The Omega Seamaster is one of the most recognizable dive watches on the market, today. Even before its modern-day placement on James Bond’s wrist in the Daniel Craig era, the timepiece has been one of the most popular models in the diving category in its Professional and 300 iterations since 1957. Yet before its release as a full-time diver, the Seamaster was better known as a small dress watch cast in steel and frequently gold (vintage picture below, via Theo & Harris). This Seamaster, the elegant precursor to the modern diving series, was first brought to boutiques in 1948 and was informed heavily by Omega military watches of the previous decades. The design was thus exalting both form and function, with great reliability and water resistance for its era, and simultaneously holding great sophistication. It was personally one of my favorite eras for the Seamaster and is the inspiration for today?s watch of focus: the new Omega Seamaster 1948.
As the most recent addition to the Seamaster collection, its available in two different dial layouts, one with a central seconds hand and one with small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. Both are 38-mm in diameter in polished steel and have a subtle crown, short lugs, and flat bezel. The domed opaline dials are what differentiate the two models, though both share applied hours markers with Arabic numerals at the quarters and pyramids in-between. On the central seconds model is a quiet chapter ring just inside the hour ...