If recent Baselworlds have taught us anything, it’s that anniversaries have become a fertile ground from which many watch brands’ headliner products spring. And the iconic Omega Seamaster can claim two of them in 2018: 70 years since the release of the original Seamaster in 1948, and 25 years since the launch of the Seamaster Professional Diver 300M model in 1993. In honor of this august dual milestone, Omega is offering three commemorative limited editions ? two retro-look models of the postwar Seamaster gents’ watch, and one Diver 300M in tantalum, the material it introduced to the watch world back in ’93 ? in addition to revamping the core Seamaster collection.
Omega Seamaster 1948 Limited Editions
To start from, literally, the beginning: the Seamaster 1948 Small Seconds and Seamaster 1948 Central Second ? both limited to 1,948 pieces in honor of their inaugural year ? are about as close as one could come in this modern era to the design of the original Seamaster. Released to the market in the wake of World War II, the Seamaster made its mark in watch history by incorporating the water-resistant technology Omega used in the military watches it provided during the war years for the British Royal Air Force and others ? including the innovative rubber O-ring gasket ? into an everyday dress watch. (It wasn’t until 1957 ? with the launch of the Seamaster 300, an anniversary commemorated last year ? that the Seamaster transitioned fully into a spo...