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Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military
Being a Seiko addict, I never did think that the first review I was going to write would be about this watch. A beautiful and well made "homage" watch by Steinhart. Some people are probably frowning just at the sight of that word. Well to me and I am sure many others, this homage watch actually made me aware of the beautiful Rolex 5517 that it is inspired from.
The Rolex 5517 (also known as the mil-sub) was a very limited military issue of around 1200 pieces for the Royal Navy in the 1970s. As you can imagine most of them saw some action and few have survived in their original form and those that did go for astronomical prices at least from my perspective ! But one thing that the homage did for me was to add a Rolex no date sub on my wanted list.
Case, bezel and crystal.
So let`s talk about Steinhart`s version. The watch comes in at 42mm in diameter and at 50mm lug to lug. This is mostly due to the very straight lugs which actually makes the watch wear a bit bigger than the 42mm would suggest. Right off the bat this means it will not be for everyone. For my 7.25 inch wrist it was just fine and the lugs did not overhang so I had no problem here. The top of the case is brushed while the sides have a mirror polish. The caseback as well as the crown are screwdown to insure the watch has a 300 meter depth rating. The action on the crown is very smooth with no grittiness.
The dial is protected by a stunning double domed sapphire crystal with beveled edges and blue AR coating. For me this was the best part about this watch, the beveled edges always create some distortion while the rest of the crystal is absolutely distortion free and the AR coating makes the watch look beautiful at all times.
The bezel is what you would expect of a dive watch, a classic 120 click unidirectional bezel with very good action, solid clicks and very little back play if any (my example at least). It is one of the highlights of the watch being fully indexed and faithful to the mil-sub.
The Dial
Now, down to the dial which is very accurately inspired by the 5517. The indices as well as other writings on the dial are painted and have a vintage look as if they had aged. Believe they call this lume paint Super Luminova "Old Radium" Vintage. As far as I am concerned it looks great in combination with the grey dial of the second generation OVM and does make the watch stand out from the crowd. I usually prefer applied indices to painted one but this was done nicely so while it was not ideal for me, it was not a major drawback not to mention it was accurate to the 5517. The indices are very big and easy to read (believe they call it the maxi dial), the hands are sword style and are easily distinguishable at a glance.
The movement
Powering the Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military is the 25 jewels hacking and hand winding ETA 2824-2 Elabore grade. While it is nothing spectacular it is a very robust movement beating at 28800 bph that is easily serviceable by any watchmaker. The accuracy of the watch should be within plus minus 20 seconds per day if I am not mistaken. My particular example was running at around +8 seconds per day. The only gripe I have with the movement is that the date wheel seems to be still inside despite the watch not having a date feature. The crown position for setting the date is still there and to me this was quite annoying.
Bracelet
The OVM comes with an oyster style bracelet. My second generation came with a non tapering bracelet but from what I can tell the newer versions come with a tapering bracelet from 22mm at the lugs to 18mm at the clasp. The bracelet is very well done actually especially at this price point. I would be hard pressed to find a better bracelet. To adjust the bracelet you have screws instead of pins which makes life so much more easier (remember every Seiko bracelet at this price with the dreaded pin and collar). The only downside is the clasp. The clasp is useable but compared to the rest of the bracelet it is quite disappointing. For my example I had to adjust it myself since I had to break a nail every time I wanted to take the watch off.
Now if you are not a bracelet type of person the good news is that the lugs are 22mm and this gives you a whole array of options. Personally I think the watch looks best on nato straps just as the Mil-sub which had fixed lugs! Check the pictures at the end of the post !
Conclusion
To conclude this small review I would say the Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military is a great value for your money. As far as dive watches go having all these features for a price of 380 euros in Europe is very hard to match. The only downside for some people might be the heavily inspired design from a 70s Rolex, but if this is not an issue for you I really cant give a reason not to go for it. The size is contemporary and should fit most wrists, it has an incredible sapphire crystal a great workhorse swiss movement and wears great with a huge variety of straps if the bracelet is not to your liking.
A great addition to any collection and why not a good choice for someone just getting their first swiss movement watch.
Hope this will be useful to people looking to purchase this watch in the future!
![Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Jewellery]()
![Watch Watch accessory Orange Strap Fashion accessory]()
![Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Strap Everyday carry]()
![Watch Analog watch Blue Watch accessory Fashion accessory]()
![Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap]()
![Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Jewellery]()
![Watch Analog watch Watch accessory Wrist Fashion accessory]()
Being a Seiko addict, I never did think that the first review I was going to write would be about this watch. A beautiful and well made "homage" watch by Steinhart. Some people are probably frowning just at the sight of that word. Well to me and I am sure many others, this homage watch actually made me aware of the beautiful Rolex 5517 that it is inspired from.
The Rolex 5517 (also known as the mil-sub) was a very limited military issue of around 1200 pieces for the Royal Navy in the 1970s. As you can imagine most of them saw some action and few have survived in their original form and those that did go for astronomical prices at least from my perspective ! But one thing that the homage did for me was to add a Rolex no date sub on my wanted list.
Case, bezel and crystal.
So let`s talk about Steinhart`s version. The watch comes in at 42mm in diameter and at 50mm lug to lug. This is mostly due to the very straight lugs which actually makes the watch wear a bit bigger than the 42mm would suggest. Right off the bat this means it will not be for everyone. For my 7.25 inch wrist it was just fine and the lugs did not overhang so I had no problem here. The top of the case is brushed while the sides have a mirror polish. The caseback as well as the crown are screwdown to insure the watch has a 300 meter depth rating. The action on the crown is very smooth with no grittiness.
The dial is protected by a stunning double domed sapphire crystal with beveled edges and blue AR coating. For me this was the best part about this watch, the beveled edges always create some distortion while the rest of the crystal is absolutely distortion free and the AR coating makes the watch look beautiful at all times.
The bezel is what you would expect of a dive watch, a classic 120 click unidirectional bezel with very good action, solid clicks and very little back play if any (my example at least). It is one of the highlights of the watch being fully indexed and faithful to the mil-sub.
The Dial
Now, down to the dial which is very accurately inspired by the 5517. The indices as well as other writings on the dial are painted and have a vintage look as if they had aged. Believe they call this lume paint Super Luminova "Old Radium" Vintage. As far as I am concerned it looks great in combination with the grey dial of the second generation OVM and does make the watch stand out from the crowd. I usually prefer applied indices to painted one but this was done nicely so while it was not ideal for me, it was not a major drawback not to mention it was accurate to the 5517. The indices are very big and easy to read (believe they call it the maxi dial), the hands are sword style and are easily distinguishable at a glance.
The movement
Powering the Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military is the 25 jewels hacking and hand winding ETA 2824-2 Elabore grade. While it is nothing spectacular it is a very robust movement beating at 28800 bph that is easily serviceable by any watchmaker. The accuracy of the watch should be within plus minus 20 seconds per day if I am not mistaken. My particular example was running at around +8 seconds per day. The only gripe I have with the movement is that the date wheel seems to be still inside despite the watch not having a date feature. The crown position for setting the date is still there and to me this was quite annoying.
Bracelet
The OVM comes with an oyster style bracelet. My second generation came with a non tapering bracelet but from what I can tell the newer versions come with a tapering bracelet from 22mm at the lugs to 18mm at the clasp. The bracelet is very well done actually especially at this price point. I would be hard pressed to find a better bracelet. To adjust the bracelet you have screws instead of pins which makes life so much more easier (remember every Seiko bracelet at this price with the dreaded pin and collar). The only downside is the clasp. The clasp is useable but compared to the rest of the bracelet it is quite disappointing. For my example I had to adjust it myself since I had to break a nail every time I wanted to take the watch off.
Now if you are not a bracelet type of person the good news is that the lugs are 22mm and this gives you a whole array of options. Personally I think the watch looks best on nato straps just as the Mil-sub which had fixed lugs! Check the pictures at the end of the post !
Conclusion
To conclude this small review I would say the Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military is a great value for your money. As far as dive watches go having all these features for a price of 380 euros in Europe is very hard to match. The only downside for some people might be the heavily inspired design from a 70s Rolex, but if this is not an issue for you I really cant give a reason not to go for it. The size is contemporary and should fit most wrists, it has an incredible sapphire crystal a great workhorse swiss movement and wears great with a huge variety of straps if the bracelet is not to your liking.
A great addition to any collection and why not a good choice for someone just getting their first swiss movement watch.
Hope this will be useful to people looking to purchase this watch in the future!
