The Planet Ocean was debuted in 2005 and has become a mainstay, in the last 10 years, of Omega’s sports watch collections. This year Omega has released a brand new Planet Ocean 45.5 mm Chronograph, with a new co-axial chronograph movement (METAS/Master Chronometer certified, a first for Omega chronographs) and in new materials.
As you may know, the current Planet Ocean Chronograph 45.5 mm features the co-axial caliber 9300 movement in titanium with blue dial and bezel. This year’s Baselworld release features a new movement: the automatic co-axial chronometer caliber 9901/9900. This is one of the first generation of movements to be certified by METAS (the Swiss Federal institute of Metrology) and thus, one of the first generation (along with last year’s Globemaster) of Master Chronometer certified watches.
Additionally, this year’s Seamaster Planet Ocean Chrono 45.5 mm is now available in either Sedna™ gold with a black ceramic bezel OR a Sedna™ gold and stainless-steel combo with blue ceramic bezel. It is available with a rubber strap or a stainless steel and Sedna™ gold bracelet.
Another feature is a helium escape valve, for saturation diving; this new Master Chronometer certified Seamaster Planet Ocean Chrono can dive up to 600 m (2,000 ft) and has a 60-hour power reserve. The big picture news, however, is the continued rollout by Omega of METAS, as well as COSC, certification across a wider range of product lines – good news for consumers, as the ubiquity of magnetic fields in modern life makes antimagnetic movements a place where there’s still a bit of room for watchmaking brands to add real functional value.
