaluating this price structure in a measured and level way, this cannot be discussed in a “fair or unfair” binary. It’s not personal, it’s just business. And luxury business at that. The pricing strategy of this bracelet model (and its success), in my opinion, hinges on the production scale. I don’t anticipate any pushback on the rubber strap model, but the bracelet needs to be as elusive as, say, the 321 Ed White revival Speedy. This kind of production scale at its set price would make sense, curbing demand to not overly exceed production.
Ultimately, the key exciting things here are that we have the first full Bronze Gold Omega, and that Bronze Gold, though technically 9k, is largely mixed with other noble materials like palladium and silver, and is therefore largely precious. It nods to the burgundy and gold combo from the fan-favourite Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary model (and its astronaut-only sibling) – and bringing emotion back into the equation, it’s just a damn good-looking watch on both the strap and bracelet. The strap version is priced exactly where everyone would expect it to be, and the bracelet model, within the context of Omega’s catalogue, isn’t as wild and makes sense within the brand’s current tier structure. That said, it might leave buyers with less spending power frustrated, as they cannot make the jump beyond the rubber strap option.
Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Bronze Gold and Burgundy pricing and availability
The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Bronze Gold and Burgundy is available now. Price: US$13,900 (rubber strap), US$27,900 (mesh bracelet)
| Brand | Omega |
| Model | Seamaster Diver 300M Bronze Gold and Burgundy |
| Case Dimensions | 42mm (D) x 13.8mm (T) x 49.7mm (LTL) |
| Case Material | Bronze Gold |
| Water Resistance | 300 metres, screw-down crown |
| Crystal(s) | Domed sapphire front, sapphire back |
| Dial | Black, sandblasted finish |
| Bracelet and strap | Black rubber strap, pin buckle Mesh bronze gold bracelet, folding clasp |
| Movement | Calibre 8806, in-house, automatic, Co-Axial, METAS |
| Power Reserve | 55 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds |
| Availability | Now |
| Price | US$13,900 (rubber strap) US$27,900 (Bronze Gold mesh bracelet) |