Fratello Friday: What we Know About the New Omega Seamaster Launching at Baselworld 2014


Omega Seamaster Master Co-Axial Chronometer  - cuAs it is every year, the watch press is being overwhelmed with previews of new watches set to be presented during Baselworld 2014. Some brands have already shown their products in all their glory, with no secrets left to unveil, while others have revealed only bits and pieces of their upcoming releases.

Last year, Omega leaked information regarding its Omega Speedmaster Professional “Tintin” a day before Baselworld started. This year, the brand presented some teasers on its official Facebook page with bits and pieces of a new Omega Seamaster watch. Among the 500,000-plus fans of that page, there were some Photoshop magicians that were able to unravel the mystery without much hassle.

Although we will not be sure until Thursday, March 27, when Baselworld officially starts, it appears that the new watch will harken back to the very first Omega Seamaster 300 watch, Reference CK2913. Introduced in 1957, the same year as the Omega Speedmaster (CK2915) and Omega Railmaster (CK2914), it shared the same case design as these other two. They all featured a straight-lug case and had the same combination of polished and satin-brushed parts. All three watches had a specific function, the Railmaster being the anti-magnetic watch, the Speedmaster a chronograph and the Seamaster 300 a divers’ watch.

Omega Seamaster 300 - Reference CK2913
Omega Seamaster 300, Reference CK2913

Other parts that the Seamaster shared with the Railmaster and Speedmaster models included the bracelet and “broad arrow” hands. Omega used automatic Caliber 501 as the movement in the Seamaster 300. This beautiful, copper-colored, in-house-developed movement was also used in several other Omega watches.

One might guess that the ‘300’ in the watch’s name stood for 300 meters of water-resistance, but it did not. The Seamaster 300 was rated at 200 meters, but since the watch’s performance was so much better than Omega was able to test with its equipment (which only measured to a depth of 200 meters), Omega made the decision to dub it “Seamaster 300.”

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  1. S.P.Q.R.

    As the watch does not seem to have a date complication it will not use cal.8500. Also the anti-magnetic co-axial calibre is cal.8508 not cal.8505 and also has a date complication so it will not be that movement either. I suspect that it will be a unique co-axial calibre.

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