If there’s one watch that deserves a moon-phase indicator, it has to be the one that (literally) went there first: The legendary Omega Speedmaster “Moonwatch.” Omega presented at Baselworld 2016 a Caliber 9904-based version (which means it will be a certified Master Chronometer, one of six new Master Chronometer calibers the brand has introduced this year) of its classic chronograph watch, the Cheap Omega Replica Speedmaster, featuring a high-resolution image of the moon’s surface on its moon-phase display disk, a blue sunburst dial, and a blue liquidmetal bezel inlay.
Omega Replica Watches
If you look really closely at the photo-realistic moon (and in some of the photos below, taken at Omega Replica Watches presentation at Baselworld 2016), you might even be able to spot the tiny imprint of Buzz Aldrin’s astronaut boot — the first footprint on the moon’s surface. The list price for the Omega Replica Speedmaster Moonphase is expected to be 9,400 Swiss Francs.
One of this year’s biggest watch-world stories is the 60th anniversary of the iconic Omega Speedmaster Replica Watches. In this series of feature articles, we explore some of the collection’s milestones, decade by decade. This week, we look at models starting with the very first Speedmaster in 1957, up to the legendary Mark II and Alaska I prototype from 1969.
Omega Replica Watches
1957: The “Broad Arrow”
The very first Omega Speedmaster was nicknamed the “Broad Arrow” due to its distinctive hands. It was also the first chronograph wristwatch in the world with its tachymeter scale on the bezel rather than printed on the dial — a feature designed with race car drivers in mind. Perhaps the most coveted of all the Cheap Omega Replica, it heralded many other collectible models to come.
Cheap Omega Replica
1959: The First Omega in Space
The second version of the Speedmaster is distinguished from the original “Broad Arrow” by its use of a black aluminum bezel, its “lollipop” seconds hand for Air Force orders, and its “Alpha”-style hour and minute hands. The model became the first Omega watch worn in space, on the wrist of astronaut Walter Schirra, on October 3, 1962. Schirra chose the Speedmaster as his personal watch on the Sigma 7 mission of the Mercury program. The Omega Replica Watches space legacy had begun.
Omega Replica
1963: The Third Generation, NASA-Tested and -Qualified
The third-generation Omega Speedmaster was the first watch to pass NASA’s rigorous testing for flight qualification. A number of other watch brands submitted timepieces for testing, but only the Speedmaster survived. This watch was worn by astronauts on the Gemini and Apollo missions, and would also become, interestingly, the last one worn on the moon in 1972. 1964: A.C.P. (Automovil Club Peruano)
Hearkening back to the Speedmaster’s origins as an auto racing watch, this rare model was specially ordered by the Automovil Club Peruano, based in Lima, Peru. The tachymeter scale on the bezel was intended for timing laps on the racetrack. With an order of just 50 pieces, and identified by the A.C.P lettering on the dial, this model is extremely hard to find and thus very prized among collectors.When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface in 1969, this Omega Replica model became the first watch ever worn on the moon. It has also become the watch that has served on the most lunar missions. The watch was the first Speedmaster with the now-recognizable, asymmetrical case, a design that was meant to provide added protection for the crown and pushers. The word “Professional” was also added to the dial for the first time in this model.
Cheap Omega Replica
1968: Speedmaster with Racing Dial
The origins of the rare Racing Dial model are still shrouded in mystery, but it is generally accepted that the bicolor minute markers and orange hands and logo were created to make the dial’s chronograph displays easier to read. This Cheap Replica Watches particular model has inspired subsequent editions throughout the years, including a limited-edition series which was released in Japan in 2014.Speaking of Japan, this rare piece, distinguished by its orange seconds hand, is renowned for appearing in the Japanese science fiction TV show “The Return of Ultraman” in 1971. The creator of the Ultraman series, Eiji Tsuburaya, was known for including interesting watches in his productions, and this very collectible Speedmaster is no exception. It is unknown how many genuine pieces still exist.
Omega Replica Watches
1969: The Speedmaster Mark II
The Speedmaster Mark II signaled the first redesign of Omega’s popular chronograph. Created in 1969, it extended the Cheap Omega Replica line with a brand new look and was available in stainless steel, 18K gold, or gold-capped versions with various dial and timing scale combinations. The Mark II, with its barrel-shaped case and enhanced readability, was also the first Omega Replica Watches that did not use a hesalite crystal. “Alaska” was Omega’s chosen codename for all of its top-secret projects that involved NASA. To meet the demands of the extreme temperatures of space, the “Alaska I” prototype had a removable anodized aluminum outer case — referred to as a “thermal shield” — and a pure titanium inner case, making it the first wristwatch in the world to be cased in pure titanium. The white dial was added to better reflect the heat of the sun.
It was 1970, in the midst of an era that delighted in unusual shapes and bright colors, when Cheap Omega Replica first released the attention-getting Seamaster Professional 600m, nicknamed the Ploprof. The watch, designed in collaboration with the French industrial diving company Comex, was conceived for professional use: the name “Ploprof” stands for plongeurs professionels, or professional divers. While Omega emphasized its functions, the model perfectly suited the styles of the 1970s, with a gigantic and unusually shaped case, a red button to unlock the divers’ bezel, a bright orange strap and a minute hand of the same color.
The Ploprof achieved fame in the wake of the spectacular underwater missions in which it participated. The most important of these was the Janus Program, with which Comex tested saturation diving for the Elf petroleum company. Three divers manned a pressured chamber 200 meters below the surface of the Gulf of Ajaccio, off Corsica, for eight consecutive days, during which they worked on the seafloor at 250 meters’ depth for up to six hours each day, setting a new depth record. Rolex at this time was experimenting with the helium valve, which it used for the first time in the Sea-Dweller in 1971, but Omega Replica Watches pursued a different strategy with its Ploprof: the case was constructed and insulated so that helium atoms couldn’t penetrate it during the saturation dive, preventing the danger of explosion during the subsequent decompression.
Omega Replica Watches
The new Ploprof, which debuted in 2009, looks very similar to its predecessor, but several differences become apparent at a second glance. The original had a one-piece case with a crystal applied under extremely high pressure and secured by a screwed ring, while the new model’s case has a separate caseback. An applied, pressure-fit cover is affixed to the case by a screwed-on ring. The old caseback was adorned only with a striped pattern, but the new one has both stripes and the Omega Replica Seamaster line’s seahorse icon in raised relief.Minor changes have also been made on the dial. The date is no longer located at the 3 o’clock position but has been shifted to 4:30. A luminous index now occupies that space at 3 o’clock, adding to the dial’s very symmetrical appearance. The luminous indices on the new model are applied and polished, which makes the dial look much more valuable than it had looked with the old lacquered indices. The same is true for the stainless-steel button that unlocks the bezel. It is surrounded by an orange, anodized aluminum ring, which replaces the old model’s rubber ring. The combination not only looks better, but it’s also significantly harder.
The result is very attractive, indeed. The time display and the divers’ bezel are both legible day and night. The dive scale, with numerals and a triangle, glows just as brightly as the hour hand, the minute hand and the indices on the dial. Even the seconds hand has a luminous rectangle so that its motion can be seen underwater to confirm that the Cheap Omega Replica is still running. Because of this combination of features, the Ploprof satisfies industrial diver’s watch standards DIN 8306 and ISO 6425, which many other so-called divers’ watches do not.
Cheap Omega Replica
Another alteration simplifies the operation. The rectangular crown on the original Ploprof had been set flush with its protector; the wearer had to turn a screw in front of the protector to operate the crown. Also, the crown’s shape made it somewhat difficult to turn when resetting the hands. The Omega Replica Watches modern system is much more user-friendly: when screwed outward, the front part of the closed protector moves along with the crown, which is easy to grasp and to turn.
