Omega Men's Seamaster 300M "James Bond" Automatic Chronometer Watch #2220.80.00 Customer Reviews
Price: $2,500.00
I have been looking at this watch for quite sometimes now. I was having difficulity deciding between the Automatic and Quartz versions. The advantage of this one is that I do not need to replace the battery every 1-2 years. Amazon seems to be out of stock for this one for quite sometimes now and I do not trust the third party sellers since buying from the internet void the Omega warranty.
I went to a local jeweler one day and it happens that they are having a sale. The local jeweler can be found as an authorized dealer on Omega and fully cover by the Omega warranty. I decided to bite the bullet and bought it. I am glad I did. Here are a few thought on the watch.
- The watch is very solid and robust
- The watch seem a little bit heavier then my previous watches
- The watch is very accurate so far. only 1 -2 sec runs faster then the atomic clock every day.
- The color and style stands out and it can be wear on any occasion. causal/dress suite
- This same exact watch worn by James Bond in Casino Royale when he was playig poker at the casino ( the beginning of the movie he was wearing the Seamaster Planet Ocean with rubber strap)
- According to omega you only need to service it every 4- 5 years for normal use.
- Bracelet has a quick extension feature to accomodate diver wetsuit.
a few things to keep in mind - note these are not negative thoughts
-Like any automatic watch it will not be always accurate. Many owners on the Internet have reported their Seamasters often far exceed COSC standards in daily use. Be prepare to adjust the time every now and then. In reality we have the adjust twice a year for day light saving time anyway. I do not mind at all
- May need to manually wind it if you dont wear it for long period of time. I recommend buying a watch winder for people who wear the watch occasionally.
- the helium relief vaulve is useless in my opinion even with the any form of normal suba diving. but it is a unique feature to the watch so I dont mind.
- may be expensive to service the watch and may require sending it to authorized omega repair center.
Over all this is an excellent watch. I would highly recommend this watch to anyone who is looking for a watch in this price range
<2010-03-01>
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I've owned this watch for about a year now and I've been a bit disappointed. I purchased it brand new and it already broke/malfunctioned once, as I was winding it. I didn't wind it too hard or too much but at some point the watch stopped working. I thought I had overwound it--which it's not supposed to be possible with self winding, automatic watches--so I left it to rest for a few days and lo and behold the watch started to work again! However, I've noticed that the crown has a lot more resistance than before plus it recoils a bit when being wound. Yes, Omega makes one heck of a product but I'm disappointed of the 2500 C caliber. It's basically an ETA-based model. Although heavily modified, the ETA movement that Omega based its 2500 caliber on is only worth about $129 retail! Granted, Omega turns this movement into a COSC-certified chronometer--and I must say a very accurate one (it runs only 4 seconds a day fast, which falls perfectly within the COSC specifications). Other than the movement though, the quality of the case, dial, hands, and bracelet is unmatched! I just wish Omega would have matched this model with a slightly higher quality caliber. All in all, it's a beautiful time piece to look at. You'll never get tired of looking at it--even when it doesn't work. As I once read on a quote, with this time piece "time is just an excuse." <2009-10-31>
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Mine is a bit older so it is not the co-axial movement. It is the older mechanical movement, I've had it 5 years and it keeps very good time. I probably wear it 60% of the time. I feel complexity reduces reliability so I chose this over watches with more funtions. It will initally feel a bit heavy but you adjust to that very quickly. I have had absolutely no issues with it. The rotating Bezel does require more force than you expect. I'm sure that is by design. The glowing hands are great for the movie theater.
Omegas are a bit different. Other Omega watch wearers will say things to you about it. There is sometimes an expectation that you know something about your watch and other watches if you wear an Omega. Not a lot but it happens. People who are just interested in the Jewelery tend to go another way. <2009-10-05>
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My wife bought me this watch as a gift, and since the other reviews give plenty of detail regarding the quality and finish of the watch, I'll give some insight into buying it from Amazon. First, my watch shipped from Amazon, so I can't vouch for watches that come from Amazon's partner websites. In short, the watch arrived as I expected new in the original box with all docs including the warranty card and operating instructions. As others have mentioned, Omega might not acknowledge the warranty on this watch because it was not purchased through an authorized dealer. Instead, Amazon provides a 2-year warranty. I decided the price difference between amazon.com and an authorized dealer was significant enough to justify going with Amazon. The watch is 100% real with serial numbers intact. Overall, this is a beautiful watch; I've even received compliments on it from strangers. If you are looking for a full sized sports watch, I'd recommend this Omega; you won't be disappointed. <2009-09-20>
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Well, I guess I was supposed to have this watch. I had always wanted a Seamaster Cronometer Automatic, but never saw myself spending this kind of money, not to mention the price at an authorized dealer. Amazon sent me an email a week or so ago that had special 12 months no interest on select watches. I looked and looked and finally pulled the trigger on this fantastic blue face large size automatic. Actually, I ordered on July 31, 2009 and for $6.99 extra with Amazon Prime had it at my door before 10:00 a.m. this morning. It's a good thing I took advantage of the offer, because as of today, the "12 months" offer is no more and the price has actually gone up!
I had somewhat of a concern by ordering a "gray market" watch, but I had ordered a Luminox ETA automatic from Amazon about 4 or 5 years ago and had good luck with it and also saved about $200.00.
I read all of the reviews here on Amazon and even went to watch forums such as [...] and read reviews. The folks on timezone appear to only purchase through authorized dealers. Fortunately by going to a forum I learned about some very important things surrounding the watch such as serial numbers and a little "red dot" that Omega applies to watches out of the factory. I had concerns about this and thought that if I saw anything suspicious that I could just return the watch to Amazon. Man was I happy after inspecting it! Sure enough, all of the serial numbers were there from the multiple cards that come with the watch to the little "medallions" that are tied to the watch upon opening. The watch itself has the laser engraved serial number in the appropriate place also. I had heard that some "gray market" watches do not come with everything, from what I have seen, my purchase from Amazon did. I realize that it can only be covered under warranty through Amazon, but by saving hundreds if not close to a "grand" that's fine with me.
Now to that little "red dot". Sure enough it is there and it acts as a tiny little "bridge" between the case and the screwed on case back. It tells you if anyone has opened the case since it came from the factory as the little dot will break upon opening the case. I guess if someone really wanted to take the time they could "paint" it back on, but it would be difficult as I'm not sure it's exactly paint.
This is the new "007" watch with the Co-Axial movement in it and it is super quiet! If I didn't know that it was an auto, I'd think it was a quartz. You can't feel it moving around either on your wrist.
The fit and finish of the watch is second to none. I'm really not sure why Rolex charges as much as they do, the Omega seems like a bargain actually, even though it's still an expensive watch. So far, as I write this review at 4:31 p.m., it seems to be keeping fine time. I'll have to wait and see how it is tomorrow. When I received my Luminox I had to take it and have it calibrated as it was way too fast upon arrival, it keeps perfect time now. I'm hoping that this Omega Chronometer will not need adjusting. You'd think since it is a "certified chronometer" that you would not need it, but I've read of several people having to have theirs adjusted, even folks that bought from authorized dealers.
I can see why this model is so popular, it's just a really fine time piece. Those luminous hands and hour markers as just as stated, they glow bright and for a long time!
I know that some say that they would NEVER buy "gray market", but I've always had excellent service with Amazon and since I had no issues with my first watch from them, I'm sure glad I took advantage of their offer and purchased this fine time piece! All in all, for the savings it was worth it and I'll continue to purchase my time pieces from Amazon.
Hope this review helps anyone with reservations about purchasing an expensive time piece from Amazon.
Take care
UPDATE: December 13, 2009
Merry Christmas all. Just wanted to give a short update on my SMP 300. As You can see, I purchased this watch back in August. This has to be one of the finest watches that I have ever purchased hands down! It keeps perfect time. I can set it to an atomic clock and it will still be within 1 second 72hrs later. Amazing. Again, by purchasing mine through Amazon, it came with all of the cards, boxes, matching serial numbers, red dot on caseback in tact, everything!
Seasons Greetings! <2009-08-01>
