The “most famous chronograph in the world”, this is what the replica Omega website announces about the Speedmaster Professional. It’s very pretentious, yes, but also very true. This is one of the perfect examples of legendary watches that you will discover on Le Petit Poussoir. If you don’t know her yet, or perhaps not enough, you will discover what has made her famous for more than 50 years.
History of a legendary watch
It was in 1957 that the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union began, first with the sending of the first artificial satellites and then with the first human flights into space. At the time, the Speedmaster was designed for sporting activities with its tachymeter bezel allowing speed to be calculated. Omega still had no idea what it would become or endure.
For NASA, searching for an autonomous watch capable of accompanying astronauts was therefore a necessity. In 1965, a selection of around ten replica watches, including a Rolex Daytona and a Longines Wittnauer, passed a battery of resistance tests to extreme conditions: high/low temperatures, humidity, oxygen, shocks, linear acceleration, vacuum, pressure and vibration.
The Speedmaster “Moonwatch”
The Omega Speedmaster passed all of these tests with flying colors and became the only watch approved for NASA flights. But it was in 1969 that the legend was really born during the Apollo 11 mission: Buzz Aldrin set foot on the lunar surface, making it the only watch to have been to the Moon. Hence her nickname, “The Moonwatch”, which still follows her today.
Equipped with a black dial, its central hands are coated with Super-Luminova emanating a green light in the dark. Its hesalite glass, a type of plexiglass (less strong than sapphire glass but) widely used in the 1950s, protects its three counters (12 hours, 30 minutes, 60 seconds) respectively placed at 6, 3 and 9 o’clock.
On the mechanical side, it is equipped with a hand-wound Omega caliber with a 48-hour power reserve. The original caliber 321 was replaced in 1968 by caliber 861, which was itself replaced by an improved version with rhodium finishes (rhodium coating, a type of platinum), the 1861, then embellished to become the 1863. In the end, it’s virtually the same one worn by Buzz Aldrin when he set foot on the moon.
Now, the crux of the matter: its price. You can find it new at €4100 (model 3570.50.00) very easily. Let’s be smarter and take a closer look at its second-hand side. This shows 1500€, even if the reality of supply and demand brings it closer to 2000€, and is constantly increasing. More than a timepiece, it is also a good investment. And finally, a nice little video to see it from all angles:
Hi, this is a comment.
To get started with moderating, editing, and deleting comments, please visit the Comments screen in the dashboard.
Commenter avatars come from Gravatar.