Steinhart Ocean 1 Review

My rating: 9/10. Excellent watch. Affordable Swiss Diver.

Today I’m doing a Steinhart Ocean 1 review. Steinhart watches have been around for a little while now and today I thought I’d take a closer look at one of their most popular watches, the Steinhart Ocean 1.

The Steinhart Ocean 1 is a popular Rolex Submariner homage. It’s Swiss made with a 300m water resistance rating and a Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic movement. All this for around €350, not bad at all right? Steinhart really has made a brilliant timepiece with the Steinhart Ocean 1 so I’m looking forward to taking a look at it in more detail.

As you’ll see from this Steinhart watch review, the Ocean 1 watch really does stand up to the high quality people expect from a decent Swiss made Rolex homage, whilst staying true to remaining very affordable.

Also read: 100 best watches under £500

Steinhart Ocean 1 Technical specifications

Firstly I figured I’d let you take a look at some of the general specifications of the Steinhart Ocean 1. This should allow you to get a quick idea of some of the important details of the watch before we dive into deeper detail.

• Model Number: Steinhart Ocean 1
• Crystal Material: Sapphire
• Case Diameter: 42mm
• Movement: Swiss automatic ETA 2824-2
• Extra Features: Date display, screw down crown
• Water Resistance: 300m / 30 bar
• Strap Material: Stainless steel 316L

Steinhart Ocean 1 Design And Build Quality

The Steinhart Ocean 1 is built to a very high end finish. The stainless steel 316L casing has a brushed finish on the top and bottom, with a polished finish on the sides. The screw down crown has the Steinhart watches logo embossed onto it, you’ll also notice some nice bevelling which is some great added detailing.

The bezel has the classic Submariner style to it. The 120 click bezel is made of ceramic and has the first 15 minutes fully marked up, then ever 5 minutes thereafter, you’ll see this in more detail throughout the review today.

Overall the Steinhart Ocean 1 is a very impressive watch considering the price. I’d be impressed if you could show me another Swiss made Rolex homage for this sort of price.

Steinhart Ocean 1 Dial

Taking a look at the dial design now for the Steinhart Ocean 1. A key feature you expect from a dive watch is for it to have a large clear and easy to read display, the Steinhart Ocean 1 ticks all these boxes. The display is kept relatively uncluttered, there’s the date display at the 3 o’clock position, along with the Ocean One water resistance rating around the 6 o’clock position, other than this it’s nice and simple. The hands feature that classic Mercedes symbol design for the hour hand and along with the minute and seconds hand are coated in a generous amount of Super Luminova C1. The hour markers and the bezel pip also have the same coating of Super Luminova C1 making the whole watch very easy to read in dark conditions, perfect for diving. Typical of a Rolex Submariner Homage the date display has the cyclops magnifier above it to enlarge it to about 1.5x normal size.

Steinhart Ocean 1 Sizing

The Steinhart Ocean 1 has that typical larger profile as if found with many diver’s watches. The casing diameter measures 42mm and has a decent thickness of 13mm. These days many people are favouring these larger watches with their big displays. It’s worth noting that due to its size it might not be so suitable for people with smaller wrists, just something to keep in mind.

Steinhart Ocean 1 Crystal

This Steinhart watch features a flat sapphire glass. Sapphire glass offers an exceptional level of scratch resistance. It has a Mohs hardness rating of 9 and would essentially need a diamond to scratch it. The glass on this model is quite thick which is just another sign of quality on Steinhart watches part. There’s also an anti-reflective coating on the inside of the glass, this prevents a lot of glare that you can get with normal watches, it’s a feature found on higher end watches. Overall I’m really pleased to see this included, impressive considering the price of the watch.

 

Strap & Clasp

Taking a look at the strap of the Steinhart one now. It’s made of stainless steel 316L and measures 22mm wide.  I quite like the simple chunky design of this strap, its got a brushed finish on the top and bottom with a polished finish on the sides. This sort of brushed finish is often preferred on straps any scratches in the future are less likely to show. The lug width measures 22mm and is fitting with a simple spring bar. Quite an interesting feature is that all the links have screw in pins which make adjusting the bracelet size super simple, all you’ll need is a small jewellery screwdriver – you can buy sets of these cheaply online or in a local hardware store.

The Steinhart one has a simple fold over clasp with extra safety catch. The Steinhart watches logo is etched into the catch which is a nice little added touch in my opinion.

Steinhart Ocean 1 Water Resistance 

The Steinhart Ocean 1 has a brilliant 300m water resistance rating, also known as 30 bar. It’s great to see that not only does this watch look the part of a luxury diver, it also stands up to the test with its high quality 300m rating. A 300m water resistance rating makes this watch suitable for professional marine activity, serious surface water sports and skin diving. This is just another great feature that goes into this awesome watch, showcasing just how good the value for money is here.

It’s always worth remembering that when water resistance testing is done, it’s completed in a still environment with no added pressure, a 300m water resistance rating doesn’t mean the watch can go 300m deep, it’s all to do with preasure. The very motion of moving your arm would increase the pressure forced upon a watch.

So there you have it, the Steinhart Ocean 1 is suitable for most diver’s needs. A 300m rating is great to see on this timepiece and something i’m very pleased with.

Steinhart Ocean 1 Caseback

The Steinhart 1 features a screw down caseback, as you’d expect from a decent diver’s watch. The casing is made of a brushed stainless steel in keeping with the casing design and features an engraving of a Trojan riding a seahorse. I quite like a small amount of detailing like this, a nice added touch in my opinion. You can see a picture of this in the image below.

The Steinhart Ocean 1 Automatic Movement

I mentioned earlier on in the specifications section that this Steinhart watch featured a Swiss ETA 2824-2 movement. This is an automatic movement with 25 jewels that’s a true work horse of the industry found in many high end automatic watches.

The ETA 2824-2 works at 28,800 BPH and ticks 8 times per second. This impressive rate gives you this really nice sweeping effect of the second hand, a feature often desired in high end watches. With a very resonable 40 hour power reserve you’ll rarely need to reset it if worn often enough. The movement also features a hacking second hand and seconds stop.

Overall the ETA 2824-2 is a very reliable and accurate movement, and one you should be happy to have featured in your watch.

Steinhart Ocean 1 Pros & Cons

I figured now would be a good time to take a quick look at the pros & cons of the Steinhart Ocean 1 in a nice easy to skim display.

Steinhart Ocean 1 Pros:

• Durable stainless steel 316L design
• Sturdy quality weighting
• 25 jewel Swiss automatic ETA 2824-2 movement
• High-quality Super Luminvoa C1 coating for extra vsibility
• 300m water resistance for excellent protection, suitable for diving
• Sapphire glass gives you exceptional scratch resistance
• The watch is automacti self-winding which means it never requires any battery changes
• Screw down pins on the bracelet make it easy to adjust
• Ceramic black bezel

 

Steinhart Ocean 1 Cons:

• Rolex Homages have a bit of a love hate relationship, if you can’t afford a Rolex though, then why not consider this
• At 42mm in diameter it may be a bit too big for some people

 

A Final Word On The Steinhart Ocean 1

So there you have it, a fairly detailed look at the Steinhart Ocean 1. Hopefully you can get a decent idea of why the Steinhart Ocean 1 has been so popular. It’s hard to argue with a watch of this quality for the price it is, it really is a very good deal in my opinion.

Overall I’m very happy with this Rolex homage from Steinhart watches. It looks the part, has the high specifications I’d expect from a luxury Swiss watch, and is a fairly affordable price. Having taken everything into consideration I’m happy to give this watch a 9/10.

Also read: 33 Best Dive Watches For Men

Where To Buy The Steinhart Ocean 1

You can buy the Steinhart Ocean 1 directly from Steinhart on their website here. If you know of any other great places to get this watch then please do comment below and let everyone else know.

Thanks For Reading

I hope you enjoyed having a read through of this extensive Steinhart watch review. As always let us know in the comments what you thought.