OMEGA Has Just Done The Unthinkable, Launching A Rolex Submariner Rival

• OMEGA drops a fully re engineered Planet Ocean collection that finally puts heat on the Rolex Submariner.
• Three personalities. One new case. Serious technical upgrades and colour choices that actually matter.
• A refined, flatter 42 millimetre diver powered by the calibre that made OMEGA an everyday luxury contender.

For a few weeks now, OMEGA’s official Instagram has been teasing the release of something special to its revered Seamaster collection, posting titanium tidbits and ceramic corners that had horological tongues wagging in anticipation.

Now we know, and it’s a huge announcement that positions this next generation of Seamaster Planet Oceans alongside Rolex in the dive watch category.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. OMEGA hasn’t been afraid to add a touch of colour to this iconic collection, reintroducing a bright and vibrant orange colourway across the series. It taps directly into the 1957 Seamaster 300 pieces that carried orange accents through the hands, indices and bezel.

Those cues resurfaced again in the very first Planet Ocean models in 2005, where orange lined the numbers and bezel and gave the watch its early cult status. Twenty years later, OMEGA has been brave enough to bring the colour back. Not quietly. Not in a limited edition. Rolled out in impressive scale.

Of course, we still get the sleek black version and the deep blue variant made famous in the modern consciousness thanks to its GoldenEye and Bond connection.

OMEGA has even handed the ambassador baton to 007-hopeful Aaron Taylor-Johnson to guide the next era of the collection. Glen Powell steps in for the orange hero piece, because if anyone can sell a high-visibility ceramic bezel with charm, it is him. From here, the collection splits into three distinct personalities.

The OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m in Black is the classic carrier of the collection, designed for the diver who thinks colour is something that belongs in galleries rather than on an expensive timepiece. Of course, OMEGA caters to all.

The matte black dial, rhodium-plated numerals and white enamel bezel scale give this piece a functional look and feel, like the purist’s Planet Ocean. It is the no nonsense option in the range, the one that feels closest to the original brief of a professional dive watch. The watch for the guy who actually dives.

Which, with a 600 metre water resistance and a 60 hour power reserve encased in NASA-preferred Grade 5 titanium, is exactly what this model is built for.

The blue edition is the everyday option, utilising the shine of the ceramic bezel with white enamel: a classy look that wouldn’t look out of place at the nearest cocktail party or searching for an enemy sub in international waters, in equal measure. The Bond Watch, I’ll call it. Original.

For me, it’s easily the most wearable model across the entire lineup. The sort of watch you can take from Bondi brunch to a business dinner without feeling like you need a costume change.

Paired with the steel bracelet, it has that elevated look that has become all the rage these days. But paired with the blue rubber strap, it becomes something else entirely: useful and pragmatic, yet effortlessly appealing.

Then there is the OMEGA Seamaster Planet Ocean in Orange. The real head-turner. The one designed for people who want a Planet Ocean that makes a statement on the wrist, whilst still keeping it classy.

OMEGA has said that its Swiss ateliers were hard at work for years perfecting orange ceramic, hoping to avoid the cheap, plastic film that haunts lower quality attempts. Today we have the result: a bezel that hits like a flare. It’s no small feat to master this particular hue at scale, and far more complex material than most brands care to admit.

On the wrist, it is bold and exciting. A departure from the safe options that we see across a lot of brands within this space. Doxa first did in the 20th century for pure legibility. You’d say OMEGA’s confident risk here is for the aesthetics of the Seamaster collection… and it’s paid off completely.

Of course, we’ve seen a few dive watches adopt the orange this year. But for a brand of OMEGA’s scale to bring back a colour this loud as a core offering, not a limited run or a boutique exclusive, tells you everything about where the Planet Ocean is heading.

All three colourways sit within the same dramatically reworked case. It is sharper and more angular than the outgoing generation. But thanks to the reworked sapphire crystal profile, it sits flatter on the wrist for what is arguably the most refined Planet Ocean that OMEGA has ever built.

And beneath all that colour, the fundamentals stay the same. The matte dial, the arrowhead hands, the weight-saving Grade 5 Titanium caseback. All technically brilliant but serving true purpose to the overall function of the watch. Pure Planet Ocean DNA, simply updated for today’s contemporary lense.

In the engine room sits OMEGA’s Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8912, the movement that positioned OMEGA alongside Rolex in the everyday luxury watch category.

Of course, we’ve seen this movement before in previous Seamaster Planet Oceans; its predecessor the legendary Calibre 8400 sat within earlier Seamaster 300 models.

But in today’s release, a movement of this quality is a must for any professional-grade tool watch, with a Master Chronometer certification ensuring it withstands the transient conditions beneath the deep blue, like temperature drops and magnetic fields that quietly kill lesser movements.

Seven references launch the collection. Three core designs, paired with steel or rubber depending on your lifestyle. Here, the Seamaster line has always been a sprawling family, but this reimagined line-up is giving enough variety for collectors and all the important bells and whistles for first-time toe-dippers.

This is the Planet Ocean that people have been waiting for. It looks tougher. It wears better. It feels more resolved. Two decades after launch, OMEGA has given one of its most important watches a second life.