The classic Omega Replica Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch with hand-wound caliber 1861 was finally shot to the moon at the beginning of 2024. Omega rattled its saber and confidently announced the new Speedy with “one of the biggest news in the watch industry for 2024”.
A new Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch is nothing spectacular in itself – the people of Biel know pretty well how to keep the Moonwatch myth alive with limited editions (e.g. with the Omega Snoopy Speedmaster). The last update of the faithful, timelessly classic “standard” Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch was actually quite a while ago and was essentially limited to a new, oversized box with all sorts of accessories. Of course, there was still a significant price increase. That was in 2014. Omega actually left the classic Moonwatch untouched for over six years – the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer is apparently aware that you should only “touch” a cash cow with great care.
Well, in January 2024 the time has come: the brand new Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch (new ref. 310.30.42.50.01.001 plus other variants) is getting an extensive update, and at the same time the old Speedmaster Moonwatch with the caliber 1861 is finally history. This announcement – no joke – caused the Omega website servers to burn down at short notice.
The good news: The Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch, which was worn on the wrist of Buzz Aldrin while walking on the lunar surface in 1969, is still available in its classic, true-to-original form with a hand-wound caliber and hesalite crystal – for a reasonably acceptable price ( at least compared to the significantly more expensive Moonwatch with a column wheel caliber 321 that was launched in 2020).
The bad news: As expected, Omega has once again tightened the price screw. The new “standard” Speedmaster has a price increase of over 20% due to the movement upgrade (caliber 3861, Master Chronometer, Co-Axial escapement) (new list price €6,100 with Hesalite or €7,000 with sapphire crystal, respectively on a steel band) – that’s quite a statement.
A good reason for a snapshot: In this article we look at the evolution from the first Omega Speedmaster in ’57 to the brand new Moonwatch with caliber 3861 in 2024.
The story behind the Moonwatch is extremely exciting: Even though the nickname “Moonwatch” belongs firmly to the Omega Speedmaster Professional, the chronograph classic was not originally intended to be NASA’s official space watch. And yet NASA astronauts quickly realized that the Omega Speedmaster was made for the harsh space conditions – Wally Schirra, one of the first astronauts in human history, for example, wore an Omega Speedmaster on the Mercury-Atlas 8 space mission. Curious: Schirra’s Omega Speedmaster was actually a purely private purchase and not approved by NASA. Only years later did the Omega Speedmaster Professional become the official “flight qualified for all manned space missions” watch, which was also worn on the moon by Buzz Aldrin…