Most Popular Omega Watches Comparison Guide
When Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in 1969 to start their journey to land the first humans on the Moon, the three astronauts were prepared with NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster Professional chronographs. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface, quickly followed by Buzz Aldrin – Michael Collins flew the Command Module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while his two crew members were on the lunar surface. And when Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the Moon, he had his Omega Speedmaster Professional strapped to the exterior of his spacesuit. After that, the Speedmaster became famous all over the world as the “Moonwatch.”
While, since the Speedmaster is now such a varied collection of different replica watches, the models known as Moon watches are the direct descendants of the watches worn by the Apollo 11 astronauts. Like their predecessors, the modern Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch models are stainless steel chronographs with 42mm cases, black tachymeter bezels, black dials, and hand-wound movements. The cases of the Moonwatch professionals are asymmetric, characterized by twisted lugs and crown guards.
Today, Omega gives the choice of Hesalite crystals (like the vintage versions) or modern scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, along with the choice of a matching steel bracelet or black leather strap. Apart from that, those Moonwatch models with sapphire crystals on the dial-side also have sapphire on the display case back for a view of the movement inside. Current production Moon watches run on Caliber 1861 (or the derivative, Caliber 1863, for the exhibition case back versions), which is distinguished from the original Caliber 321 that powered the original Speedmaster Professional fake watches that went to the moon.
One thing you can’t neglect here, it must be noted that Omega did revive the famed Caliber 321 movement in 2019 and has used it across some particular Speedmaster editions but not the regular production Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch 42 models – yet.
However, next time, we will talk about the main design specs between the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch vs. Speedmaster ’57. These specs apply to the regular-production models and not the particular limited-edition versions.