“When I first looked back at Earth from the Moon, I Cried.” – Alan Shepard
When I was in elementary school I had a tent in the shape of a space shuttle that fit over my bed. My mom made me a shiny white astronaut costume for Halloween, and in my room I had a basic computer that my Dad built me out of spare parts from GE R&D (mission control). I remember top fake Omega watches Challenger explode on a wheeled-in TV while sitting in my classroom. I was stunned, too upset to process it.
My father is a PhD, an engineer, a physicist, and an aerospace enthusiast. You could say I was pre-programmed, or rather pre-enthused to look up at the night sky and wonder. Our family fascination with space naturally carried over to fiction such as Star Wars and Star Trek.
Watch brands love to capitalize on nostalgia. Omega has done it so well that they have not only been able to market the Speedmaster Professional “Moonwatch” to my father’s generation (who watched the Moon landing live in 1969), but they are continuing to ride the wave of enthusiasm through their now-adult children.
The emotion runs so strong that Omega is able to charge a hefty premium for a product that is downright mediocre by modern luxury watch standards. You’re probably thinking, “But it’s supposed to feel vintage.” You’re correct, but the luxury cheap replica Omega watches with an MSRP of $6,350 USD (Sapphire Sandwich on bracelet) need to be more than mediocre in the details.
Picking up the Omega Speedmaster Professional, do you feel like you’re holding at six-thousand dollar watch? No. You don’t even have to go outside Omega’s own catalog to figure it out. Handle a Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch next to an Aqua Terra Co-Axial Master Chronometer and you’ll get it. They are very different replica watches UK. What you need to pay attention to is the finishing on the cases and other minor details. Running your fingers around the curved lugs to the flanks of the Speedmaster Professional, the unexceptional case finishing will be apparent. The price point will become questionable not only to other watches from Omega, but again as you evaluate options form competing brands.
One of the easiest ways to tell the approximate age of a Speedmaster Professional is by the bracelet (assuming that the watch is still married to the original). Let’s assume that we are dealing with a modern Moonwatch: Super-Luminova, no tritium, 1861 movement, etc. You could have three bracelets that look similar but are very different. Look closely at the listing before you buy pre-owned. The oldest has a stamped pressure clasp and pins. The more modern has a milled clasp and pins. The current bracelet has a milled clasp and screws. However, Omega botched it.
Simple changes could have made all of the difference. There are only two micro-adjustments on the clasp. It’s one small set up from “one size fits all”. It can be infuriating while struggling to size the watch that you just paid $6000 for. Perhaps the most egregious of all poor decisions was putting screws on both sides of the removable links. This leaves a floating pin in the tube of the center link. The lack of bracelet detail refinement on the third (current) generation is not OK for the iconic modern luxury review fake watches. For instance, the 20mm Speedmaster Professional bracelet is actually a three-link with small, milled, and polished parts for the center link. The 19mm Speedmaster Racing bracelet is a true five-piece link. Smoke and mirrors should not get a pass with a $6,000 watch.
The popular bracelet mod is to order parts from the Omega Planet Ocean. Two saddle links (118ST1589) and one clasp (117STZ001154) will make you a few hundred dollars poorer and give you the same on-the-fly micro-adjustability of a Rolex Glidelock clasp. The Speedmaster Professional should come this way out of the box. That added value and refinement would have a minimal aesthetic impact while delivering true value to the customer.
Some complications are useful. Some are not. The tachymètre scale on the bezel serves no practical purpose in the modern area. It’s more of a distraction at the track than a tool. Have you ever tried to use it on the highway? I have and it works, but it’s in no way useful. For sports, are you really going to use a mechanical chronograph while trying to achieve a personal-best 5K time? Realistically, in a fitness scenario, you’ll be using a G-Shock, Apple Watch, or your phone. The sad truth is that chronographs don’t work really great as “egg timers”. The dive perfect copy Omega watches with a minute-scale on the rotating bezel is better.
However, the uselessness of the complication gives us the near-perfect dial of the Speedmaster Professional. It’s so balanced both in positive and negative space that it stands in elite company with other dial royalty, such as the Patek 5711 and the “two-liner” Submariner. The chalk-white hands over a matte blackboard put the Speedmaster Professional at the top of the legibility list.
Do any of those items add real value to the users’ wearing experience? Most often the answer is “no”. I’m not one to sit at home handling trinkets. I want to be out there enjoying the watch while living my life. There is a perceived value between full-kit vs watch only. Preying on the completion mindset of collectors, the full sets will always command a hefty premium in the pre-owned market. Don’t feel the need for a “full kit” because you plan on keeping the Speedmaster forever? If you are unsure, get a pre-owned full set. Either way, demand is always high and you can easily re-sell a Moonwatch for what you bought it for. I have a hunch that Omega will attempt to tighten up the grey market and AD discounting to chase Rolex’s coattails. It won’t be a vague waitlist scenario, just closer to retail in the future. This is a great time to give in to emotion and pull the Speedmaster trigger.
What may surprise you is that I own and adore two Speedmasters, and one of them are the replica watches that I’ve just spent many paragraphs telling you offers bad value via emotionally manipulation. That’s because my connection to this watch is – like so many others – purely emotional. However, the Speedmaster reminds me of my Dad just as much as it reminds me of the Moon landing. Maybe that’s the point. The Speedmaster is a symbol of a generation that was the apex of analog technology. Those peak analog technologies paved the way for decades of digital innovation.C
I love the Winter Olympics. Nothing would tug at my heart more than timing Olympic bobsledding runs in person with a Speedmaster Professional. Not because Omega is the “Official Time Keeper”, but because the analog measurement of analog racing makes sense. Alas, it’s too niche and Omega will shy from the black and white in favor of brightly colored limited editions to commentate each Olympic Games. Moon-marketing has a much broader reach.
A generation or two later from the Moon landing, people’s emotions still run just as high for an antiquated tool of the analog era. The Omega Speedmaster Professional is deemed worthy of its existence by the enthusiasts and journalists alike. My Moonwatch arrived midway through working on this article. Despite my critiques, I’m not above the price of emotion. There’s no shame in that, as long as you are willing to acknowledge it.