Posts Tagged ‘Speedmaster’
‘Green DON Bezel’ 2998-3 Omega Speedmaster
A childhood hero of mine, by the name of James May, used to famously spend his summers between doing Top Gear making shit documentaries learning about wine. He was accompanied by storied wine critic Oz Clarke and would drive around France in an attempt to be educated, but mostly an excuse to drink daily. In…
Read More‘Soleil’ Blue Metallic Dial 105.003-65 Omega Speedmaster
This is what’s called a Soleil dial, and unless you’ve been collecting Speedmasters for a few years you probably won’t have ever come across one. Even if you have, chances of seeing one in the metal are slim. It’s a steely-blue metallic and is one of just a handful of small production dials from the…
Read More‘Ed White’ 105.003 Omega Speedmaster
I don’t understand much of modern Omega. Maybe I’m a cynic. But one glance at their website shows Eddie Redmayne trying to look like a grown-up with an orange Aqua Terra that was clearly inspired by an Oyster Perpetual. The once storied De Ville line now seems like a miscellaneous catch-all, flipping from passé to…
Read MoreBA 145.022-69 Omega Speedmaster
This is just a Speedmaster in the same way that Daniels was just a watchmaker; true, but it sort of isn’t, because it’s so much more than that. The BA 145.022 was not just the first solid gold Speedmaster, but intersects with actual space history much more significantly than just about anything else post-moon landing.…
Read More‘Speedymoon’ 345.0809 Omega Speedmaster Moonphase
Earlier this week, friend of Hairspring Robert-Jan Broer of Fratello wrote a fantastic piece on the Speedmaster Moonphase and all its iterations, which I’ve always felt is one of the most attractive flavors of Speedmaster. Something about the additional layer of vertical symmetry and light sprinkling of complication elevates the watch for me. Where it…
Read MoreOman 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…
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