Omega has just unveiled the 50th anniversary edition of one of its most iconic watches, the Omega Speedmaster. 2019 was always going to be a big year for Omega as we were all expecting something special to come from the headquarters in Bienne to celebrate 50 years of Speedmaster Moonwatch.
The face of the watch is worthy of a 50 year anniversary edition. Omega has used three colours to achieve a beautiful contrasting aesthetic appeal packed into a 42mm case. The dial has a smooth grey finish with black sub-dials. A black track spans along the edge of the dial where the hours and minute markers are located. The applied hour markers and the sub-dial engravings are done in Omega’s 18k Moonshine gold to provide an eye-catching black and gold “contrast” effect. If you step back and look at the overall face, it almost resembles the “moon” with the inner grey circle on dial representing the outline of the moon and the sub-dials being the craters. Either this is what Omega intended, or we are looking too much into it!
The main focal point on the dial is the 9 o’clock sub-dial. There is a laser engraved image of the Astronaut Buzz Aldrin taking his first step on the lunar surface. This is to commemorate Apollo 11’s moon landing in 1969. The laser engraving along with the bezel has also been done in 18K Moonshine gold. Another slight feature is also the 11 o’clock index, which has been done in Arabic numeral to pay tribute to Apollo 11’s iconic mission number.
The movement powering the Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th anniversary limited edition is Omega’s in-house Master Chronometer calibre 3861. The calibre powers the hours and minutes along with the sub-dials and chronograph functions. The calibre 3861 produces a power reserve of up-to 48hours. The standout feature of this movement is that it is Master Chronometer Certified (METAS). Omega spent up to four years designing and developing this calibre so that all the specifications for a Master Chronometer Certification could be met.
This iconic timepiece will be limited to 6969 pieces, which in itself is a reference to Apollo 11’s year of moon landing in1969
