zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

: I've been lucky enough to be given an Automatic
: Seamaster with the black face, bezel etc.

Yes, I would consider yourself lucky to have been given that watch. I have one myself and its a classic.

Now, as to what you can do with it. This has been debated many times, and most people seem to use the watches in their daily lives, unless the piece is a collector item or very expensive.

I think a couple good rules of thumb with mechanical watches is 1)to avoid water if its not sufficiently water resistant(150+ feet and screw down caseback and crown), and 2)avoid subjecting the watch to extreme shock, ie extreme mountain biking, or golf(personally I think golf is ok, but one really bad swing might cause a shock problem. I leave mine at home). Your watch does have some shock resistant capabilities, but keep in mind it is first a dive watch, and there are hundreds of mechanical parts inside that can be broken/bent/misaligned/whatever from constant abuse.

My advice to you is wear it as you want. Extreme mountain biking is probably best served with a G-Shock or something. $200-$300 repairs on a watch are much less palatable than several G-Shocks.