Spotlight‘The Eagle Has Landed’: Introducing Omega’s New Speedmaster Moonwatch With A White Lacquer Dial

This year marks the 55^th anniversary of the Apollo 11’s legendary moon landing that chronicled the beginning of “…one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. Although the space mission’s commander Neil Armstrong was the ‘first man to set foot on the Moon’; it was actually the Omega Speedmaster replete with the now-famous Calibre 321, strapped onto the right wrist of lunar module pilot Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin that became the ‘first watch to land on the Moon’. While this explains the cult-status of the Speedmaster, the Swiss brand has not simply rested on the 1969 achievement to make this one of the most sought-after watches amongst collectors.

The brand has dropped a new edition of the Speedmaster Moonwatch with a white lacquered dial—inspired by space exploration, the pristine colour of spacesuits donned by astronauts, and of course the brand’s rich heritage in crafting watches that are built to travel to the outer space.

The dial is the most eye-catching element here. While the original Speedmaster came with a black dial, Omega have now introduced a white lacquered dial that makes the watch highly alluring and pleasing to the eye. When the Speedmaster was first introduced in 1957, the main focus was to produce a timepiece with an easy-to-read display since a chronograph display can become a bit overwhelming for user with plenty of information on the dial. Legibility was also a major concern hence there were white hands and indexes on a black dial. However, on this new iteration the brand have reversed the colourway, resulting in a refreshingly clean look. And not only this, the brand have also added a stand-out ‘Speedmaster’ name in red, right under the brand logo at 12 o’clock, and given the entire surface a glossy lacquered finish—a first for the Moonwatch’s step dial.

The question that many would ask, why white? According to the brand, the ‘primary inspiration for this new look is the white and black colours of astronaut spacesuits—especially those used during extravehicular activity (EVA), such as spacewalks’. This is quite an organic association since the Speedmaster Moonwatch has been officially worn by NASA astronauts since 1965, apart from being the ‘first watch to land on the Moon’. The colour red also plays a major significance as red lines were featured on the suits since the Apollo 13 mission in 1970 to signify the commander’s rank.

Apart from this, Omega had also created the ‘Alaska I’ prototype in 1969, which was a part of their secret NASA project to design the perfect space watch. For this the brand had chosen white since the shade offers a ‘particularly effective thermal reflection coefficient’. Also, the Speedmaster name in red is a nod to the removable anodised aluminium outer red case or cover that protected the original Alaska I watch by acting like a thermal shield. This was also the first watch prototype that was cased in pure titanium and the white dial served as a perfect medium to reflect the heat.

The primary inspiration for this new look is the white and black colours of astronaut spacesuits—especially those used during extravehicular activity (EVA), such as spacewalks

The dial features the small seconds sub-dial at nine o’clock, the 30-minute counter at three o’clock, and the 12-hour sub-dial at six o’clock, along with the central chronograph function

The new Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch comes in a 42mm stainless-steel case and is presented on a comfortable and vintage-inspired stainless-steel bracelet with five arched links per row. It’s also available in two more versions—one with a black micro-perforated leather strap with red and white stitching; the other one presented on an anti-bacterial black rubber strap for increased comfort on the wrist. From a design perspective, the brand has not changed much, save for the new dial hue, as it would be almost blasphemous to tamper with an icon. Thus one finds the signature black anodised aluminium bezel replete with the famous ‘Dot over Ninety’ on the tachymeter scale. On the dial one can see the small seconds sub-dial at nine o’clock, the 30-minute counter at three o’clock, and the 12-hour sub-dial positioned at six o’clock, along with the central chronograph function.

It is driven by the highly precise co-axial Master Chronometer calibre 3861—an up-to-date version of the legendary calibre 321 that powered the first Moonwatch. This manual-winding movement is resistant to magnetic fields reaching 15,000 gauss, and offers a 50-hour power reserve.