STEINHART OCEAN one Vintage Military Leather NATO Watch Strap

The sporty exclusiveness of the „OCEAN vintage military makes it stand out from other diver watches. Its solid design guarantees highest resiliance as well as an outstanding quality. Within the large genre of sports diver watches the Ocean vintage military is one of the few examples in its price range which demonstrates such an excellent cost-performance ratio.

The OVM refers to a very specific, rare and interesting model of the Rolex Submariner, the ref. 5517 Mil-Sub. The 5517 was a military issue Submariner for the British Royal Navy in the early 70’s. As a non-civilian model, it had some special design details that make it truly unique in the Sub family. The two most noticeable differences are in the hands and bezel insert. The 5517 lacks the iconic Mercedes hour hand and instead has a broad and stubby sword hand, and the bezel insert has individual minute markers going all around the bezel, rather than just from 0-15. The other more subtle details are a capital T in a circle on the lower half of the dial, indicating that the watch contained Tritium, fixed lug bars for use with nylon straps and unique serial numbers.
Movement

One could imagine given the popularity of vintage Submariners, original 5517’s are highly sought after, ultra-rare grails within the group. Considering around 1000 were ever issued, and they are legitimately parts of Naval and watch making history, it is not surprising that they go for around 100k at auction. This leaves most of us with little to no hope of ever owning one. Of course, there are a lot of watches that the same could be said for, the problem is that this one is really great looking. It takes the classic Bond-approved styling of the Submariner and tacks on some sportier and more aggressive features designed to maximize visibility for military usage. So, when the OVM first came to my attention I knew I had to have it. It takes the historical looks of the 5517, some contemporary features like a 42mm case, and combines them into a very affordable and damn great looking package. This is not to say that I don’t like the other Ocean watches, far from it, but being able wear a watch I’ll never own, in a matter of speaking, is very appealing to me.

ETA 2824-2 Swiss Made, automatic, hacking seconds
Jewels: 25 jewels
screw down crown

Functions
hour and minute with Super Luminova vintage "old radium"...
central second hand

Case: stainless steel
Back: Stainless steel screwed, engraved..
Diameter: 42 mm (1.65 inches), without crown
height: 13 mm
Weight: 196,5 g incl. steel bracelet
Dial: black
Crystal: domed sapphire crystal, double anti-reflection coating on the inside
Bezel: black
Indices: Super Luminova vintage
Lug width: 22mm
WaterRes: 300 metres/990 feet 30 ATM ..
Strap: stainless steel 22 mm, screwed
Buckle: stainless steel, safety clasp