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The relief cut of its indices stand out immediately against the texture below, and aside from aesthetics, this design element provides added grip when operating the bezel. The dial will be the first thing to catch you by surprise, however the 60-minute unidirectional timing bezel plays an equally leading role in the appeal of this watch. Though counterintuitive, fact of the matter is that this otherwise subtle watch is designed for the street rather than commando ops, and its design reflects that appropriately. When the dial’s waves catch the light just right, the watch transitions quickly from stealthy tool watch to flashy statement piece, but for a moment. Everywhere from the dial, to the indices, to the hands, to the case itself, the interplay of polished and matte surfaces give the Seamaster 300mm Black Black a surprising level of legibility. While this is a good jumping off point, Omega took things a step further in its use of polished surfaces. One of the biggest pitfalls of an all black watch of any sort is a lack of contrast, one most often worked around by using varying shades of dark grey.
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The good news is, Omega isn’t one to falter when it comes to the details, and the Seamaster 300m Black Black delivers that bit of functionality surprisingly well. The logic here is that there’s an obvious need for (relative) legibility in any wristwatch, and getting that legibility out of an all-black watch isn’t exactly easy. While the all-black-everything look has become a bit played out in some areas, especially the custom car scene, it’s a look that is still relatively scarce in watchmaking.
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