Even as the fate of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo hangs in the balance, Omega, the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games since 1932, is wasting no time in promoting its association with the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.
At first glance, the watchmaker’s new Seamaster Diver 300M “Beijing 2022” Special Edition looks like just another iteration of the popular dive watch. Look closely at the 42 mm stainless steel model, however, and you’ll notice a few added commemorative touches.
Let’s start with the sun-brushed blue ceramic dial. In addition to featuring laser-engraved waves and rhodium-plated indexes and hands filled with Super-LumiNova, there are five minute-markers—at 2 o’clock, 4 o’clock, 8 o’clock, 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock—in the five colors of the Olympic rings.
The reverse of the watch is where the Olympic connection is made obvious. A stamped Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 emblem appears on the polished and brushed caseback. (The Seamaster “Tokyo 2020” Limited Edition Omega introduced before the Summer Games were rescheduled to the summer of 2021 has, unsurprisingly, become sought after by collectors as a keepsake of what might have been had the pandemic not upended, well, everything.)
Beneath that emblem ticks Omega’s Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8800, one of the most robust movements in the watch industry. Having passed eight tests set by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS), the model is guaranteed to offer precision, performance and magnetic resistance.
It’s also undeniably sturdy. The dial is encircled by a bezel ring made of grade 5 titanium with a 60-minute diving scale in positive relief. It comes on a polished and brushed stainless steel bracelet that features the watchmaker’s patented extendable foldover rack-and-pusher with an extra diver extension.
Available in April, the Seamaster Diver 300M “Beijing 2022” Special Edition retails for US$6,150 or about RM25,000.
Previously published on Robb Report.
