Delma Oceanmaster Lume Watch Review
The Delma Oceanmaster Lume shares many characteristics with a conventional divers’ watch, but also incorporates useful features for sailors, including a nautical bezel, tactical planner and points-of-sail indicators. Recently, self-confessed landlubber, Marcus Henry embarked on a journey of discovery and now shares his observations about this Swiss timepiece.
Delma seit 1924
Originally named ‘A. & A. Gilomen’, Delma was established in 1924 by two brothers, Adolf and Albert Gilomen. In 1966, the firm was rebranded ‘Delma‘, adopting the name of its most popular collection of watches at the time. Today, the company is located in Lengnau, Switzerland, where Swiss-German is widely spoken. The company’s prodigious history has provided a wellspring of creative inspiration and watchmaking know-how, infusing each of its accessible timepieces with notable robustness and considered design.
Delma’s Oceanmaster collection has remained a keystone of its product portfolio, carving a unique niche as a dive watch built for sailors. In place of the customary 60-minute graduated scale, the Oceanmaster is equipped with a compass bezel and carries other markings that aid the modern sailor in successfully steering their boat. It’s a strong, bold and extremely capable watch imbued with an array of features seldom seen elsewhere and yet it is offered at a remarkably affordable price.
Now, building on the success of the Oceanmaster collection, the Swiss marque unveils the Lume, a model that exhibits a notable glow, day or night.
Delma Oceanmaster Lume – peerless legibility
At the heart of the Oceanmaster Lume, as you might have guessed from its name, is an exquisitely radiant dial. This is more than a contrived attempt to look ‘cool’; the fully-lumed dial heightens practicality, making the watch incredibly legible even in dim light. The model is offered in a choice of four colours: Dark Blue, Dark Green, Dark Orange or Dark Yellow. The very antithesis of stealth, the highly visible dial is endowed with a useful tactical planner for sailing (see later).
Close examination of the dial reveals several smile-inducing indicators of quality. For example, each printed element is glossy and pronounced, suggesting the dial has been precisely pad printed multiple times. Likewise, even though the layout of the dial is extremely attractive, it’s also clear that ease of use was the firm’s primary consideration. For instance, the tactical planner has been printed in strongly contrasting colours, aiding readability. A date display, positioned at 6 o’clock, proves especially useful when sailing at sea over several days, but it is also a practical feature for those who seldom leave terra firma.
Delma Oceanmaster Lume – notable robustness
Any watch designed to brave the elements must be built to withstand, if necessary, the full force of Mother Nature’s chastising fury, a requirement the Delma Oceanmaster appears ready to fulfil. Its cushion-shaped case construction looks robust, yet stylish and able to face the cruelest seas.
Despite its prodigious 44 mm diameter, the Oceanmaster Lume is more wearable than you might think once affixed to the wrist, due to its surprisingly short lug-to-lug length of 51 mm. The case is predominantly satin-brushed, save for the bevelled edges of the housing which are enriched with glorious polished facets, imbuing the composition with a note of elegance.
The screw-down crown has been carefully ensconced between two prominent crown guards, further heightening the overall sense of solidity.
Delma Oceanmaster Lume – automatic movement
In the same way that a beautifully crafted yacht requires a good sail, a quality watch requires a trusty movement. Thankfully, the Delma Oceanmaster Lume passes muster with its self-winding Sellita SW200-1, a tried and tested movement known for its reliability and ease of servicing.
Tactical planner & points-of-sail indicators
While the Oceanmaster Lume is both handsome and strong, it also has additional attributes worthy of note, including a compass bezel, tactical planner and points-of-sail indicators. Personally, despite preferring life on dry land, rejecting the allure of deep waters and tossing waves, I can appreciate this model’s added functionality. I will now endeavour to explain how the model’s various indications are used.
The compass bezel is the most conventional part of this watch. Fun fact of the day: any watch can be used as a navigation tool and it’s even easier with this type of bezel. To use it in the Northern Hemisphere, begin by holding the watch parallel to the ground and then rotating it so its hour hand is pointing to the Sun. With the watch held still, rotate the bezel so the South marker is positioned exactly in the middle between the dial’s 12:00 and the hour hand. From here, the indicated directions on the compass bezel will be a good estimate of the true cardinal points.
Compass bezels are useful, but the real innovation here is on another level altogether. Delma’s tactical planner is designed to aid the skipper in planning race routes and navigating changing wind conditions. It’s specifically targeted towards racers, but applies to all sailors. As a card-carrying landlubber myself, it’s been a complex process to sort out exactly what’s going on here. The tactical planner is used to determine the favoured end of the starting line. In racing, the favoured end is whichever is more upwind, which means sailors will have a shorter distance to travel before tacking through the wind.
First, measure the direction of the wind in degrees using a wind compass or anemometer. Set this bearing at 12:00 using the compass bezel on your watch. Next, sail from the committee boat (on the starboard side of the starting line) to the marker buoy (on the port side). As you do so, check the alignment of the ‘starting line’ with the ‘+/-‘ shown on the dial with the actual starting line on the course. Compare this position with the wind direction that you locked into the bezel. If one end of the starting line on the dial is between the West marker and the North pointer on the bezel, you’ll want to start at the buoy end. Otherwise, if it’s between the East marker and the North pointer, you’ll want to start from the boat side.
Not only does the tactical planner help the skipper in deciding the best starting position for a race, it also offers a comprehensive analysis of the best angles of sail thanks to the red-and-blue coloured dial markings. Coupled with the wind direction on the bezel, these indicators show each of the points of sail that a sailboat can use. For example, between the markers at 10:30 and 1:30, the boat will be ‘in irons’ or ‘in the wind’s eye’, preventing it from moving forward. In contrast, the red and blue markings above 6:00 indicate ‘running before the wind’, where the boat sails downwind, fully harnessing the wind to deliver maximum speed.
Conclusion
In a crowded market, where watch brands vie with one another, seeking to establish a point of difference, Delma has delivered an impressive quotient of originality. Indeed, the Oceanmaster Lume is a standout timepiece. It delivers many of the characteristics associated with a conventional divers’ watch, such as robustness, excellent legibility and impressive water resistance (500 m). But this watch will also resonate with those individuals who seek to capture the wind and master the open seas. Offered at $1650 (RRP as of 25.10.2025), a remarkably keen price for a watch with such a feature-rich specification, the brilliance of the Delma Oceanmaster Lume is clear to see; day or night.
Further reading
https://www.delmawatches.com/en-gb
Technical specifications
- Model: Delma Oceanmaster Lume
- Case: 316L stainless steel; diameter 44 mm; height 13.8 mm; water resistance 50 ATM (500 metres); sapphire crystal to front; exhibition case back.
- Functions: hours; minutes; date; unidirectional nautical bezel; tactical planner; points-of-sail indicators
- Movement: SW200-1 with date, automatic movement; frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz); 26 jewels; power reserve 41 hours.
- Strap: stainless steel bracelet with deployant clasp with pushers
- Price: $1650 (RRP as of 25.10.2025)