Question on The Planet Ocean Crown Guard

I am curious about Omega's philosophy on the minimalist crown guard design for the heavy duty Planet Ocean dive watches. Omega provides a very pronounced guard on the Diver 300 and the Ploprof series crown guard is extreme, yet the PO shares the Aqua Terra crown guard design. Does anyone know if Omega has ever publicly stated their reasoning for such minimalist protection on a 600m rated diver?

I have had my PO for about 3 weeks now and I really like it. This is not a complaint, just curiosity on the apparent "blip" in design language. I am sure there is a good reason for it, but what that reason could be escapes me.

I'm not sure, but I like the design from an aesthetic standpoint.

I wonder if crown guards have ever even once stopped a crown from getting snapped off.

Good question.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by geoffbot

I wonder if crown guards have ever even once stopped a crown from getting snapped off.

---

The divers ISO 6425 standards don't even mention crown guards. To make sure the crown doesn't leak, the watch is subjected to 125% of its rated depth pressure for a period of 10 minutes while a force of five newton is applied to the top of the crown. The mandatory shock-resistance test (two tests, actually) don't include the crown in any way. So, a watch can be considered a diver, even without a crown guard - btw, the crown doesn't have to be of the screw-down type.

I don't dive, I can't have an opinion based on my (non existent) personal experience. Guess we'll have to wait for someone more knowledgeable to help us here.

We don't need anecdotal advice. I do wonder though - we worry about washing hands in 30m wr watches. I bet no one here has ever flooded any watch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by geoffbot

We don't need anecdotal advice. I do wonder though - we worry about washing hands in 30m wr watches. I bet no one here has ever flooded any watch.

---

I once got water in my 50m rated Cyma Navy Star even with crown screwed down tight. I was swimming in an extremely rough surf and was never more than 4 or 5 feet deep. I learned that day about the concept of water pressure versus static depth rating. To Cyma's credit, when I explained my story they repaired my watch at no charge.

That is good of them. I don't think static pressure affects it though - I read something debunking it once.

I think the shape of the PO crown guard is nearly identical to the shape of the crown guard on the Speedmaster. According to Omega the crown guard was added to the Speedmaster at NASA's request.

Source: https://www.omegawatches.com/news/news-detail/1626/

The Planet Ocean was a kind of evolution of the old Seamaster 300 line which, when discontinued, had the same curved lugs and guard as the Speedmaster and which had become an Omega signature. It's confusing because, when Omega resurrected the Seamaster 300 name, the watch they offered was visually based on an earlier model which had no crown guard. In those days of the original, the cases were made by another manufacturer (whose name escapes me) and used by several other brands.

If you want to know where the Planet Ocean got its visual cues, google "Seamaster 165.024".