Ocean7 LM-8 Professional Deep Diver - With a Swiss movement and a ceramic bezel, this diver rocks, A ReviewOcean7 Watch Company is a small micro-brand American company operating from Coral Springs, Florida. It is creation of owner Mitchell Feig. He has created a transparent operation which means he keep close, even personal, connections with the people who have bought, and will eventually buy, his watches. From the beginning, Ocean7 started building not only watches, but watch collectors. Daily, one can find Mitch conversing with owners, collectors, and soon-to-be both on the Ocean7 forum and the Watchuseek Ocean7 forum. This is how Mitch gets input and advice from his customers.
OCEAN7 design objective is to create beautiful watches that are tough and functional. Use of new case materials, hardening concepts, and construction methods also endears the brand to its growing legion of enthusiasts. Apart from stainless steel, the company has used ceramic and titanium. The best thing of all is the price point which is sometimes unbelievably low.
I am what you would like to call a fan of the brand. I already own the Airnautic Early Bird and the LM3 V2 1250m Dive Watch. I got my eyes on three more before Ocean7 announced the launch of the LM8 late 2013. Now there are four that I have to prioritize. I decided to go for the LM8 first.
Total investment, slightly below USD800 (all-in).
The LM8 is a professional tool. From the pictures, you may not be able to appreciate its size but in reality it is huge. With a case diameter of 45 mm wide, 17 mm thick and a a lug to lug measurement of 56 mm, it is a large watch only those that have the necessary body structure could carry comfortably.
The dial is covered with an anti-reflective (or AR) coated sapphire crystal, measuring 33 mm, and is also equipped with a ceramic bezel. That bezel is special. Remember the price Ocean7 set on this watch? For that price, you get a polished black ceramic bezel with diamond-like carbon (or DLC) coated markers in it. The markers are slightly recessed from the bezel itself, which does provide a sense of depth. The sapphire crystal is at least 4 mm thick to be able to withstand 2,000 m of water pressure.
With a depth rating of 2,000 m, this deep diver requires a helium release valve (or helium escape valve, "HEV") to ensure all the mechanism works properly at depth. On the left side of the watch casing, in the center is the automatic HEV mechanism. Making it automatic saves the need of professional divers to remember to activate the mechanism if required. It will activate by it self if required. Making it with a brushed finish contracts nicely with the polished casing.
Overall, the watch case is well constructed and is high polished, which unfortunately makes it susceptible to fingerprints. This is the part of the design which is of issue to me. A tool watch should not be flashy. Instead of polished finish, this watch would still look good in brushed finish. When I was resizing the bracelet earlier, it was a stressful situation as the likelihood of scratching the polished finishing (the bracelet is also polished finish) with the sizing tools was so high. At the end of the 'procedure' I was actually sweating!
The links of the bracelet are all solid, including the end-links. The links are connected with one sided screws. Although it is a much easier task compared to the pin-and-collar method, one must be careful when using the micro screwdrivers. One small slip and it will scratch the polished finishing.
Powering the watch is an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement. A 25 jewel movement operating at 28,800 beats per hour or 8 beats per second or 4Hz. Power reserve is approximately 40 hours. The general workhorse of ETA. Ocean7 does provide COSC Chronometer standard version for an additional USD200. Personally, I'll pass on this offer as the accuracy is more than sufficient for normal use.
I am pleased to note that Ocean7 uses quality bracelets. This can be seen from the quality of the links as well as the bridge linking the sides of the bracelet. Instead of stamped metal like more common bracelets, the bridge is made out of machined sections.
It is a wide bracelet with 24 mm at the lugs tapering down to 22.5 mm at the clasp. The clasp incorporates a telescoping diver extension mechanism within it plus an additional 3 micro adjustments points.
As highlighted earlier, you need to have a certain wrist size to carry this watch properly. Even with my 7.5 inch wrist, the watch sits a bit off my wrist. The lugs are curved down, but there is still quite a gap between my arm and the watch under the two lugs (see the picture below). Since the end links of the bracelet are squared off, the overhand is noticeable. Changing to a leather strap would be a better bet for my wrist size.
For full write-up visit:
http://westernwatch.blogspot.com/2014/04/ocean7-lm-8-professional-deep-diver.html
