The new Omega Planet Ocean celebrates 20 years of the model with a new case shape, sharper lines and no helium escape valve!
Some launches feel like incremental upgrades, or a colour change, maybe a design tweak here and there. The new Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean is not one of them. Dropping overnight, this fourth-generation redesign marks a genuine turning point for a collection that has spent the last decade trying to decide whether it wanted to be a rugged dive watch or a luxury sports piece. Now, Omega has effectively answered that question — and the answer feels like a return to form.
There are seven new models to choose from in three colour ways. Each with the choice of a steel bracelet or black rubber strap, and on the orange, the colour-matched orange rubber strap. The rubber will save you A$1,000, but if you want to upgrade to the steel bracelet, I would estimate that it will be approximately A$1,200 or more to do so, so perhaps get the steel, and then buy the rubber separately.
The first thing you notice is that the new Omega Planet Ocean looks sharper. The case is more angular and less rounded. It borrows from the brand’s late-20th-century tool-watch DNA, but the execution is modern. And for those Omega aficionados, those watches borrowed their DNA from the Omega Seamaster 300 models from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The watches are also noticeably thinner, coming in at 13.65 mm. For a 600m diver that once built its identity on bulk, this is a meaningful shift, and I’d say a welcome one from those people, like me, who liked the Planet Ocean, but thought they were on the thicker side.
While Omega has trimmed the fat, it has kept the performance, thanks largely to a titanium internal ring that boosts structural strength and allows the watch to shed the helium escape valve entirely. And while removing the HEV will raise eyebrows among the purists, the reality is that its absence cleans up the profile and doesn’t compromise capability. Those who cried out about Omega getting rid of it can also now celebrate!
The dial and bezel language follow the same philosophy: familiar, but focused. The signature orange makes a confident return, built now in advanced ceramic with a deeper, more saturated tone. In person, the orange does look a little less vibrant and bright, but in a good way. The black bezel is, as you would expect from a gloss black polished ceramic, and the blue is a nice shade, not too bright, but not too deep either, so it sets itself apart from the black.
The other thing you will notice is that the bezel is now a little thicker, has the minute graduations around the entire bezel, so it is more functional, but less clean. This means dial real estate is slightly less optically, and comes across as more akin to the Planet Ocean Ultra Deep released a couple of years ago. This is pronounced even more with the raised, but flat sapphire crystal.
Legibility and contrast take priority here, and the result feels closer to what the Planet Ocean originally represented — a no-nonsense professional diver with just enough visual personality to stand out. This is where some of the design language from the Ultra Deep comes into play. Also, gone is the date window.
One of the quiet heroes of the redesign is the bracelet. For years, it was the one element that never quite matched the ambition of the watch. The new flat-link system finally closes that gap. It’s solid, and backed by a genuinely useful six-position micro-adjustment that makes the watch more wearable day-to-day than any Planet Ocean that’s come before it. Perfect if your wrists fluctuate in size like mine do regularly. Easy to slide in and out.
On the wrist, the new Planet Ocean is deceiving. The rubber strap is super comfortable, and thanks to the design, it really hugs the wrist. On the steel, the way the bracelet and strap join the case with their own separate link, means it is designed to drop down and provide maximum comfort. It feels robust but not too heavy thanks to the design and taper.
Inside, the calibre 8912 continues Omega’s steady commitment to technical consistency: anti-magnetic, Master Chronometer certified, robust, and intentionally simple. With no date, the dial is cleaner, and functionally, you have the ability to set the hours and minutes independently with the quick hour adjust when the crown is in the first position. Pairing it with a titanium caseback instead of a display window reinforces the watch’s tool-watch identity.
Comparing this new Planet Ocean to the third-generation model highlights the scale of the reset. The previous design was more of an extension of the Diver Professional 300M, and this somewhat overshadowed the “Planet Ocean” character. It was refined, but it drifted from the purposeful presence that made the early models so compelling. The new generation brings that character back, and looking at the older Seamaster 300 models from the 1960s, you can see the design DNA shining through.
Initial Thoughts
Ultimately, this release feels like Omega acknowledging what the Planet Ocean should be in 2025 and beyond. Less decorative, more defined. Less about luxury signalling, more about functional excellence with a distinctive edge. The slimmer profile, the removal of the helium escape valve, the upgraded bracelet, and the renewed focus on clarity all push the collection back toward its original spirit.
The result is a cohesive and convincing Planet Ocean, one that now feels like it has its identity back as its own collection, and not a line extension of another. A watch that looks forward while quietly nodding to where it came from. Having played with them on release, I can see exactly the elements that Omega has used: the vintage case design, the Ultra Deep style bezel and dial, and the new bracelet that marries form and function as well as a mix of old and new design cues.
Reference: 06.9200.9004/51.I001
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 42mm x 13.65mm thick
- Case Material: Polished and satin-brushed steel
- Dial: Black dial with rhodium-plated hands and markers, filled with Super-LumiNova. Openworked Arabic numerals in white or orange.
- Bezel: Orange, black or blue polished ceramic bezel, diving scale in white enamel, an inner ring made from polished grade 5 titanium.
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on both sides
- Water resistance: 600m (60ATM)
- Movement: Automatic Calibre 8912, beating at 3.5Hz, COSC, METAS Certified and anti-magnetic to 15,000 gauss.
- Power reserve: 60 hours
- Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel three-link bracelet with folding clasp, diver extension and micro adjust / black or orange rubber strap with folding clasp.