Honestly, I can’t even remember how long I’ve been on the Oceaneva company’s mailing list, nor do I know why I subscribed. It’s quite possible that I’ve been on it since the company’s inception in 2019. Back then, this USA-based microbrand introduced its first diver watch, the Deep Marine Explorer 1000m, along with its vision to become one of the most recognized brands for quality and water resistance. They have actually lived up to their promise, offering watches with a declared water resistance of over 1000m (mostly 1250m), with the Deep Marine Explorer III even reaching 3000m. Additionally, they boast that they are the only USA brand to test water resistance in actual ocean depths and claim to be one of only six brands in the world to do so.
Anyway, despite my love for diver watches, none of their new releases have ever truly excited me. It’s true that their watches all have impressive water resistance, but let’s be honest—any watch with a water resistance of 100m+ is more than enough for all my aquatic needs. I believe this is true for 99% of users. Only seriously professional divers require higher water resistance, and they all use dive computers anyway. So, this feature wasn’t compelling enough for me to buy one of their watches. On the other hand, I’ve never been a fan of their design. It’s mostly a recycling of "wannabe Rolex" concepts that we’ve already seen countless times. However, that changed at the start of this summer.
I received an email announcing that they were adding three new models made from Damascus steel to their Deep Marine Explorer II collection (their second watch, with the first models launched in 2020). If you regularly read my reviews, you may have noticed that I have a soft spot for Damascus steel, so this email caught my attention, and I started exploring what they were offering. Out of the three models—one with a white dial, one with a black dial, and one with a gray dial—the last one particularly drew me in. Initially because of the intriguing color, but primarily because it was the only model among the three where the dial was also made of Damascus steel.
When I saw that the watch was powered by the Sellita SW200-1 movement and, most importantly, the preorder price, I decided to make the purchase. I will talk about the price later; so let’s focus on the watch itself.
During preorder, they promised the watches would be available in October. However, production was delayed by about a month, and due to the high volume of preorders, shipping was spread out over two weeks. Shipping began in early November, but I didn’t receive my watch until November 25th.
The initial impression of the watch was, to say the least, unusual. I unboxed the diver box in which watch arrived in the evening under artificial light, where the watch sparkled as though entirely made of glass or, better yet, mirrors. My first feeling was not misleading. The highly polished, subtly gray steel dial and equally finished bezel insert strongly reflect incoming light, and the anti-reflective sapphire crystal does little to mitigate this. As a result, the dial and bezel appear to shift in color from silver and gray to black, adding a layer of intrigue and appeal. This interplay of colors is partially visible in photographs, but let me note that capturing the watch on camera is quite challenging. By the way, if you visit Oceaneva's website, keep in mind that the rendered image of the watch there is darker than the actual product.
What particularly appeals to me is the concept of having almost every part of the watch crafted from Damascus steel, which in this case is an alloy of 304 and 316L steel. In other Damascus watches on the market it is normal that damascus steel is used for the case, and it is common that it extends its use also to the buckle, sometimes also to the crown, rarely to the bezel insert and extremely rarely to the dial.. Well in this watch all stated are made of damascus steel, so the only component not made from Damascus steel is the case back. Together, all these elements create a very dynamic, unconventional, and distinctive design. The watch truly has a "WOW" effect in person—photos don’t do it justice.
It is worth pointed out that of course due to the production process of the damascus steel every watch has its unique lines pattern on every part. So my watch has very different line structure than others on all parts of the watch!
As mentioned, the watch itself is in any other ascpect essentially a classic Deep Marine Explorer II. Unfortunately, this means the dial share the same overused design, the hands are also taken from standard edition. This by itself isn't a major issue, but it does become apparent that the index marks and especially the hands are too light for the color of this dial. In well-lit conditions, due to the low color contrast between the dial and the hands the visibility of the hands is particularly poor. Additionally, their narrow size emphasize this issue.
Another drawback for me is the excessive text on the dial. While it’s barely visible in bright light, it still detracts from the primary focus of a Damascus steel dial—the unique patterns created by the fusion of the two steels. The text's redundancy is further underscored by its full repetition on the case back, where even more information is displayed.
Since the watch boasts high water resistance, it naturally features a helium escape valve. The bezel is precise, has a good grip, and rotates unidirectionally with 120 clicks at just the right tension. The FMK rubber strap is comfortable, and although the clasp is slightly oversized, it is well-made and doesn’t scratch. Overall, I must commend the quality of all the steel components.
The watch houses a Sellita SW200-1 movement. In my case, it isn't optimally calibrated and runs about 10 seconds fast per day during the first few days of wear.
As expected from a dive watch, it features high-quality lume. However, I find there’s too much of it, making the watch glow like a Christmas tree at night. While I’m not a diver and can’t judge whether such extensive luminescence is essential for professional diving, I did notice an inconsistency. The lume on the hands is weaker than on the indices and bezel, which are far more visible. Additionally, the narrowness of the hands leaves little space for lume, resulting in poor legibility in low light conditions. It should be quite opposite!
So, how does everything function on the wrist? Very well. Its dimensions are just right to suit a wide range of wrist sizes - with a 42mm diameter, 48mm lug-to-lug, and a thickness of 14mm—a fairly standard size for a diver watch.
The regular price of the Deep Marine Explorer II is €960, while the Damascus models are priced (uniformly) at €1,150. For buyers outside the USA, shipping and import duties must be added, bringing the final price for EU customers to around €1,400–€1,450. This is a reasonable range for a watch featuring a Sellita movement and Damascus steel. However, during the pre-order phase, the price with shipping costs together was dramatically lower—just €400 (370 base price + 30 shipping) what gives cca. €500 with all EU import duties included. I’m sure you can understand why I was so quick to order it.
From what I gather, all Damascus models are currently sold out, though a new series is expected. According to their website, the collection will soon expand with new dial colors.I have no idea if this new models will be again also availabe with some pre-order discount.
By the way, they are also currently taking pre-orders for their first non-diver watch. It’s a dress GMT watch called the OceanTrek, featuring a Seiko NH34 automatic movement, and the pre-order price is once again remarkably attractive.
P.S.: Just a few hours before I intended to publish this review, Oceaneva revailed the new dials in Damascus steel. Two of them were presented in the email that I received upon reveal. Out of those two I particularly like the brown/rose gold one. The pre-order prices are still intriguing, not so good as the first edition, but anyway... Namely, the base price for damascus dial watches is approximately €90 higher (so around €480), which means that for an EU buyer, the final pre-order price with all costs of shipping and import taxes included for these watches will be about €620. By my opinion this is still a very good deal. I believe most of the dials will also address the issue of hand visibility, as the contrast between the dial color and the hands is significantly improved compared to my gray version. Plus the reflection of the light might be lower.
Delivery is expected by the end of March...
Along those two models, the entire new collection of all Damascus Steel versions is now seen on Oceaneva webpage. Beside upper two, damascus steel dial will be available also in coffe brown (I like this one as well), yellow gold and silver. I would be careful with the silver as this seems to be even lighter than my gray and even my gray looks more silver than grey.
What is interesting, some models will be available with the white straps as well.
A non damascus dial versions on damscus watches are also extended to several new color variants. Non damascus dial versions are cheaper (440). Check the entire collection here. As you can see the new pre-order prices can be appled also to the existing models. So, if you want to get the very interesting and quality built diver watch for a decent price, grab the chance, as some models will be available in very limited quantities.
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