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An extract from OMEGA Lifetime - The Family Edition
photographs by PHILIPPE LACOMBE
Our human fascination with the sea stretches back over thousands of years. Its mysteries, hidden deep within the swells of inky blackness, have tantalised and seduced us for as long as we’ve had a natural impulse to explore. But only recently, in the past century in fact, have we finally mastered the diving technology to truly unlock its secrets.
One of the most vital technologies in that quest has been the watch we wear on our wrist. From counting the critical seconds of air, to surviving the crushing pressures, precise and robust timekeeping has always been essential for those who submit themselves to the waves.
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1958 - SEAMASTER 300
But as the possibilities of ocean exploration began to build, the devastation of WWII arrived, sinking the world into chaos for six long years. In the midst of the war between 1939 and 1945, Omega was able to gain incredible expertise by producing and delivering the majority of all water-resistant timepieces worn by pilots and navigators in the Royal Air Force. It was an abrupt lesson in watchmaking design, but enabled the brand to quickly master the creation of robust and reliable timepieces.
When the war ended, the Seamaster was born from that experience. Launched in 1948 to coincide with Omega’s centenary, the collection harnessed the technology used in those wartime watches and transformed it with elegant touches for active individuals who desired a watch for ‘town, sea and country’.
The starting point for this new ocean trajectory was the Seamaster 300, part of Omega’s “professional” trilogy released in 1957 (along with the inaugural Speedmaster and Railmaster designs). The 300’s easy-to-read display, including broad arrow hands and sharp-tipped indexes on a jet-black dial, was the first visible advantage. But the true magic lay in the model’s exceptional water-resistance, which was indicated by the neat “Naiad” star that was set within the logo on the crown.
The first Seamaster 300 and its subsequent editions quickly became the choice of many of the world’s most famous explorers and divers. Even Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his team relied on it during their Precontinent II experiments in the Red Sea in the summer of 1963 to prove that divers could live in a submerged saturated gas environment for long periods without adverse effects. The Seamaster 300 would also go on to be the watch of choice of military divers around the world, including the British Special Boat Service among others.
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1970 - “BULLHEAD”
Once again, Omega rose (or is that descended?) to the challenge. In 1970, the iconic and unconventional Seamaster Ploprof was launched. To combat the oceans’ physical forces and to maximise water-resistance, the angled monocoque case housed a system of over-compressed gaskets, which guaranteed an exceptional performance. The square crown, which was entirely sunken within the case and protected by a large locking nut, was positioned at 9 o’clock to provide easier wrist movement and prevent accidental knocks.
As well as water, the “Ploprof” also found a way to repel another troublesome intruder. During decompression, commercial divers can spend hours inside diving bells while breathing gases that contain tiny atoms of helium. Small but mighty, these atoms can infiltrate the diver’s watch and cause it to explode when the decompression stops. Unlike most watches that are fitted with helium escape valves, the ingenious design of the “Ploprof” prevented helium from entering the watch in the first place. By doing this, the precision could never be affected by gas.
When the 1980s arrived, the Seamaster, along with the entire Swiss watch industry, experienced a somewhat turbulent upheaval. Coincidentally, this decade is always remembered for its provocative eruptions within politics, music, technology and fashion. But it should be remembered that horology was also experiencing its own cataclysmic event. The past decade had witnessed a rise in quartz watches from Japan, as well as a severe economic recession. The combination was a perfect storm that blew into the 1980s and threatened to sink the Swiss watch brands into obscurity. As the popularity of mechanical watches took a significant hit, the industry needed to respond – and fast. Thankfully, as history famously tells, many of the threatened Swiss brands responded by joining forces and consolidating their watchmaking expertise as one large group. With this foresight and restructuring, the industry managed to stabilise itself and keep its head above water.
2002 - AQUA TERRA
Then in 1995, the Seamaster acquired its most famous wearer of all. When James Bond returned to cinema screens in GoldenEye, his blue Seamaster Diver 300M was unmissable beneath his cuff. The spy’s choice had come from the film’s costume designer Lindy Hemming, who felt that a Seamaster was the most appropriate watch for a naval Commander to wear. Clearly, Hemming had paid close attention to Omega’s military heritage, from which the Seamaster had originally been born.
This was a moment that would cement the Seamaster’s fame forever. In every 007 film since 1995, James Bond and his Seamaster have been inseparable. More often than not, the watch has played a life-saving role, with explosive features that, understandably, have not been integrated into the designs for the general public. Yet the Bond association has given the Seamaster an additional legacy that has truly resonated with fans.
