There are countless hard use watches out there, and many claim to be the best. I get it, that is marketing, and marketing sells merchandise. The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver is a dive watch made out of titanium, Allen screws everywhere and a “Specially Calibrated” quartz (Ronda 715 Li) movement. It also sports a carbon fiber dial, sapphire crystal and tritium tubes as well as Superluminova on hands and numerals. It is no doubt one beefy, tactical style watch. Let me get something out of the way though before I continue with the review. When you go to the MTM Special OPS website, you can read a lot of copy about watches that were once only available for the military, specifically Special Operations Forces, Navy Seals and more. I do not know anything about all of that. I have never been a LEO, Special Forces or in the military. I’m a watch nerd and that is the vantage point from which I will be reviewing, as always.
The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver Specifications:
- Case Size: 45mm
- Case Thickness: 16mm
- Weight: 175 grams (sized)
- Lug to Lug: 54mm
- Titanium Case and Bracelet
- Sapphire Crystal
- Ronda 715 Li Quartz Movement
- 1000 Meters Water Resistant
- Tritium Tubes
Price: $1900 USD
https://www.specialopswatch.com/product-category/seals/
So, does the The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver look and feel like it could sustain being out in the s**t? It sure does. I do not pretend here, nor will I regurgitate a lot of what is listed on the MTM website. It is a imposing looking watch and truly does feel like it could be smacked into a brick wall and keep on going. How would it hold up out in real world use? I don’t know. I am not going to go hiking by a lake and pretend that I put the watch through the paces. Is it a rugged and well built watch? It sure seems like it. Some may be wondering why, when I review so many dive watches here or hard use style watches, am I really putting this one under the microscope? Well, that would be because of that $1900 price tag. That definitely puts this watch into another category when you get to that price, especially for a quartz watch.
If you have watched the video already, you can see that the The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver is very well constructed. The double Allen screws in the bracelet and lugs, the easy to grasp bezel, the real carbon fiber dial and a stamped case back with knife logo. Because it is titanium, it is much lighter than a watch of this size would be, coming in at 175 grams. The time is easy to read at a glance, something you want from a dive watch, and has both numerals and applied metal markers. There is no doubt when you look at this watch, hold it, and wear it, it gives you the impression that it means business.
If I have any complaints, it would be that on the MTM website, it does not specifically state what type of titanium is being used. There are many grades of titanium, and also pure titanium and alloy titanium. While it does not state what grade is used, I will say it is beautifully finished in all areas, whether brushed, which makes up most of the case and bracelet, polished or blasted, like on the case back. My personal feeling with a watch of this caliber, is that I want to know as much detail as possible when it comes to the construction of the watch and the materials used.
The same can be said for the movement. As I stated in the video, on the website, it does not say exactly what quartz movement is used in the The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver . I had to email and ask. Again,being a little forthcoming and transparent goes a long way. In the end, I did find out, and it is the Ronda 715 Li, which has a ten year battery life and a lithium battery. Okay, that is great. But then we get into the “specially calibrated part”. It does not say any more info than just that. I do not know what was done to the movement to improve it, and at $1900, I would like to know.
I have gone on record many times and said that a movement does not solely make a watch. Whether it is a quartz, a low cost automatic, etc, there are many other factors in play. I can not deny the look or build quality of the The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver, and it does seem as it could really be used for diving, and other harsh or extreme conditions. Moving on to a feature that I absolutely love, the clasp. The whole bracelet is nothing short of fantastic, and the clasp is just the icing on the cake. It is completely custom and I just love how it looks and functions. My one and only issue with the bracelet is that it does not have half links, and it definitely should.
The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver has the lume area covered for sure. Tritium and luminova paint, so no matter what, you should never have an issue seeing the time in the dark.
One other area that does bug me though, is the crown. With a watch built for extreme conditions, the knurling on the crown just does not have enough grip in my opinion. I can only imagine trying to do it with gloves, and it proving very difficult. When I do get it unscrewed, it is solid and functions as it should for setting the time and date, it just does not have the same grip as the bezel, and wish it did.
At the end of the day, I do like the The MTM Special OPS Seal Diver. I can not deny it. It is a little on the large size for me these days, but being lightweight from the titanium construction does help to balance it out. There are a lot of things done right on this watch, but as I pointed out, a few that were done wrong, at least to me. At almost $2000, this is a chunk of change. This is an investment, especially if you were to go and put it through the paces and use it in the military, as a police officer, a professional diver, or just someone who beats the crap out of their watch. At this price, you hope it can take what you dish out. There are no shortages of hard use watches, whether it be a G-Shock, Luminox, Swiss Army and many more. Stiff competition. The Seal Diver is one hell of a watch, but is it worth $1900? I will leave that up to you to decide.
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Matt D
Well, one thing that can’t be disputed is their service, My March 2008 SEAL diver was recently serviced at a very fair price which included cleaning and refilling the case with mineral oil to help maintain the 20,000 ft water resistance. Yes, not needed, but I have found oil filled cases make reading the dial easier in some cases so I opted to pay a bit more for it to be done. Tritium tubes dead, so new hands with fresh tritium tubes were available. New battery and movement should keep me rolling for the next 10 years. Very happy with MTM. My watch collection hobby has grown significantly in the last 26 years both in number and price of the watches I purchase. But I have to share that I am VERY impressed with the quality of the work, the responsiveness in refurbing the watch and the fairness of the price. Good to know they’re still willing to fully service watches this old. Took me 26 years to learn how squared away this company is with their customers,