Omega Seamaster 300 - 165024 - 165.024 - Big Triangle - Mark 2 Dial - Cal 552 - Circa 1967

The Omega Seamaster 300 was conceived in 1957 as a professional diving instrument, designed in parallel with the Speedmaster and the Railmaster as the third pillar of the company's professional series. It went to depths the rest of a diver's gear could not survive. The Royal Navy issued it to their clearance divers. French combat swimmers wore it on operations into the late seventies. South African naval forces, the Australian special forces, and a generation of civilian divers built careers around its dial and its bezel and the certainty that it would still be running when they came back up. Within the Seamaster 300 production run, the reference 165024 with the big triangle no-date dial is the most sought-after variant in the line and a true grail watch among vintage Omega collectors. Three to four times scarcer than the date variant 166024, the 165024 strips the dial down to nothing that does not need to be there.

The 165024 was produced with two distinct dial variants, distinguished by collectors as the Mark 1 and the Mark 2, the Mark 2 also known as the Maxi dial. The Mark 1 carries the original specification, white printing that ages toward beige, flat indices with no relief, and tritium plots that age to an orange or yellow-orange tone. The Mark 2 is a different dial entirely. The printing is markedly whiter, thicker, slightly glossy. The Arabic numerals at three, six, and nine carry a subtle relief that catches light against the matte black ground. The indices themselves are physically larger, the rectangular lume plots wider and longer than on the Mark 1, and the tritium ages to a yellow-green tone, the result of a different luminous compound that produced brighter night legibility when new and that follows a different chemical aging path than the Mark 1 material. This dial is a Mark 2. The yellow-green tritium, the wider plots, the thicker printing, and the slight relief in the cursive Seamaster 300 signature and the Arabic numerals all align with the established Mark 2 specifications, with the lume plots intact across all eleven indices and the hands. The reverse of the dial confirms it further: a star symbol stamped beside the cannon pinion hole, the dial design code 1098 above the hole, and the reference 06803 below it, the standard Omega factory dial identification format used through the late 1960s. These stamps are absent on service replacement dials and on the redials that have moved through the vintage Seamaster market over the past two decades, so their presence together with the Mark 2 characteristics on the front is documentary evidence that this is the dial that left the Bienne factory in this watch.

Mark 2 dials are excessively rare within the already scarce 165024 production. At the time of listing this is the only civilian Mark 2 Big Triangle 165024 watch for sale online. The variant was introduced around 1967 and remained in production through 1970, but Omega continued to fit Mark 1 dials throughout that same window, meaning Mark 2 examples in collector circulation today represent a small fraction of an already limited population. The Mark 2 is also the dial Omega supplied to the British military for the issued Seamaster 300s used by Royal Navy clearance divers, the same printing, the same indices, the same composition, with the only difference being the encircled T symbol added to the military examples after delivery to Omega's military contract specification. The current understanding among Omega researchers is that Omega developed the Mark 2 specifically to meet British military legibility requirements and that the production overlap between Mark 1 and Mark 2 reflects the moment the new dial entered the line for both military and civilian distribution. Military 165024s with the encircled T currently sell for $25,000 to $50,000 at auction. This is a civilian Mark 2 carrying the same dial that the issued military versions were built around.

Every component is original and correct on this example. The bezel is the original bakelite with the big luminous triangle at twelve, the white minute graduations crisp and intact across the full track. The bakelite has the depth and warmth that no aftermarket replacement can match, the kind of optical quality that comes from the material itself rather than the printing on top of it. The crystal is the original Omega hesalite with the Ω embossed at the center, applied at the factory and intact in a way no service crystal would ever carry. The crown is the original 24-tooth flat foot variant with the applied Omega logo, period correct for the late sixties production of this reference and almost never surviving on watches of this age because Omega routinely replaced flat foot crowns with later service crowns through the maintenance of the seventies and eighties. The hands are the original sword and lozenge configuration, the seconds hand the correct slim baton with the small lume dot near the tip.

The case is the original 165024 stainless steel with the asymmetric crown guard and the strong shoulders that distinguish the late Seamaster 300 from the earlier 165024 production. The caseback is engraved with the Seamaster hippocampus, CERTIFIED HIGH PRESSURE WATERPROOF ring text around the perimeter, and SEAMASTER printed at the bottom. The inside of the caseback is stamped ACIER INOXYDABLE / OMEGA WATCH Co triangle logo / FAB. SUISSE / SWISS MADE / 165024 / CB case maker mark. I'm sure the case was polished at some point in its life but it retains the shape this ref is known for. The movement is the correct Caliber 552, the twenty-four jewel automatic that Omega built specifically for the Seamaster 300 line, signed OMEGA WATCH Co SWISS / TWENTY-FOUR 24 JEWELS with movement serial 25605309 confirming production within the 1967.

A 165024 with this level of original componentry intact is the kind of example serious Seamaster collectors wait years to find. The watch is presented on a custom black leather strap made specifically for this watch, with two parallel raised ridges running its length that give the strap a sculptural profile against the smooth leather surface, finished with cream contrast stitching.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

Payments Accepted:  Cash or Paypal Friends and Family.  Venmo accepted for returning buyers.

The watch has been fully serviced. The movement was completely disassembled, the automatic winding mechanism and reverser wheels inspected, pivots cleaned with pegwood, all jewels oiled including the balance jewels, and the movement reassembled and regulated. The watch is running well. I provide a one-year limited warranty on the movement. If the movement develops a functional issue under normal use within one year of purchase, I will repair it at no cost for labor. This warranty does not cover anything related to the case, dial, hands, crystal, crown, bracelet, strap, or cosmetic condition, and it excludes any issue caused by external factors including but not limited to impact or dropping, case damage of any kind, shock, improper use, tampering or attempted repair by anyone other than me, water or moisture exposure, humidity, condensation, magnetism, corrosion, or loss of parts. Any shipping costs associated with warranty service are the buyer's responsibility unless otherwise agreed in writing.

All sales final.