The Legacy Of The Omega Speedmaster As Told Through Its Contemporary Executions

Most of the Speedmaster’s notoriety, however, was gained in the 1960s, when it was an integral part of the Space Race—a period in which the United States and the Soviet Union duelled for technological supremacy through rockets, spaceflight, and, eventually, moon landings. On the American side, versions of the Speedmaster were worn as private watches on spaceflights as early as 1962, but the real watershed moment came on 1 March 1965. After a gruelling battery of tests—including high and low temperatures and pressures, shocks, accelerations, vibrations, and humidity—the Omega Speedmaster was officially declared by NASA to be ‘Flight Qualified for all Manned Space Missions’, the only one to be approved out of four brands that had submitted their timepieces for consideration.

The rest is, of course, history. It was the Speedmaster on Ed White’s wrist in 1965 when he undertook the first American spacewalk, and with the crew of Apollo 8 when they became the first to fly to the moon and back in 1968. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were wearing Speedmasters during Apollo 11 in 1969, the mission that saw them become the first humans to walk on the moon, giving rise to the ‘Moonwatch’ designation. And it was a Speedmaster used to time a critical procedure that helped bring the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission safely back home in 1970.

Beyond these moments in history, there is another reason that the Speedmaster has remained so popular: it just looks so darned good. Its design was surely motivated by usability and legibility rather than aesthetics; there is no one visual element that stands out as an inspired stylistic move, and yet the end result was perfectly balanced: technical, precise, serious, and somehow elegant because of all of those things—a handsome watch, if there ever was one. The days of professionals needing mechanical timepieces are long gone, yet seven decades later, the Speedmaster, in no small part due to its looks, still embodies the spirit of accomplishment and mechanical aptitude that continues to appeal to so many.

As popular as it is, the Speedmaster has been available in many guises, sizes, styles, colours, and materials, but, for its 70th anniversary, we highlight a selection of current models that showcase its versatility while remaining true to its original pioneering spirit.

The Evolved Classic

This is the current-day Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional, the contemporary baseline experience. It hits all the major notes of its progenitor, the watch that went to the moon: a manually wound three-register chronograph, with 42mm steel case and matte black dial, white hash marks for the fine indications between lumed hour markers, and tachymeter markings on the black anodised aluminium bezel. It does have a few evolutions, of course. The most notable is the movement: a high-tech piece of engineering that emphasises the decades since the original. Calibre 3861 is the much evolved, several generations removed successor to the Calibre 321 that was in the original Speedmaster. It hosts a bevy of modern technological developments, such as Omega’s co-axial escapement, a silicon balance spring, and high resistance to magnetism.

There is an interesting choice to make between the two variants of the Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional. Do you go with the one equipped with a sapphire crystal (RM37,500 on a leather strap, RM39,200 on a steel bracelet), with its near-unscratchable glass and display caseback, in line with modern luxury watch expectations? Or do you go with the more vintage-accurate hesalite crystal version (RM32,500 on a nylon strap, RM34,150 on a steel bracelet), with its domed shape and closed caseback? Some are adamant that there is a visible difference in their optical character, one that must be seen in person to be understood.

The Brighter Side

A refreshing addition, or anathema to a beloved icon? It caused quite a stir when the Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional with a white lacquer dial (from RM38,100) was unveiled in 2024—in part because it was cheekily previewed on Daniel Craig’s wrist months before its official launch. It retains much of the straightforward precision of the original and is just as legible, but with a markedly different mood that, for some, was just the thing the Speedmaster was missing. White-dialled Speedmasters were intermittently created throughout its history, but this is the first non-limited-production model. More generally, Omega does have a history with white dials and spacefaring watches. Purpose-built prototypes dating back to 1969 had white dials to better reflect the harsh sunlight of outer space, which means the watch absorbs less heat.

If you’re not quite ready to commit fully to a white dial, in January of this year, Omega released a version with a black dial and white subdials for the ‘reverse panda’ look (RM45,350 for the steel-bracelet execution).

A Powerful Vintage

Calibre 321 was the movement in the original Speedmasters and was the one powering the watch throughout the 1960s, the one that was so rigorously tested by NASA, and the one that landed on the moon. But by the end of the decade, it was replaced by Calibre 861—a fine, functionally improved movement, and doubtless, the right call during a time when mechanical watches were practical tools needing practical solutions rather than historical reverence. In 2019, however, it was historical reverence that brought Calibre 321 back. Omega used a digital scanning method to peer inside the Speedmaster of astronaut Eugene Cernan, who wore it on the lunar surface during the Apollo 17 mission of 1972 and which is now housed at its museum in Biel, Switzerland. This enabled the manufacture to recreate Calibre 321 from scratch.

The Speedmaster Calibre 321 (RM75,600), introduced in 2020, was created specifically to house this movement. The watch has much more of a throwback vibe than the Moonwatch, being based on the third-generation Speedmaster that Ed White wore during the first American spacewalk in 1965. It is smaller, with a diameter of just under 40mm, with straight rather than faceted lugs, and lacks the asymmetrical case shape that was later introduced to help protect the pushers and crown. The dial is not labelled ‘Professional’, a designation that was only introduced in later models, and the lume is slightly yellowed as a nod to the tritium that was used back then. While it looks very true to the vintage model, there are a couple of modern-day deviations: the bezel is ceramic, making it more hard-wearing than the original aluminium one, and there are sapphire crystals on both the front and the back of the watch. The latter is a departure from the original closed caseback, but Calibre 321, in today’s context, invites a lot more visual appreciation and admiration—especially since it now has its own dedicated workshop at the Omega manufacture, with each movement assembled by a single watchmaker.

Retro with a Twist

Introduced in 2024, the latest Speedmaster First Omega in Space (RM36,950 on a leather strap, RM38,650 on a steel bracelet) is another pointedly vintage-looking piece. Its appearance, including sword-shaped hands and a sub-40mm diameter, is based on the second-generation Speedmaster released in 1959. This model was worn by astronaut Wally Schirra as his personal timepiece during the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission of 1962, which saw him orbit the Earth six times over a nine-hour period. It was, indeed, the first Omega watch to go to space. Equipped with a sapphire crystal and a closed caseback, it does have a slight twist to the Speedmaster formula—while the dial looks black at first glance, it is actually a deep grey-blue with a subtle sunburst finish. It is also equipped with the Calibre 3861, the modern standard Speedmaster movement.

Playful but Serious

To go with its silver dial and blue accents, the Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary watch (RM52,100) features a little cartoon figure on the small-seconds subdial: an embossed silver depiction of Snoopy, the world-famous beagle. It is not just pure whimsy, though. In the 1960s, Peanuts, a daily comic strip authored by Charles M. Schulz, was exploding in popularity, with the fanciful character of Snoopy embarking on many adventures, including his own journeys to space. He became a mascot for NASA, expressed particularly through the Silver Snoopy Award, which is presented to those who have made outstanding contributions to flight safety. Omega itself was a recipient in 1970, thanks to its role in the Apollo 13 mission. It takes the form of a silver lapel pin, which is the basis for the design on this watch.

For today’s collectors, it is a reason to explore a more whimsical take on the Speedmaster while maintaining a connection to its unique history. There is an additional surprise on the sapphire caseback, which hosts a rendition of the far side of the moon with the Earth in the distance. When the chronograph seconds hand is running, so too is a simple animation—Snoopy makes his own little fly-by, piloting a command capsule.

A Modern Take

And for those who desire something more contemporary, there are watches like the Speedmaster Grey Side of the Moon (RM71,700). With a more muscular 44mm ceramic case, it sits larger on the wrist while taking advantage of its high-tech material for lightness and greater wear resistance. Its grey-on-grey makeup is enhanced by a skeleton dial that has a laser-ablated finish depicting the lunar surface. This was inspired by an observation made by the Apollo 8 crew when they became the first humans to observe the far side of the moon in 1968. “The moon is essentially grey,” astronaut Jim Lovell observed. The same finish extends to some of the movement’s plates, visible from the front as well as through the display caseback, to provide an all-over spectacle.