Hands-On With A Dressy Diver: The Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M 39.5mm In Brown Ceramic
Remember the first Omega Planet Ocean from 2005? I will never forget it because the orange bezel blew me away. Orange is a complementary color to blue, meaning it is the most visible color in a blue environment. That makes sense for a functional and instrumental dive watch, right? The Planet Ocean has come a long way since then. Take the Planet Ocean 600M in its 39.5mm brown ceramic case, for instance. And you don’t just get a brown ceramic case, oh no. You also get a brown ceramic dial and shiny touches of Ceragold and Sedna gold. That color combination sounds a bit like an Omega × Michael Kors collaboration, doesn’t it? Let’s find out how it works and feels on the wrist.
Now and then, Omega comes out with a watch that, at first sight, looks a bit odd. “Odd” as in daring when it comes to colors, and “daring” as in brave for a reputable Swiss watch manufacturer. When I saw the 41mm Seamaster Aqua Terra Small Seconds ref. 220.12.41.21.02.005 with its silver dial with beige detailing and beige rubber strap, I wanted to try it in the metal. It didn’t disappoint. I never saw the 39.5mm Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M reference 215.62.40.20.13.001 on the Omega website, so my first impression was like a blind date. What do you do on a blind date? You try to keep an open mind, ask questions, and be on your best behavior. And in the end, you offer to take care of the bill. But do you also get the check if the date proved to be a bit of a letdown?
Does the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M look good in brown and gold?
Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M in a color combination that, in my opinion, screams “Michael Kors!” Nothing wrong with that if you love that fashion brand and want to match the watch to a bag or shoes in the brand’s signature brown shade. But I’m not wearing Michael Kors, so how does it look on me? Well, the finishing of the sleek 39.5mm brown ceramic case is excellent. And the deep brown shade looks rich and warm. The unidirectional rotating bezel feels solid and makes a particular sound that differs from other Planet Ocean watches because of the way the ceramic case resonates. Brown and gold is a rich and luscious color combination, and that’s probably why Omega decided to use Ceragold technology to create the diving scale.
And if it works on the bezel, it works on the dial. That’s why the brown ceramic dial got 18K Sedna Gold numerals and indexes. And the hands that turn above the dial are done in Sedna Gold as well. The brown theme continues with the quilted rubber strap that has a brown ceramic folding clasp. Omega has executed the idea of mixing brown ceramic and gold meticulously. Does that result in a perfect Planet Ocean?
Look at the numbers
Omega materialized the concept of brown and gold to a tee. Whether you like that combination or not comes down to a matter of taste. The “numbers” the watch can present are more factual. Inside the case and behind a transparent case back, there’s the antimagnetic Master Chronometer caliber 8800 at work — the watch went through eight tough tests set by METAS (the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology) and passed them. The watch with its helium escape valve is water resistant to 600 meters. And other features worth mentioning are the domed, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with an antireflective treatment on both sides. The presence of a date window at 3 o’clock might annoy some purists, but attention to detail is also present here — the date uses a brown background.
The most objective facts are the numbers. The brown Planet Ocean has a 39.5 × 14.5mm case size with a lug-to-lug length of 45.3mm and a lug spacing of 19mm. The total weight of the watch we had at Fratello HQ was 105 grams. And with that weight, you pay €139 per gram for this €14,600 watch.
The Planet Ocean on the wrist
When you close your eyes, the 39.5mm Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M, in its ceramic case and supple rubber strap, feels like it’s not there. The combination of size and weight makes it disappear. That changes completely when you keep your eyes open wide and check the time. Every time I looked at my left wrist, I had some sort of mini shock. It’s a watch you don’t expect. A watch you don’t expect to have an Omega logo on the dial, that is.
To be very honest, I never completely got used to the way it looked. And also, the proportions of the case were just a bit off. A 14.5mm thickness combined with a 39.5mm diameter does create a bit of a barrel shape. That’s not the worst thing that can happen when there’s a functional dive involved, but you can hardly call a brown ceramic watch with dressy gold details and a price of €14,600 a functional dive watch.
Unlike the beige Seamaster Aqua Terra Small Seconds, the brown Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M didn’t manage to work its hard-to-define magic on me. I did try to match the watch with my Micheal Kors tote bag, but unfortunately, that bag isn’t brown but has a camo pattern instead. Do you think you can match your attire to this brown ceramic and gold watch or vice versa? Let me know in the comments.
