OMEGA Lot n° 93

Seamaster 60 Blue "Big Crown" - reference 166.062 Steel diving watch with automatic movement. - Round steel case, bidirectional graduated rotating bezel, fluted crown and sighting, screwed caseback. - Blue dial, applied striated hour markers, grey and white painted minute track, straight luminescent hands, straight central second hand painted in white, date window at 3 o'clock. - Blue rubber strap with white stitching, metal pin buckle. Case, dial and movement signed. Movement: mechanical with automatic winding. Movement caliber 565 - numbered 30.330.232 (circa 1969) Case numbered 166.062 Diameter: 37 mm - Strap length: 16 - 20 cm Launched in 1966, this 60 meter version of the Seamaster is more accessible and less imposing in size. With its 1/5th of a second minute track painted on the periphery in gray and white, its striated baton hour markers and its oversized crown, it was the Swiss manufacturer's entry point to diving watches. A similar model can be found in the Omega Museum at Biel under the reference 1934 (page 327) Condition report: Very good general condition, slight patina on the case, the watch works at the time of the expertise, without guarantee of functioning over time, a revision of use advised. Seamaster "Professional" range, different from leisure watches Alongside the "Civil" Seamaster watches, a category of "professional" watches is present in the Omega collections. As early as the 1930s, the Swiss manufacturer began to focus on deep-sea exploration, but also to meet the needs of its many dealers around the world. To meet the expectations of sportsmen, explorers, sailors and other divers, Omega developed a very special watch: the "Marine". Developed in the mid-1930s, it is characterized by a double rectangular case that closes with a lever on the back of the watch. For the anecdote, it was worn on a seal leather strap, chosen for its resistance to water. The real change came in 1957 with the release of the Seamaster 300, which capitalized on the water-resistance advances of the "civilian" Seamaster line, including the use of special gaskets and reinforced crystals to withstand underwater pressure, and was tested to a depth of 200 meters. The curator of the Omega Museum, Marc Richon indicates in the book Omega. Journey through time, on page 323: "If this watch is named Seamaster 300 instead of Seamaster 200, it is because - thanks mainly to the resistance of its crystal and crown - its performance far exceeds the maximum of 20 Kg of pressure per cm2 up to which the control devices of the time can go. Following the example of Rolex and Blancpain in particular, who have laid the technical and stylistic foundations of diving watches for the last 4/5 years or so, Omega will entrust its latest models to professional divers in order to test them in real conditions. During the 1960s and 1970s, they were also tested by certain army corps, including the British Royal Navy. The "professional" models of the Seamaster diving watches will know many variants from the middle of the 1960s: From the Seamaster 60 (water resistant to 60 m) with a reduced diameter for a female public with its burgundy or blue dials to the Seamaster 120 (water resistant to 120 m) with the famous "C" case, including the mythical Seamaster 600, known as the Ploprof (Professional Diver), with its famous left-hand crown and its system of blocking the rotating bezel with a red pusher, the brand's diving watches became a must in this market. In 1993, the "Seamaster Professional" range took on a new dimension with the launch of the new "Chronometer 300 m" version, made famous on the wrist of James Bond in the 1995 film GoldenEyes. From then on and with the fashion for sports watches worn on a daily basis, this range was one of the most widely distributed in the catalog of the Biel-based manufacture. In 2006, while taking up the aesthetics of the Seamaster 300 of 1957, Omega launched the Seamaster Planet Ocean. Water-resistant to 600 m, it will also be available in a chronograph version that can be used underwater. It's funny to note that the two most famous dive watch models in the world are probably the Omega Seamaster 300m and the Rolex Submariner. Launched a few years apart in the 1950s and constantly updated, they are both inseparable from James Bond. Expert's note: the watches in this sale have been opened for expertise and are no longer waterproof. A regular service with a water-resistance check is recommended.