5th Gen 42mm Omega Planet Ocean Review

[Spikedlee]

Posted this up on a few of the other forums and almost forgot to put it up here. Here you go fellas...

Wow, where do I even begin with this one. I guess I'll start back in 2008 when I first got into the rep game and got into the watch game in general. One of my iconic watches at the time was the Omega Planet Ocean. After watching Casino Royale as well as seeing someone wear the gen I was totally in love with the thing. It is a simple watch, sporty, and yet elecant at the same time.

As everyone knows, there are two sizes of the Planet Ocean:

a) 45.5 mm

42 mm

The 45.5 big boy is more commonly known based on the closest replica of it - the Ultimate Planet Ocean (UPO). A quick telltale sign of the 45.5 Planet Ocean versus the 42mm besides the size are the larger teeth on the bezel, versus the 42 mm's smaller, higher quantity teeth.

For this watch in either size you can find an orange bezel or black bezel version in either an orange or white numeral configuration. Some find the orange numbering on the dial adds that extra flare to the watch which I agree with as it was apparent on my old UPO which you can see here in the below picture to the left, my price point WBK Planet Ocean on the right:

Take note that the AR on the right PO is much stronger on the right PO versus the left not because it is double sided, but it is just way more blue. The genuine watches do have double AR.

I bring this point up prior to the review because the new 5th gen PO has the blueish AR of the WBK Planet Ocean which is definitely inaccurate to gen. This has been discussed in other forums and argued with some of the dealers, but it is very clear that the 5th gen has SINGLE AR and the gen has DOUBLE AR.

Well enough talk about the 45.5 UPO as it has been done to death. In the recent months it seems that the rep factories have been stepping up their game coming out with improved watch models. One of the most sought after watches was the 4th generation 42mm discontinued Planet Ocean. This watch is a much better fit for guys like me with a wrist smaller than 7". The big update from the 4th gen to 5th gen is the corrected Omega non-happy feet logo which has been a problem with all 4 prior generations of this watch. Why it took the factories so long to figure this out I have no idea. Another big issue with this watch was always the off-center pearl. I think both have been improved for the new version. It's still not PERFECT, but still a big improvement.

Personally, I was just happy that the 42mm was even available for sale again so I was one of the first to place an order with Perfect Clones a month ago. Yes a MONTH! Guys, don't expect 3 day shipping to the US if you order late November or December. Lesson learned on my end. QC pictures were provided a day after placing my order and the next day it was shipped out from China which I found out meant it really just sat in a warehouse for a month backlogged with all the other holiday shipments.

I was so anxious to get this watch I went to the post office and picked it up myself before it could get delivered:

Nice packaging from Josh! Everything was nice and secure in the styrofoam box completely wrapped in bubble wrap and 2 additional baggies.

Notice the bling against the sunlight here...it was a "FINALLY!!" shimmer of light:

Before I proceed further, I'm going to display my last analysis of the 5th gen against a gen gen strictly based on a single QC picture of the face of the watch a month ago...

Lets do a side by side gen to new V5 comparison now shall we?

Just a few highlighted points to consider here..

1. The HEV on the rep appears to be too long.

2. The pearl...yeah we get it. Still not center enough.

3. The indices appear too short on the rep dial versus the gen which reaches all the

ends of the dial.

4. The gap between the top of the now corrected "non-happy feet" logo and the

bottom of the 12 appear to be longer on the rep than the gen.

5. The Omega logo itself still doesn't look 1:1 against the gen.

Still, these are really tiny nitpicks. All in all it still looks like this will be a good improvement from the V4.

Fast forward to today, let's start off with a few pictures of my watch:

Lume...

My new critical points of this 5th gen Planet Ocean post live inspection are listed below:

1. The helium valve is off. It's too tall. It needs to be made shorter per the gen. Not that big of a deal to me, but a pretty easy thing to point out. Look at my first shot of my UPO. You can see the difference between the two quite easily.

2. The crown is waaaay too long. It needs to be made shorter per the gen just like the helium valve. The stem for this watch is also too long as when I push the crown in to screw it in for tightening I can hear the movement being wound. It looks even more ridiculous when you try to set the time as the crown pops out quite far in that position.

3. The pearl actually isn't bad on this. Much better than all the older versions, but it still needs to be raised up slightly to be center with the triangle - just a tad would make it perfect in my opinion. Also, the lume color on the pearl does not match with the hands/markers. It is slightly lighter in color tone. The bezel is great on this thing as the pearl is percetly center with no wiggling of the bezel and it clicks uni-directionally with a charm.

4. The Omega logo is improved at last! No more happy feet. However, it is definitely sitting too close to the "OMEGA" lettering. It needs to be raised ever so slightly. Another minor nitpick.

5. The date font is sitting too far to the left. If you look at my pictures you can see that the "10" date is not center and it a bit too much to the left.

GEN:

Mmmm...center...

6. The bracelet and clasp are top notch in my opinion. Bracelet is very soft and comfortable to wear. The clasp locks up perfectly. The divers extension is nice and tight unlike a lot of the older models which would pop out unexpectedly. The big issue here is the use of the "PROFESSIONAL" text as the gens I have seen for the 42mm do not contain this text as it is used in the 45.5 mm version. However, I would like to point out that I do believe there have been models spotted that used the "PROFESSIONAL" text. Anyone feel free to chime in on this one.

The clasp engraving is nice. Not rigid and rough like some of the older models. I'm not sure if the engraving is deep enough on this but it looks good to me.

7. I don't think the caseback's sea monster is pronounced enough compared to the gen. The monster comes out way more on the gen.

GEN:

REP:

8. The lume is decent. A lot like the lume on my UPO. The markers and hands utilize the same type of lume so they do match in color. However, it still isn't close to "super-lume" which is nuclear in comparison. Having tried on the gen a few times at the ADs I can attest to its magnificent lume.

9. As I stated earlier, the AR on the crystal is a big tell on this watch. The blue hue is too strong and reminds me of the old PAM 111H AR. Some people dig the cool blue color, but I think it is far too strong compared to some of my other reps where it is not so pronounced.

Blue....

I think the watch has great weight to it. Not too heavy, not too light. Overall a very good quality rep for the price. I opted for the Asian clone movement versus Swiss because you just never know what you are going to get and I could really care less as long as it works. The watch is keeping amazing time as it should considering it was measured up in China. Although Josh guarantees waterproofing tests on any watch over $200 I haven't done a dunk test yet and probably won't.

For you Planet Ocean lovers with the small wrists, I would highly recommend picking this one up. The UPO just never fit right on me due to the size on my 6.75" wrists but dropping down to this 42mm version it is like night and day. Anyways, this is Spikey's little review. I'm not drawing diagrams for you guys as I'm just not going to nitpick THAT much but the bottom line is I am happy with my purchase and even happier that the thing actually showed up!

Cheers

S.

[Tribal]

So nice review.

Do u notice that the writing on the dial is light silver not white?

Also the date numbers are shiny silver.

[joaquin.burdado]

This post made me purchase one!

Thanks for this! Will post my pics later.

[danza1812]

Great review. I'm interested in the thickness of the clasp? Is it thicker than the gen?

[plaifender]

Great contribution! Awesome effort spiked not to mention nice watch

[kbh]

Nice review and great comparison pictures.

I still don't believe this is as nice a version as the V4. The V4 has a perfect he valve centered over the 0 in 50 on the bezel, proper size crown. Dial markers are correct to gen and the spacing on the Omega logo is correct. The ar treatment on the V4 is clear rather than blue. Also notice how the silver ring around the bezel is so much smaller than on the gen.

With the exception of the happy feet I still think V4 would be the clear winner.

[ryaku]

Also notice how the silver ring around the bezel is so much smaller than on the gen.

Yeah, annoying as hell, I'm serious. Much more evident than other flaws.

And too expensive to correct (gen bezel are crazy expensive)

As for the 4th gen you forgot incorrect lugs shape for the 4th gen (too big polished area), an important structural flaw in my book.

AR treatment un my 5th gen is much better than the AR in my old 4th gen but still not as good as the gen.

Out of the box, I agree with you, 4th gen was a better rep but the 5th gen is a better starting point for a frankenwatch imho... but the question is: is it worth it? considering the price of a second hand PO this is questionable.

[slask111]

I got my 5`gen 42 PO today and for 128$ its a good deal. V.4 was more expensive. But this v.5 wont se any wrist time from me, it just cant compare in terms of build quality compared to lets say the Ebel Discovery. I guess you get what you pay for.

Btw be careful when you remove links. I managed to destroy all off the links that i had to remove. BAD glue!

[ryaku]

All PO bracelets are tough in this.

[slask111]

All PO bracelets are tough in this.

Ah ok. Well im lucky to have some superglue @home

[plaifender]

Ah ok. Well im lucky to have some superglue @home

You superglued your bracelet pins?????!

[Suchecracks]