The new Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph with in-house calibre 9300

The new Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph is equipped with a brand new in-house calibre 9300, the first chronograph in Omega’s family of in-house Co-Axial movements.

This is the first co-axial chronograph movement that comes from Omega and they used the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean for its launch. With this new in-house chronograph caliber I think Omega created an absolutely great movement with magnificent specifications. Besides that, the Omega PO Chrono is cool and rugged dive/sports/traveler watch.

A great improvement is the new bracelet with screwed pins! The previous Seamaster bracelets where a serious pain in the *** when it needed adjustment. So finally Omega delivers a bracelet that is ‘on par’!

The new caliber 9300 is a so-called column-wheel chronograph. The column-wheel’s purpose is to operate the the chronograph’s start and stop functions. In general column-wheel chronograph are praised by watch collectors and much more sought-after than chronograph that are operated without column-wheel.

Like all new Co-Axial movements, caliber 9300 also features a Si 14 silicon balance spring. A silicon balance spring is not sensitive for magnetic influences and improves reliability. Omega says this allows them to offer this watch with a four-year warranty. Another great feature that makes me think of my quest for the perfect vacation watch is the movement’s time zone function. This function allows the hour hand to be set without stopping the watch and this feature is especially useful for travelers!

Another great feature of caliber 9300 is the way the chronograph counter displays the elapsed time. Personally I think this is simply superb. The elapsed time is displayed in only one subdial, positioned at 3 o’clock, with a 12-hour hand and a 60-minute counter hand. This arrangement of hands looks familiar….. it recalls the hour and minute hands on the main dial and enables intuitive reading of the elapsed time.

As a fan of vintage dive watches, I just love details like the chronograph minute counter hand that is a so-called ‘plonguer’-style hand. This new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph has all features of a genuine dive watch. It’s not too small (45,5 mm in diameter) and has a screw-down crown, helium escape valve, the chronograph pushers can be locked by screw-down protection. The chronograph second hand is placed centrally and the running seconds are positioned at 9 o’clock.

Maybe not entirely dive-watch-alike, is the sapphire crystal in the screw-in case back. On the other hand this makes it possible to observe beauty of Omega’s new in-house column-wheel chronograph, so I gladly forgive them this “dive-watch-inconsistancy”. Omega Calibre 9300 is similar to Calibre 9301 (shown above) that is enhanced with a red gold bridge and rotor.

Last but not least are the different executions. The Seamaster Planet Ocean is available in stainless steel on a steel bracelet or on a black leather or black or orange rubber strap. Maybe not a novelty because it was already used on a limited edition, but now the Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph is available in a titanium case with a  blue ceramic bezel whose scaling and numbers are made of a zirconium-based alloy called Liquidmetal®. This version with ceramic and Liquidmetal bezel, comes on a titanium bracelet or a blue rubber strap.

More information can be found at the Omega website and official Facebook page.