Month: June 2018

Whether it’s a good witch or a bad watch depends on the make, model, design, and technical merits. But then there are some replica watches which are much more than little mechanical keepers of time – this is one such watch. This particular little Omega, with its well-worn dial, belonged to one of the most famous men of the 20th century and someone who left an indelible mark on popular culture.
Let’s take a glance at this watch’s history before getting into the watch itself. Elvis was presented with this special Omega in February 1961 at a ceremony celebrating him hitting the 75 million records sold mark – something is never done before. Instead of something like a stock-standard Datejust or Seamaster, the folks at RCA records determined to get the King something a little more special, opting for this Omega replica with a Tiffany-signed dial and 44 brilliant-cut diamonds in the bezel. In the subsequent years, Elvis would be photographed several times wearing the fake watch, both on and off stage. If you want to know more, check out our original story about this watch from when Phillips first announced it was coming up for sale.
Therefore, what’s it like holding a watch that was gifted to Elvis more than half a century ago? It’s awesome. Did you really think I was going to have a different reaction? One of the things that make vintage replica watches so interesting to me is the way in which they act as tiny time machines if you’ll excuse the pun. You put one on your wrist and look down to check the time and you’re instantly transported back to the moments in the past when another person did the exact same thing. They wound the same crown, did the same double-take because they glanced too quickly, and nervously chewed their lip as the same hands seemed to move either too slowly or too quickly.
Supporting the historical provenance of this watch is the deep engraving on the case-back. Perpendicular to the “18k Gold” stamped between the top lugs you’ll find “To Elvis / 75 Million Records / RCA Victor / 12-25-60” in sharp relief. You’ll notice this date is several months before the watch was given to Elvis, as it notes the date he’s believed to have officially passed the 75 million record mark, Christmas Day 1960. There’s something really old-school about the execution of the engraving, with letters varying in size a bit and not being so wonderful around the edges. Today, you’d get something done by machine, but this was clearly done by hand.
It is just flat-out awesome on the wrist. It definitely has more diamonds than I typically wear, but it doesn’t read as feminine or dainty at all, even with the 32.5mm case. It doesn’t look small on the wrist above, does it? There’s something very glamorous and rock-star about it, maybe because of the size of the diamonds. They feel sized to the width of the bezel and the size of the watch, rather than having been thought about independently and been made to work regardless. The Tiffany stamp balances beautifully with the replica Omega logo and signature too. Eventually, one of my favorite things about this replica watch is how it shows its age. There are some scratches in the running seconds sub-dial at six o’clock, the dial has some other markings, and the case isn’t crazy shiny. It feels like a worn watch that you might find at an estate sale, not something that’s been treated like a relic.

The fake Omega’s updated Seamaster Diver 300M is one of the strongest new high-end wristwatch product offerings for 2018. Initially released during the Jean-Claude Biver-era of Omega in 1993, the Seamaster is today a truly iconic model for Omega. At the time in the early 1900s, it was meant to reassert Omega’s relevance but also distinctive design ethos. As a matter of fact, the Seamaster 300M should not look like the Rolex Submariner – which at the time dozens and dozens of fake watches did indeed look like. The replica Omega intends to be more than just like Rolex, it wanted to be something totally different and outstanding in its approach to a late 20th-century luxury timepiece.
It is crucial to talk about the original Seamaster 300M design because the new 2018 updated models celebrate those core values and aesthetics that made the original so popular. 2018 isn’t the same as 1993 for the watch industry, but 25 years later, I have to say one can agree that modern watch tastes haven’t actually changed that much. I would debate that the modern era of luxury watches clearly began in the 1990s.
One of the most iconic design elements of the Omega Seamaster 300M is the manual helium release valve located at 10 o’clock on the case. I can’t say why the fake Omega chose for a manual versus automatic helium release valve at a time when automatic valves were easy to design.
However, I am not sure but I believe that Omega has been continually producing at least some form of the Seamaster 300M for the last 25 years. Don’t forget that Omega even added a few dive watch lines to the Seamaster collection over the years including the dressier Seamaster Planet Ocean, and the vintage-style Seamaster 300.
As far as I am concerned, the Seamaster 300M dial with its distinctive hands and hour markers is a design that has aged well. I do admit that when I first learned about the design long ago it didn’t do much for me. It took years of looking at other sport watch dials to appreciate that Omega made something with the enduring power of a Submariner – but with a more contemporary and active feel to it.
Everything about the Seamaster 300M is new for 2018 and for the target of this article I am going to focus on the steel (or mostly steel models). The replica Omega did however produce a fair number of two-tone steel and 18k Sedna (rose) or yellow gold models. Those two-tone Seamaster 300M models are truly lovely, but they include a rather steep price increase that takes a lot out of the really great value-proposition fun of the entire steel Seamaster 300M models.
To ensure the correction of all the details of the 2018 Seamaster 300M watches, let’s start by looking at the movement. It goes without saying that Omega has included the Seamaster 300M into its family of Master Chronometer watches, which means it includes an in-house made METAS certified “Co-Axial Master Chronometer” movement. Besides, Omega also shows us that new rules saying that replica watches should have luminous points at all 12-hour markers.