Introducing the Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m now with Co-Axial Master Chronometer and in Titanium – live photos & price

“There are tools and there are jewels or as we call them the desk divers. Some of them though are so important because upon their inception they transformed the way the industry perceived the construction of the proper divers watch.” This is how our contributor Ilias defined the Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m, a proper tool watch made to be used by professional divers together with being an important watch for the industry. For baselworld 2015, Omega offers an update to “The Kraken of Diving Watches” by casing the new Co-Axial Master Chronometer movement into a titanium case and mesh bracelet.

What is the Ploprof?

To summarize, it is one of the most iconic diving tools ever created, a watch so easily recognizable, a timepiece not made to be elegant but just to perform as best as possible. It was after all a tool, created by professional divers in order to be used by professional divers – as its name tells: Plo-Prof for Plongeur Profesionnel (professional diver in French). It had been created together with Comex in the early 1970s, after they (and the divers of Jaqcues-Yves Coustaeu) tested the Omega Seamaster 300 (ref.165.024). With this feedback, Omega decided to improve the concept of the dive watches by creating a tool able to resist to a depth of 600m.

The Ploprof 600m was revolutionary in many aspects. The case was machined from a single block of stainless steel, meaning that it showed a monobloc design (the movement was cased from the top, before the dial, the hands and the crystal). The crown and the bezel were also revolutionary in their construction, as the first one came with a unique seal mechanism (to prevent unwinding and thus, water to come in) and the latter was protected by a pushbutton to unlock the bezel mechanism only for setting purposes.

The Omega Seamaster Ploprof 600m was and still is a true iconic and a revolutionary timepiece that inspired several other brands and changed the way to built dive watches. This is the reason why, in 2009, Omega chose to re-introduce it with a faithful design (and several technical updates).

More about the Ploprof – both the vintage 600m edition and the modern 1200m edition – can be read in our in-depth review.

Back in 2009, Omega introduced the new Ploprof, or as the nomenclature tells, the Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m Co-Axial. The visual aspects were extremely close to the vintage edition. It came with the same overall design for the case, the dial and the hands. It was still a massive watch but the construction of the case was the main update. Because of the technological advances, the case gets rid of the monobloc design and goes back to a traditional middle case, with a separated caseback and bezel – considerably facilitating the service operations. The second change concerns the water resistance, now at 1200m – again due to the new technologies. The crown protection and locker is also improved and easier to grip but the bezel’s pushbutton is still right in place.Finally, the Omega Seamster Ploprof 2009 edition comes with a modern Co-Axial chronometer movement, the Calibre 8500.

What’s new for 2015?

In fact, many things that can’t be seen at first sight. Of course, you’ll easily recognize the new dial / bezel / strap combos, but the rest of the updates is more technical. Design-wise, the watch keep the exact same shape, with its 55mm x 48mm x 17.5mm case. The main novelty is something that we totally applause: the use of titanium for both the case and the mesh bracelet (the use of titanium for such a bracelet seems to be a world’s first). Considering the huge size of this Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m, the use of lightweight titanium is more than welcome, as it won’t make the watch smaller but at least, easier to wear on a daily basis. The second advantage of this metal is to be more resistant to scratches and corrosion – something that professional divers will certainly like.

The second update concerns the bezel. On the 2009 edition of the Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m, the bezel was made of a sapphire crystal printed (on the back) with a 60-minute scale. On the 2015 Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m Co-Axial Master Chronometer, you won’t be surprised to see the arrival of ceramic, once again a more resistant material.

The case comes with one last update: the caseback is now made of sapphire crystal, in order to offer a view on the movement. And what a movement! Indeed, the 2015 Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m comes with the latest and finest from Omega-Watches, the Co-Axial Master Chronometer. First introduced in 2013, this new movement began to be used widely in the collection last year, especially with the introduction of the Omega Seamaster 300m Master Co-Axial. This year, we’ve seen again some updates, as it now features a new certification and new tests – the Master Chronometer standard, as seen in the newly introduced Omega Globemaster Collection (where you can find all the details about this new certification).

The 2015 Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m Co-Axial Master Chronometer Titanium features the Calibre 8912, meaning the no-date edition of the movement we can find in the Omega GlobeMaster – movements that were previously know as the Master Co-Axial. Basically, we found all the technologies created by Omega, including the Co-Axial escapement and the fully antimagnetic construction, with all the major parts made in silicon (balance wheel, escapement wheel and pallet, hairspring) or in non-magnetic metals (for the plates and bridges). It allows the movement to be resistant to magnetic fields up to 15.000 Gauss. The second improvement is the new certification, based first on COSC standards and then on an internal process build together with METAS. This process is made on the entire watch (and not only the movement) and concerns its accuracy, its power reserve, its average daily precision in daily wearing conditions, its water-resistance and its resistance to magnetic fields. The Omega Calibre 8912 features two barrels for 60 hours of power reserve and ticks at 3.5Hz. It is decorated with arabesque Geneva stripes. Accuracy for Co-Axial Master Chronometer watches is said to average -0, + 5 seconds per day.

The 2105 edition of Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m is a great technical update, that improves both the movement – with better standards, better accuracy, very high resistance to magnetic fields – and the watch itself, that is now both more resistant and easier to wear on a daily basis, due to the use of titanium. The 2015 Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200m Co-Axial Master Chronometer Titanium comes in 4 editions (all come on a mesh titanium bracelet and also includes an additional rubber strap in the box)

• Black dial / black bezel – 12.600 USD
• Grey dial / dark grey bezel – 13.800 USD
• White dial / Blue bezel – 12.600 USD
• Blue dial / 18k Sedna gold bezel with blue insert – 18.000 USD