The Green Omega Seamaster Diver 300m Is The Perfect Modern Dive Watch

The deeper you get into this watch hobby, the more you start to understand what a “you” watch is. You build a collection, no matter how big or small, that either jives with your style, your wrist size, or your general vibe. For example, I tend to gravitate towards old things or things tied to some sort of meaningful historical context. I also tend to like things that everyone else doesn’t. This tracks almost identically with my music taste (a lot of Beatles, Beach Boys, and Velvet Underground mixed with an intense love for ‘90s and 2000s indie rock). This why the two-tone Datejust holds a special place in my heart, along with vintage Submariners, classic gold dress watches, and basically anything in the 36mm size arena.

Finding a niche like this, however, does not mean that you don’t daydream cosplaying as someone else. Someone who could effortlessly pull off a 46mm diver or an IWC Big Pilot, or even an Urwerk. It’s like those moments when a Gracie Abrams song appears in your music shuffle and you hesitate to change the song but you’re also afraid to maybe admit “This is actually good?”

This is how I came to own the green Omega Seamaster Diver 300m – perhaps the least vintage-leaning, most unabashedly modern, large(ish) diver in my collection. It’s the anti “me” watch, and yet it has been the most worn watch in my collection since I bought exactly a year ago. It might even be my favorite watch?

Let’s review everything about it that shouldn’t appeal to the vintage lover in me. This watch has a hefty, non-tapering bracelet in a very specific (and not romantically vintage) ‘90s styling, the size is 42mm going on 43, the bezel is a very shiny ceramic, and dial is also ceramic with modern laser ablation (more on that soon). The clasp gives the modern Rolex Submariner a run for its money in terms of size, too. But I am here to tell you that not one of these things is a negative in my book. I love it all.

Today, every brand is either riffing off of the Oyster or Jubilee style bracelet. Call me crazy but I love that the brushed and polished styling of the SMP300 bracelet is wholly unique to Omega and to this watch. Ok, there is a little bit of the whole James Bond nostalgia creeping in here, but not a whole lot because I honestly don’t really like the Brosnan Bond films…like, at all. And I was a Playstation kid so I didn’t even play Goldeneye. Sorry if that triggers anyone.

The clasp might be thick, but it’s also useful. I constantly find myself utilizing the quick push-down sizing system which offers similar utility to the Rolex Glidelock system. It also allows you to spread the gospel of a watch you love by making it adjustable for all your friends and family to try on. Okay, maybe that’s weird. I definitely don’t do that. I totally do that.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever begun writing about watch from the bracelet and clasp first, but such is the state of my mind. So let’s move on to the bezel. In basically every review I have ever read about this watch, folks have bemoaned the toothless bezel and cried audibly about the difficulty in getting a good grip on it and thereby turning it. I have no idea what their issue is. I am a historically uncoordinated person, and not once has this presented an issue for me. I can also attest to the bezel action itself being very good.

The bezel insert is ceramic as I previously noted and while it does have that sheen to it,, it doesn’t stand out too much because it matches that smooth ceramic dial with its precise laser-ablated wave pattern. There are neat flourishes here such as the wave-less portions of the dial where the text sits, or the almost hidden zirconium oxide (ZrO2) printing. This is like the modern equivalent of old T-Swiss tritium indications. The dial also has a tidy six o’clock date window with a very modern typographical style for the date numerals. Yes, it is color-matched.

I chose the green version because, at the time, it was the only available modern SMP300 with no red flourishes on the dial. To me those were always kid-coded. I’m not a kid (or a Brosnan guy), and I wanted a serious everyday watch. The stark white text, and the white seconds tip just make this watch feel grown-up in a way that appeals to me.

Now, in the 12 months since I got this watch, Omega has made a lot of changes to the format. It has played off of the success of the No Time To Die Seamaster with its mesh bracelet, aluminum bezel, and non-ceramic dial. Daniel Craig (a great Bond), debuted a revamped steel Seamaster at the Paris Olympics and it was finally released this fall. With its aluminum black bezel insert and aluminum dial with smaller, vintagey waves, it technically should have appealed to the nostalgist in me. It should have made me want to trade in my green for the new black. And while I love that new watch and may someday own it as well, my most worn watch of 2024 isn’t going anywhere.

There is just something about how "of the moment" this watch is that really does it for me. The exterior styling feels like a perfect match for the METAS-certified 8800 caliber on the inside which can go toe-to-toe with any Rolex movement in my mind. This watch is also mystifying in all the right ways. It’s a chameleon – a harsh olive green in direct sunlight, and a near grey/black in the shade. It’s near impossible to photograph with an iPhone which is cool because it also detaches it from the Instagram-sphere.

Perhaps the fact that it feels exactly like a 2020s watch is the sort of reverse nostalgia that actually makes it a “me” watch. The same way I look at my dad’s 1980s Rolex Submariner 5513 and recognize that it oozes the vintage charm of its day, so too might I look at my Seamaster the same way in 2066. I’ll let you know.