The Seamaster 300M is not a dress watch, I’ll grant you. But its wave dial and its balance are my weakness, and it is one of the most discussed replicas.
One point keeps coming up in the old threads: the movement advertised as an “8800” on the older VSF version. The details are in the VSF Seamaster 300M long-term thread. What was actually said about it back then?
Related threads: Swimming with a rep diver: does “pressure tested” actually mean it’s safe in the water? and Clean Daytona 126500 with SH4131: what the early reviews said.
Good question. In the threads of the time, VSF’s “8800” isn’t described as a true clone of the Omega calibre: it was a decorated ETA 2824-2, with Omega-style bridges, running at 4 Hz and with a black balance wheel.
Certainty: medium-high. Both the VSF/OMF comparison thread on the main forum and a community Omega guide say so.
And there’s a lovely irony in that. The wave dial is the thing everyone looked at, and the movement nobody sees was the most-debated part.
Was the 2824 base a minus, though? Plus: reliable and serviceable, as the threads say. Minus: not the real architecture.
There’s a dedicated analysis thread on longevity. Many report more than two years without problems, but loose or jammed rotors and crown thread issues come up repeatedly.
And then the story moved on. Newer threads discuss a later VSF version with a VS8800, closer cosmetically, but with worries about parts being scarce for repairs.
So the old “8800” was simpler to maintain, and the new one more faithful. The same dilemma as with the Rolexes.
A summary in order:
Older version (no longer the current one)
- The so-called “8800” was a decorated ETA 2824-2 in Omega style, 4 Hz, black balance wheel. Not a true clone.
- Advantage: reliable and serviceable, easy spare parts.
- Limitation: a different architecture from the original.
Long term (analysis thread)
- Many examples past two years without problems.
- Recurring faults: loose or jammed rotor, crown threads.
Later version
- With the VS8800: more faithful cosmetically, but with doubts about spare-parts availability.
[[PHOTO: open caseback of a Seamaster 300M, showing the movement decoration and the black balance wheel]]
The dilemma is the same one we saw with the Rolexes: ease of servicing or faithfulness of the movement. And no opening casebacks without tools and new gaskets.
Thank you, bilanciere. Precise, and with nothing made up.