Posted by Well, this is awkward.
Since as long as I have been following watches, collectors have dubbed the calibre 1040 powered 176.004 Seamaster diver’s chronograph the “Big Blue”. This is a pretty obvious nickname, since it was both big and blue. And like all good nicknames it was not self-appointed, the watch was given the nickname by collectors. Remember on Seinfeld when George wanted to be called T-Bone? That didn’t work out well for him – SPOILER ALERT – his coworkers called him Koko instead.
This morning Omega announced their novelties for 2017 at Baselworld, and 45 years after the 176.004 there is now an official Omega dive watch called Big Blue in the ceramic Planet Ocean lineup. The new one even says Big Blue on the caseback.
So why does this bug me? I’ll leave the aesthetic critique and technical analysis of this particular watch to others, but what bugs me is that the name is going to make searching for information on the vintage Big Blue difficult. This seems trivial, but it’s a headache for fans of vintage Omegas. Last year Omega released a limited edition Speedmaster called the CK2998 which has very little in common with a highly collectible and hard to find early Speedmaster. Now Google search results, forum thread searches, and eBay alerts for “Omega 2998” are filled with more non-relevant results. I expect the same to happen with the term “Omega Big Blue”.
I do realize this is a minor gripe but I wish they would have found a different name and left “Big Blue” to our little niche.
Check out Omega’s other Baselworld releases here, there are many interesting pieces in 2017.
Basel press photos from omegawatches.com
I agree 100% Andy. It was sort of flattering when Omegamania and others made reference to our nicknames, many of which were coined by Chuck Maddox, for arguably financially advantageous purposes, but for Omega to take one as an official new watch name feels like some sort of copyright infringement! Not only do searches become a real pain, but Omega will make serious revenue with the marketing use of that name. When the Tintin folks bailed out of the Speedmaster deal, Omega dared not use that brand name in any marketing material, much less on the watch itself. They knew they would get their butts sued if they did. But with our collector names, it’s free reign. Sad. What’s next, a Deep Blue, a Lobster Tail? If they ever officially call one “Holy Grail”…it will be a sad day!!!
The logical name for this ceramic PO would have been Deep Blue, since last year’s were Deep Black. But that was a nickname that was also taken.
I could see if they incorporated any design traits from the 176.004 – case shape, handset, bezel design – and called it some sort of tribute to the original. But the only thing they have in common is the “Omega Seamaster” on the dial. Hell it isn’t even a chronograph! So it isn’t just that Omega co-opted an established nickname, they did so in the laziest way possible.