Honestly, I can’t even remember how long I’ve been on the Oceaneva company’s mailing list, nor do I know why I subscribed. It’s quite possible I’ve been on it since the company’s inception in 2019. Back then, this USA-based microbrand introduced its first diver watch, the Deep Marine Explorer 1000m, along with its vision to become one of the most recognized brands for quality and water resistance. They’ve actually lived up to that promise, offering watches with a declared water resistance of over 1000 m (mostly 1250 m), with the Deep Marine Explorer III even reaching 3000 m. Additionally, they boast that they are the only USA brand to test water resistance at actual ocean depths and claim to be one of only six brands in the world to do so.
Anyway, despite my love for diver watches, none of their new releases have ever truly excited me. It’s true that their watches all have impressive water resistance, but let’s be honest — any watch with a water resistance of 100 m+ is more than enough for all my aquatic needs. I believe this is true for 99% of users. Only seriously professional divers require higher water resistance, and even they use dive computers anyway. So, this feature was never compelling enough for me to buy one of their watches.
On the other hand, I’ve never been a fan of their design. It’s mostly a recycling of “wannabe Rolex” concepts that we’ve already seen countless times.
However, that changed at the start of this summer.
I received an email announcing that they were adding three new models made from Damascus steel to their Deep Marine Explorer II collection (their second watch, with the first models launched in 2020). If you regularly read my reviews, you may have noticed that I have a soft spot for Damascus steel, so this email caught my attention and I started exploring what they were offering.
Out of the three models — one with a white dial, one with a black dial, and one with a gray dial — the last one particularly drew me in. Initially because of the intriguing color, but primarily because it was the only model among the three where the dial was also made of Damascus steel.
When I saw that the watch was powered by the Sellita SW200-1 movement and, most importantly, the preorder price, I decided to make the purchase. I’ll talk about the price later — for now, let’s focus on the watch itself.
During the preorder phase, they promised the watches would be available in October. However, production was delayed by about a month, and due to the high volume of preorders, shipping was spread out over two weeks. Shipping began in early November, but I didn’t receive my watch until November 25th.
The initial impression of the watch was, to say the least, unusual. I unboxed the diver box in which the watch arrived in the evening, under artificial light, where the watch sparkled as though it were entirely made of glass or, better yet, mirrors. My first impression wasn’t misleading. The highly polished, subtly gray steel dial and equally finished bezel insert strongly reflect incoming light, and the anti-reflective sapphire crystal does little to mitigate this.
As a result, the dial and bezel appear to shift in color from silver and gray to black, adding a layer of intrigue and appeal. This interplay of colors is partially visible in photographs, but let me note that capturing the watch on camera is quite challenging. By the way, if you visit Oceaneva's website, keep in mind that the rendered image of the watch there is darker than the actual product.
What particularly appeals to me is the concept of having almost every part of the watch crafted from Damascus steel, which in this case is an alloy of 304 and 316L steel. In other Damascus watches on the market, it is common to use Damascus steel for the case, sometimes extending to the buckle, occasionally to the crown, rarely to the bezel insert, and extremely rarely to the dial. Well, in this watch, all of the above are made of Damascus steel — the only component not made from it is the case back.
Together, all these elements create a very dynamic, unconventional, and distinctive design. The watch truly has a “wow” effect in person — photos simply don’t do it justice.
It’s also worth pointing out that, due to the production process of Damascus steel, each watch has a unique pattern of lines on every part. So, my watch has a very different line structure than others, on all its visible components.
As mentioned, the watch itself is in every other aspect essentially a standard Deep Marine Explorer II. Unfortunately, this also means the dial shares the same overused design, and the hands are taken directly from the standard edition. This isn’t a major issue by itself, but it becomes apparent that the hour markers — and especially the hands — are too light for the color of this dial. In well-lit conditions, the low contrast between the dial and the hands makes legibility particularly poor. Additionally, the narrow shape of the hands only emphasizes this problem.
Another drawback for me is the excessive text on the dial. While it’s barely visible in bright light, it still detracts from the primary focus of a Damascus steel dial — the unique patterns created by the fusion of the two steels. The redundancy becomes even more apparent considering that the full text is repeated on the case back, where even more information is displayed.
Since the watch boasts high water resistance, it naturally features a helium escape valve. The bezel is precise, offers good grip, and rotates unidirectionally with 120 clicks at just the right tension. The FKM rubber strap is comfortable, and although the clasp is slightly oversized, it’s well-made and doesn’t scratch. Overall, I must commend the quality of all the steel components.
The watch houses a Sellita SW200-1 movement. In my case, it isn’t optimally calibrated and runs about 10 seconds fast per day during the first few days of wear.
As expected from a dive watch, it features high-quality lume. However, I find there’s too much of it, making the watch glow like a Christmas tree at night. While I’m not a diver and can’t judge whether such extensive luminescence is essential for professional diving, I did notice an inconsistency: the lume on the hands is weaker than on the indices and bezel, which are far more visible. Additionally, the narrowness of the hands leaves little room for lume, resulting in poor legibility in low-light conditions. It should really be the other way around.
So, how does everything function on the wrist? Very well. Its dimensions are just right to suit a wide range of wrist sizes — with a 42 mm diameter, 48 mm lug-to-lug, and a thickness of 14 mm — a fairly standard size for a diver watch.
The regular price of the Deep Marine Explorer II is €960, while the Damascus models are uniformly priced at €1,150. For buyers outside the USA, shipping and import duties must be added, bringing the final price for EU customers to around €1,400–€1,450. This is a reasonable range for a watch featuring a Sellita movement and Damascus steel.
However, during the pre-order phase, the price — including shipping — was dramatically lower: just €400 (€370 base price + €30 shipping), which came to around €500 with all EU import duties included. I’m sure you can understand why I was so quick to place my order.
From what I gather, all Damascus models are currently sold out, though a new series is expected. According to their website, the collection will soon expand with new dial colors. I have no idea whether these new models will again be available with some kind of pre-order discount.
By the way, they are also currently accepting pre-orders for their first non-diver watch — a dress GMT model called the OceanTrek, featuring a Seiko NH34 automatic movement. Once again, the pre-order price is remarkably attractive.
P.S.: Just a few hours before I intended to publish this review, Oceaneva revealed new Damascus steel dials. Two of them were presented in the email I received upon the announcement. Of those two, I particularly liked the brown/rose gold version.
The pre-order prices remain attractive — not as good as for the first edition, but still quite reasonable. The base price for the new Damascus dial models is approximately €90 higher (so around €480), which means that for an EU buyer, the final pre-order price — including shipping and import taxes — will be about €620. In my opinion, this is still a very good deal.
I also believe that most of the new dials will address the issue of hand visibility, as the contrast between the dial color and the hands is significantly improved compared to my gray version. Plus, the light reflection might be lower as well.
Delivery is expected by the end of March…
Alongside those two models, the entire new collection of all Damascus steel versions is now visible on the Oceaneva website. In addition to the aforementioned two, the Damascus steel dial will also be available in coffee brown (which I also quite like), yellow gold, and silver. I would be cautious with the silver version, as it seems to be even lighter than my gray one — and even my gray dial already looks more silver than gray.
Interestingly, some models will also be available with white straps.
The non-Damascus dial versions of the Damascus steel watches have also been expanded with several new color variants. These versions are cheaper, priced at €440. You can check out the entire collection here. As you’ll see, the new pre-order prices also apply to existing models. So, if you’re looking to get a very interesting and well-built diver’s watch at a fair price, now is your chance — some models will be available only in very limited quantities.
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