Omega Seamaster 300*** 165.024*** 1966 - Roy & Sacha Davidoff SA

Omega Seamaster 300*** 165.024*** 1966

OUR ARCHIVE » Omega Seamaster 300*** 165.024*** 1966

OMEGA Vintage Original Seamaster 300 Ref. 165.024, 1966
Serial # 24XXXXXX
Circa: 1966

DESCRIPTION:
Vintage Omega Seamaster 300 in great original condition

MOVEMENT:
Omega Cal. 552, self-winding mechanical, 24 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock absorber, self-compensating flat balance spring

DIAL:
Matte black with painted luminous baton indexes, outer minute/seconds division. Luminous steel “sword” hands.

CASE: Excellent condition, original, 42mm Stainless Steel with Bakelite rotating bi-directional 60min bezel, lyre lugs, back engraved with Seamaster logo and the words “Certified High Pressure Waterproof”

BRACELET: NATO bracelet

PRODUCER: Omega

NOTES: The Seamaster was launched by Omega in 1948 to coincide with the brand’s 100th anniversary and is the oldest model in the current collection. Loosely based on the waterproof wristwatches made for the British military at the end of World War II, the Seamaster was first intended as a robust yet elegant watch for active individuals who wanted a watch for ‘Town and Country’. The first watches were equipped with self-winding movements in both standard and chronometer versions, the latter being universally appreciated for their robustness, accuracy and reliability.

The key to these watches was the O-ring gasket. At this time, water-resistant watches generally used lead or shellac gaskets which were susceptible to temperature changes. The Seamaster, however, used a rubber gasket of the type that had proven its abilities in submarines during the Second World War. The Swiss Laboratory for Watch Research independently tested 50 cases of the Seamaster at a simulated depth of 60 meters. After temperature changes of -40° C to 50° C in quick succession, the cases showed no sign of water infiltration. The engineers at OMEGA were so sure of the Seamaster that one flew over the north pole attached to the outside of a DC6 in 1956.

The following year saw the introduction of the “Professional” range of Seamaster watches with the launch of the Seamaster 300. Though OMEGA was not a newcomer to the world of divers' watches, the 1932 Marine accompanied the father of modern diving, Yves Le Prieur, on many of his dives, it marked a decisive turning point for the line which has been associated with robust divers' watches ever since.

The Seamaster 300 has been the choice of many of the world’s most famous divers over the years. Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s team used the Seamaster 300 during its “Precontinent II” experiments in the Red Sea in the summer of 1963 to prove that divers could live in a submerged saturated gas environment for long periods without adverse effects.

On the 12th of July 1968 the Comex "Doris" divers used the Seamaster 300 to descend to 365 meters.

- Omega Museum

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