WATCH COLLECTING LIFESTYLE

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Insider: Seamaster Planet Ocean ref. 2200.51 XL. A Beast of a Diver Watch.

The Seamaster Planet Ocean is a watch with a very long tradition and history. Omega presented the Marine—the world's first watch designed for divers in 1932. The first Seamaster was launched back in 1948, further confirming Omega's position among sailors and divers as the tough and reliable watch of choice. The Planet Ocean still maintains that essence.

The Planet Ocean comes in two different case sizes, the 42mm and the 45.5mm a.k.a XL. There are also two dial variants and two bezel insert configurations of this reference. The white numerals dial is only available with a black bezel insert and the orange numerals dial is available with orange or black bezel insert.

The Planet Ocean XL is a beast of a watch, weighing approximately 215 grams —close to half a pound. The case is massive and very well constructed with polished and brushed areas. The watch is fitted with a double-coated anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal, a screw down crown and a Helium release crown at 10 o'clock for decompression chambers. This watch is top heavy but still very comfortable. 

The dial is a matte finish dial with raised indices with very powerful super luminova that after being fully charged will glow for a good 8-10 hours in the dark. Reading the time at night while you are in bed is quite easy and very functional. We woke up this morning at 5:45am and it was still glowing.

The bracelet is very comfortable and fitted with a diver's extension in case you need to wear the watch over a wet suit. The depth rating on this watch is 600m/2000ft. The movement inside the Planet Ocean ref. 2200 is the Co-Axial Calibre 2500. In the case of the watch reviewed we are looking at a 2500D, which is the second generation of this caliber. The biggest tell-tale is the different font in the calendar disc, especially on the ones, fours and twos.

After almost four months wearing this watch on an every day basis, we can attest that is probably one of the most accurate watches we've ever owned with a variance of +/-0.3 seconds/day. Additionally, the massive case and solid construction has made this watch one of our favorite daily beaters.