It is probably safe to say that in 30 years this has been the first (and hopefully not the last) upgrade for the original PloProf. Back in 2007 Mitch Feig a long time PloProf fan who runs the Ocean7 watch company, got talking to a fellow WIS and together they hit on the idea of upgrading the mineral crystal on these watches. Its long been to our minds a small failing on Omega’s part that these used mineral crystal as these watches do take a beating, especially when diving. In fact, the original crystals seem to get scratched just wearing it in the office... But maybe the DeskDiver’s office has more hazards than most!
In the creation of Ocean7’s watches Mitch works with suppliers around the globe to source parts, so a sapphire crystal didn’t represent too much of a problem for him. However it was a one off deal with only a few being made, which meant that they were expensive to produce. Mitch also had to try several crystal factories until he was successful, because of the odd shape of the crystal