Posts Tagged ‘Speedmaster’
Oman Khanjar 345.0022 Omega Speedmaster
This 345.0022 is like finding out Dame Helen Mirren loved acting in the Fast and Furious and sought out the role deliberately, which is true. Or learning that Chinese takeout boxes unfold into a neat plate with the ball of noodle at its center. Or learning that David Attenborough makes a lovely foie gras. Okay,…
Read More‘Ultraman’ 145.012-67 Omega Speedmaster
At face value, this is just a 145.012 Speedy with an orange seconds hand. But that’s like calling a Hemi Orange 1969 Dodge Charger just a car; it’s not. That’s General Lee. And this is Ultraman. The Ultraman is the Speedmaster enthusiast’s Speedmaster, a watch that demonstrates how far scholarship can develop a market. Omega…
Read MoreTropical ‘Ed White’ 105.003-65 Omega Speedmaster
The Speedmaster is a perfectly executed chronograph with one of the most storied narrative arcs of any watch. But it’s a bit clinical in its precision. Utilitarian. Often, even a bit cold. I think through all the 861 Speedmasters of the early 90s with Luminova and solid backs. Each is an excellent watch. But I…
Read MoreScott Carpenter’s 145.022-69 BA Omega Speedmaster
It was bound to happen eventually, we have a third million-dollar Speedmaster on the market. There was the somewhat erroneous 3.4M tropical 2915-1 result from Phillips. Then, perhaps more understandably, Wally Schirra’s 145.022BA hammered at 1.9M from RR. Now, another actual astronaut’s personal watch. It’s not a coincidence Carpenter’s is the same gold reference and…
Read MoreBA 345.0802 Omega Speedmaster
Omega gave the world the 861 Speedmaster in 1968. Despite many loupe-carrying nerds decrying the changover from column wheel to cam switching, the movement proved so effective for Omega that it remained in production effectively unaltered until 1992. And even then, the change wasn’t huge moving the 1861. Effectively, you were getting a Lemania 1873…
Read More‘Red Racing’ 145.012-67 Omega Speedmaster
For those who worship at the altar of moonwatch, there’s a lot to learn. Good luck distinguishing a CB case from an HF. Same goes for a 105.002 from a 2998. This problem is made worse by the fact that Omega people are so keen to demonstrate themselves as in the inner circle that they’ll…
Read MorePulsations Bezel 105.003-65 ‘Ed White’ Omega Speedmaster
For every mission that rockets up to the ISS, NASA appoints one Flight Surgeon. This role is given to an MD and requires the oversight of health care or any medical issues that arise, known as the ‘personal doctor to the astronauts’. To be able to credibly call yourself a space doctor, that’s a title…
Read MoreMoonshine Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary
Historically speaking, when Omega gets it right, they get it really right. There have been solid gold Speedmasters before and there have been solid gold Speedmasters since. But the Apollo 10 50th, and BA145.022 it references, are surely high-water marks. I will always remember the first time I saw a BA145.022 in person at a…
Read More2915-2 Broad Arrow Omega Speedmaster
The first of everything is not necessarily best. The first Beatles album, Please Please Me, comes nowhere close to Abbey Road. The Porsche 911 began as a VW Beetle. Mead comes nowhere close to an 18 year old sherry-casked Yamazaki. But Omega’s Speedmaster is one of the exceptional cases where everything was perfect from the…
Read More‘Ed White’ 105.003-63 Omega Speedmaster
In 1965, Ed White became the first American astronaut to walk in space. Needless to say, he is a hero. But he was so much more: an aeronautical engineer, USAF Officer, fighter pilot, crewmember of Gemini IV and Apollo I. He puts my entire life, and likely yours, to shame. Mr White tragically passed in…
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