Face-Off : Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean XL vs Tudor Pelagos

The few e-mails that I received today were with regards to... where was the comparison between the Planet Ocean and Pelagos, that was mentioned in an earlier posting. Since the e-mails came from as near as Kuala Lumpur to as far as The States, I thought that I would do well to address the comparo in this post then.

Let's round up the contestants then - on the left, we have Tudor Pelagos and on the right, the Planet Ocean. The referee for today's match-up would be another heavyweight i.e. Citizen Depth Master from Baselworld 2014.

(And with Baselworld 2015 upon us, I wonder what eye candies we shall be getting this year around... but I digress.)

The Planet Ocean, at 45.5mm, was a huge watch with a larger wrist presence. Make no mistake, this baby attracts attention like a sugar-coated honeypot and its design had lots of blingy details that made it stood out from the usual crowd of 40mm Submariners.

And I simply adored the seahorse adorning the caseback of the Planet Ocean. I thought that it gave the watch more personality and depth, compared to just slapping on a sapphire crystal as per the norm that all other manufacturers seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon.

Placed next to each other, the 42mm Pelagos did not feel that much smaller compared to the 45.5mm Planet Ocean. Scrutinise the picture and you would see that it was largely due to the design of the bezel. Pelagos had a ceramic bezel that was all blacks, while Planet Ocean's had more details with a silver lining around the inner circle, that caused the illusion optics that it was smaller than it really was. Planet Ocean had a shiny stainless steel case and bracelet, while Pelagos had a dull silver due to the use of Grade 5 Titanium material.

The tangerine orange numerals were striking against the black dial, and that orange tip on the second hand was the icing on the cake. A very striking dial, no wonder James Bond make the stylish Planet Ocean his choice during his rounds to save the world.

If stylish was the word that defined Planet Ocean's dial, Pelagos' would best be defined as a strictly-business dial. Except for the snowflake hands that were inherited from Tudor Submariner of the yesteryears, the dial was designed almost not to attract attention. Very toolish and professional. The floating second hand was the icing of this cake.

Both bezels aligned directly to the 12 o'clock and with zero lag play. Pelagos used a faux pearl while Planet Ocean had the conventional pearl.

From the crown's side profile, we could gauge that the Planet Ocean had a thinner case (only true to the 2500D calibre, as the 8500 calibre caused the case to look like it was on steroids). The crown was signed with the Greek logo for Omega. The bracelet steel was rock solid and could hold the weight of the watch when placed in this position.

Pelagos case was thicker (but wore lighter due to the titanium), and the crown protector was handsomely-CNC-machined at an angle. The crown was signed with the Tudor shield, and the bracelet was very "soft" (as in easily-adaptable to one's wrist) and comfortable.

From the helium valve side, the difference was very clear- Planet Ocean had an external and very outstanding screwed helium valve while Pelagos' was integrated into the case. Different elements of design altogether and while I used to prefer the Planet Ocean's, I find myself liking the low profile manner utilised by Pelagos these days. It's there; but only those who knows that it's there, would see it there.

Both bracelets featured hidden diver extension links, being professional divers' watches instead of poser ones. Planet Ocean had nicely-inscribed Omega Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean on the press-down release buckle, while Pelagos had the spring-loaded GlideLock for micro adjustments on-the-fly and with double-locking mechanism.

The caseback had a clear winner in Planet Ocean with the details done in stylish and pristine thought-out manner. Pelagos' was clearly done the way that Rolex had done since time immemorial- plain and to-the-point.

So given a choice, which one would you add into your collection? The left or the right?

One thing's for sure- you won't go wrong with either choices. If you would like a professional diver watch that had the wow-factor, Planet Ocean would suit the occasion well. If you would prefer a professional diver watch that would simply lay low-profile while the limelight was on yourself only (and not the watch), you would have a no-brainer in the Pelagos.

Either way, you know that you were stepping away from the executive crowd of the norm that was spotting a Submariner on their wrists. You were showing that you were confident enough to go the other route- albeit in a blingy manner or low-profile manner.

Let's all wear our watches in good health!