BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Omega’s Speedmaster is one of the most iconic watches of all time, but while the Moonwatch generally takes centre stage for that accolade (one it’s not undeserved of), there are plenty of other professions the Speedmaster caters to. Before the Speedmaster was ever the watch that went to the moon it was Omega’s racing chronograph. Another industry that the Speedmaster attracts is flight. Indeed, this new watch is based on a design from 1957.
Omega’s Speedmaster Pilot features a stainless steel case measuring precisely 40.85mm x 14.7mm with 100m of water resistance, presumably, so you’re covered if you have to ditch into the sea or a very large swimming pool.
The dial is the most interesting part featuring an array of aerospace-inspired things. The most prominent is the running seconds indicator, which appears to be a mix of targeting crosshairs and an artificial horizon indicator. Meanwhile, the chronograph’s minutes and hours indicators are stacked in the subdial at 3 O’clock and feature orange touches supposedly inspired by a “burn rate” indicator. I tried Googling that to see what one of those looked like and couldn’t find anything, so if there are any pilots out there reading this let me know what they look like!
Pilot’s style hands coated with plenty of lume make this watch look like the real deal without going too heavily into the “watches-that-look-like-gauges” theme. Leave that to Bell & Ross, I say, as they do it the best.
Anyway, inside the watch is the self-winding calibre 9900, which is one of Omega’s premier movements. It features a column wheel controller and Omega’s Co-Axial escapement, and it has a 60-hour power reserve with a 4Hz beat rate. This movement is also Master Chronometer certified, although you can’t see any of its chronometric goodness through the closed caseback.
Omega’s re-releases of things have been a little bit hit-and-miss when it comes to audience reception. I quite like this one, although I admit I’m not the target audience here. Readers who love Omegas will like this one, and those on the fence will probably be quite curious. The price is $9,500 USD excluding taxes.
