A watchmaker with over a century of heritage, Omega has stood witness to several eminent chapters in mankind’s history. The most significant landmark has been its presence on the moon alongside the first humans landing on it. This historic feat earned Omega the moniker of the crafters of the ‘Moonwatch’, and to this date, astronauts prefer to carry the Speedmaster timepieces by the Swiss watchmaker on their space explorations.
To commemorate 55 years of Apollo 8, the first human spaceflight to orbit the moon and return to Earth, Omega announced a new edition of the watchmaker’s popular Speedmaster Dark Side Of The Moon model in 2023. It finally arrived in January 2024.
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However, this is not the only Moonwatch variant that Omega has come up with. The moniker of ‘Moonwatch’ became so popular since the Apollo 11 mission that the watchmaker eventually revisited the model that travelled to the Moon and launched a remastered edition of the same in the 2000s. Today, there is an entire series of Moonwatches for horologists and aficionados to choose from. Each of these timepieces pays tribute to NASA’s moon exploration missions over the years.
So, on that note, we bring to you a list of the best Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches of all time, curated in the order of their release dates.
Looking at the 10 best Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches of all time
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional (1969)
How can we start off a list of the best Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches in order of their releases without mentioning the original ‘Moonwatch’? Before it gained popularity as the ‘Moonwatch’, the Omega Speedmaster Professional was looked at as a pioneering timepiece in terms of its durability.
Allow us to indulge you with a small anecdote. Before the Apollo 11 mission of 1969, NASA’s procurement division sought out watchmakers to craft a timepiece that could meet the exact specifications needed to survive a trip to space. Four brands, namely Rolex, Longines, Hamilton and Omega, submitted watches for consideration.
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After a series of rigorous endurance tests, it was seen that Omega’s watch, although not completely immune to the extremities, performed the best. The functioning of its chronograph was enough for NASA to give Omega a seal of approval, but not before suggesting amendments to the timepiece.
Omega incorporated the necessary adjustments, and it gave birth to the Speedmaster Professional that astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin had on their wrists when they became the first humans to land on the moon.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo Soyuz Meteorite Dial (2010)
To commemorate the historic moment when American astronaut Thomas P. Stafford and Russian cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov shook hands in space in 1975, Omega introduced a limited edition Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo Soyuz model.
This timepiece bears a ‘piece of space’, for the dial and the subdials are made from slices of a meteorite. The caseback features two spacecrafts from both the United States of America (USA) and the erstwhile Soviet Union (USSR), along with the names of the astronauts and cosmonauts involved.
Besides the design elements, the watch sported the calibre 1861 made with a corrosion-resistant rhodium-plating. In addition, the hands on the meteorite dial were also rhodium-plated. The unique dial was protected by a sapphire clear casing.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 17 40th Anniversary (2012)
Speaking of unique dials, if we had to hand out an award for the best dial on an Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch, the Apollo 17 40th Anniversary would be a serious contender. As the name suggests, the timepiece commemorated the final lunar mission by NASA in December 1972.
The watch sported a 925 silver dial embossed with the same design as the Apollo 17 patch. A small seconds dial, a 30-minute recorder and a 12-hour recorder adorned the main dial along with a central chronograph hand.
Under the hood, the timepiece came with Omega’s mechanical calibre 1861 which works on a manual-winding movement. The watch has a 42-millimetre stainless steel case and was released as a limited edition model with only 1,972 pieces put up for sale.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch White Side Of The Moon (2013)
While many can be heard making airy remarks such as “I will bring the moon for you”, Omega actually managed to bring the moon on your wrists — or at least the essence of it. According to the watchmaker, the Speedmaster Moonwatch White Side Of The Moon is not inspired by the astronauts’ view of the moon in space, but rather the radiance of the celestial body as seen from Earth.
The dial of the timepiece is made out of white zirconium oxide ceramic and sports white gold hands and applied indexes. The 44.25-millimetre body comes with a white ceramic case, a polished white ceramic bezel with a matt chromium nitride tachymeter scale, and polished ceramic pushers.
There was also a second variant of the White Side Of The Moon timepiece, with 74 diamonds set in Pt850 platinum Liquidmetal, but the all-ceramic model was cleaner and more elegant to look at.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 11 45th Anniversary Titanium (2014)
To commemorate the 45th anniversary of humans landing on the moon for the first time, Omega revisited its signature Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional and tweaked it a bit to launch an Apollo 11 45th Anniversary model. This model retained all of the functional features of the original ‘Moonwatch’ but with modern design aesthetics.
The 42-millimetre watch came with a titanium case and a unique grey-coloured dial, which was inspired by lunar dust. The hands and the indexes sported golden features made of Sedna gold which highlighted its minimalist look. The timepiece came with the timeless calibre 1861 under the hood.
In addition, the caseback featured an engraving of the Apollo 11 mission patch and inscriptions about the historic mission. This model rightfully deserves its place on the list of the best Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches of all time in order of their releases.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 17 45th Anniversary (2017)
Omega decided to revisit the Apollo 17 mission on its 45th anniversary. With an iconic dial on the 40th-anniversary limited edition watch, many watch aficionados thought that it would be impossible for Omega to match the suave of the timepiece from five years back. And yet, somehow, the watchmaker did it with its minimalist design choice.
The 42-millimetre timepiece fashioned a stainless steel case and a blue dial, which represented the lunar surface. This unique dial caught the eye of several watch enthusiasts because of its artistic depiction of the Apollo 17 mission badge.
Under the hood, the special edition watch was fitted with the signature manual-winding calibre 1861 chronograph. The timepiece was complete with engravings on the caseback commemorating the Apollo 17 mission, including the date and the words “Last Man on the Moon”.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Limited Edition (2019)
The tradition to commemorate mankind’s historic landing on the moon continued with Apollo 11’s 50th anniversary. By this time, Omega had completely shifted to using minimalist design elements, and this watch was no different.
This model featured a stainless steel case with a polished Moonshine gold bezel. The black dial sported a small laser-engraved image of Buzz Aldrin climbing down onto the lunar surface. The hands and markers, made of Moonshine gold, were coated with Super-LumiNova, a photoluminescent which aids with better visibility in the dark.
The watch is powered by the co-axial master chronometer calibre 3861, a manual winding movement that offers high resistance to magnetic movements.
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However, the most interesting detail was on the timepiece’s caseback, which was embellished with a laser-engraved footprint of Buzz Aldrin, and carried the celebrated quote by Neil Armstrong: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” It is this interesting caseback that solidifies the timepiece’s position in the pantheon of the best Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches in order of their releases.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Moonshine Gold (2019)
This limited-edition watch, which was a part of the Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 11 50th Anniversary series, mirrored the aforementioned limited-edition model in several ways. The most significant point of distinction is the 18-carat Moonshine gold case instead of the stainless steel one in the limited edition timepiece.
To make the markers and the hands distinctly visible on the Moonshine gold dial, Omega opted for polished black onyx, which gave the watch a sleek, elegant look.
The watch was powered by the co-axial master chronometer calibre 3861. The caseback had a range of engravings, starting from the Apollo 11 badge to the words “The First Watch Worn On The Moon”.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 11 50th Anniversary ‘Silver Snoopy’ (2019)
This edition of the Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 11 50th Anniversary series takes a leaf from Omega’s history in a post-Apollo 11 world when the NASA astronauts bestowed the watchmaker with the ‘Silver Snoopy Award’ in 1970. Although it retains the functional features of its other two variants, this particular timepiece looked funkier than the rest of the Moonwatches.
While the 42-millimetre watch comes with a stainless steel case, the strap is made of blue nylon fabric. The silver dial had blue PVD angle-shaped hour markers and hands, and an embossed Snoopy medallion (from the Peanuts comic strip) on the blue subdial at nine o’clock.
The limited-edition timepiece was powered by the co-axial master chronometer calibre 3861 and came with a blue ceramic bezel ring with a white enamel tachymeter scale.
Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 8 Dark Side Of The Moon (2024)
Rounding off the list of the best Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches in order of their releases is its latest offering to date, the Apollo 8 Dark Side Of The Moon. The timepiece commemorates 55 years of Apollo 8, the first human spaceflight to orbit the moon and return to Earth. It was the crew of Apollo 8 that saw the unexplored, or the ‘dark side of the moon’ for the first time in the history of mankind, and hence the name of the watch.
The model portrays both the near and the far side of the moon. While the near side can be seen through the skeletonised black anodised aluminium dial, the latter is visible through the clear caseback.
Under the hood, the timepiece houses the co-axial master chronometer calibre 3869, which offers the highest standard of precision in any Omega Speedmaster model. In addition, the mechanical movement, which is visible through the skeletonised dial and the clear caseback, features a laser-ablated moon relief on the blackened main plate and bridges. It is the laser engraving that, coupled with the contrasting surfaces, gives a more defined look to the portrayal of the moon surfaces.
At the nine o’clock position, the small hand in grade V titanium is shaped like NASA’s Saturn V rocket. The 3D structure of the miniature rocket is obtained by laser turning. The timepiece is presented on a perforated black rubber strap with a yellow rubber interior.
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(Main and Featured Images Credits: Courtesy Omega)
