Sunday Morning Showdown: Tudor Pelagos Ultra Vs. Omega Seamaster Diver 300M “Orange”

Another week, another Sunday Morning Showdown. This week, we pit two mid-segment dive watches against each other. Although…”mid-segment”? Both brands have crept up in price, putting us in the €6,000–7,500 bracket today. Is that still mid-segment? Whatever you wish to call it, these are two very different watches doing very similar things at a similar price point. That’s all we need to shove them into the ring together!

Daan will defend the new orange-accented Omega Seamaster Diver 300M’s honor, while Thomas will back the Tudor Pelagos Ultra. I want a clean fight, boys. Okay, let’s go!

But first, last week’s results

Last week, Daan and Mike pitted the popular Tissot PRX against the Tissot PRC 100. We fully expected a clean sweep for the PRX, but you chose differently. The caveat is likely the fact that we chose the PRX with a standard quartz movement and the solar-powered PRC 100. Indeed, many of you picked the PRC based on the technology.

Still, the comments also covered design. While the PRX has its fans, some readers simply don’t like the genre of the integrated-bracelet sports watch, or they feel it should be left to the Royal Oak. The vote, in the end, was clear. A whopping 62% voted for the solar-powered PRC 100.

With that out of the way, pour yourself another cup of joe, and let’s get into today’s battle.

Thomas: Tudor Pelagos Ultra

Good morning, Daan! And good morning, Fratelli! Today’s contestants might be very different upon first glance, but they certainly compete with each other within the diving genre and in the same price bracket. Daan’s Seamaster costs €6,800 on rubber or €7,200 on a steel bracelet. Meanwhile, the Tudor commands €6,030, including both a bracelet and a rubber strap.

There are quite notable differences to point out as well. The Seamaster is made of stainless steel, while the Tudor comes in a mix of Grade 2 and Grade 5 titanium. The Omega strives to be a daily-wear diver, while the Tudor goes for hardcore deep diving.

Still, if you are shopping for one, you will inevitably have to form an opinion on the other. This, to us, makes for an interesting comparison. To what extent does brand power weigh in? We aren’t used to seeing Tudor and Omega in the same segment, but here we are. I, for one, will make a case for Tudor’s offering as the more appealing one. Allow me to elaborate.

Tudor Pelagos Ultra — Conceptual integrity

I have one big reason for preferring the Tudor Pelagos Ultra, and that’s conceptual integrity. The Pelagos Ultra leaves no confusion about what it is — a hardcore dive watch. It is big, spartan, and completely designed for ease of use and the ultimate legibility. You will not find any embellishments or frivolities here. Even the tiny splash of color is functionally applied, except maybe for the dial-side use of it.

This makes the Pelagos feel like a well-thought-out, congruent product. It does one thing, and it does it extremely well. You get the best legibility in the business from the big, bright white markers on a completely matte dial and bezel. You get a large dial and bright lume. Crucially, you also get a massive redundancy of water resistance.

The Omega, however, tries to be a jack of all trades. It features all sorts of embellishments and unnecessary details. From its lyre lugs to the awfully slippery scalloped bezel, over-designed hands, and unwieldy clasp, it all feels designed to impress aesthetically. That’s all well and good for a sort of semi-elegant GADA diver, but the Diver 300M is simply too clunky to be that. It lacks substance in refinement and compensates with frivolities. This makes it conceptually incongruent, which ruins it for me.

Specs-wise, the Tudor Pelagos Ultra wins

Even if you reduce this battle to a simple comparison of specifications, the Tudor Pelagos Ultra wins. For starters, it more than triples the Omega’s water resistance in a package that is hardly any bigger. The movement may not have Omega’s Co-Axial escapement, but it squeezes 10 more hours of power reserve out of its barrel while meeting the same stringent METAS demands as the Seamaster.

The external mechanisms have the Seamaster beat too. The bezel is much easier to operate and clicks with the same luxurious solidity. The T-fit toolless micro-adjustable clasp alone is miles ahead of Omega’s clunky mesh bracelet. The Pelagos Ultra may look and feel more spartan, but it has all the refinements we love about a proper high-end tool watch.

Okay, I am being harsh on the Omega. I love the Seamaster Diver 300M. However, since Fratello tends to be rather hospitable to Omega, I feel I need to punch a little bit harder to defend what I think is the underdog here. I will pass it on to you now, Daan. What makes the Seamaster the superior option?

Daan: Omega Seamaster Diver 300M “Orange”

Damn, Thomas, that’s a lot of straight talking right there. I have to say, if I had to choose one Tudor watch to add to my collection, it would be the Pelagos 39, but its recently introduced bigger brother is equally as attractive for people with bigger wrists. I also like that Tudor provides both a rubber strap and a titanium bracelet with the watch. Those two cover all the bases, and if you’d like to add more, you can always do so. The square hour markers and fat handset are the cherry on the cake.

I also agree that Tudor’s Pelagos series feels more genuine due to its more utilitarian character. However, when I picked up a Pelagos 39 at a recent RedBar Amsterdam event, I immediately knew my longing for it wouldn’t turn into a romantic relationship. I put it on my wrist, and it left me quite cold, actually.

I’m not so deeply into more utilitarian watches, unlike our colleague Nacho, for example. But I also felt a bit the same as when I sold my blue-dial Tudor Black Bay 58. Tudor’s designs are so well put together that they almost seem too perfect.

The Omega Seamaster Diver 300M’s charm

Yes, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M’s wavy bezel is hard to grip. The helium escape valve at 10 is unnecessarily big, and the watch wears bigger than its 42mm size suggests. Then again, when I look at its twisted lyre lugs, the matching bezel design, and the quirky and cool skeletonized hour and minute hands, I can’t help but like its overall design better than that of the Pelagos. The Seamaster Diver 300M combines ’90s quirkiness with today’s specs and finishing. Sure, it isn’t all that congruent, but that gives it a human touch.

It’s also true that there isn’t a good bracelet option available from Omega, which is an absolute shame. However, I’d wear this new orange-accented version on the fitted orange rubber strap every day anyway. Why else would you get this orange edition?

Orange accents, nothing else

What I also love about this orange edition of the Seamaster Diver 300M is the fact that Omega didn’t overdo it. We all know Omega designs can be a bit much sometimes, with too many frills. On the new 300M, both the aluminum bezel insert and the dial have a modest, grainy black look. There is also no wave pattern of any kind. I love the contrast between the matte black and the white printing and lume. These elements form a very nice and calm base to add the orange details to.

Specs-wise, other than the water resistance, these watches are very close to each other. The Seamaster is more expensive, and I think we can explain that by saying that Omega is still the bigger and better-known brand of the two. Whether that justifies its higher price is up to you. But I prefer its more quirky, less clean design language. It’s simply the more lovable watch of the two. What do you think?

Get ready to cast your vote!

There you have it — another installment of our Sunday Morning Showdown. Which watch will you vote for? Will it be the congruent one from Rolex’s little brother, or are you going to go for the quirky Omega? Cast your vote now, and let us know in the comments why you voted the way you did. Also, make sure to tune in next week for another showdown!