When Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins took off from the Kennedy Space Center in 1969 to begin their journey to land the first humans on the moon, the three astronauts were adorned with NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster Professional chronographs.
Decades ago, Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface, quickly followed by Buzz Aldrin—Michael Collins alone flew the Command Module Columbia into lunar orbit while his two crew members were on the lunar surface. And when Buzz Aldrin stepped on the moon, he strapped his Omega replica Speedmaster Professional to the outside of his spacesuit. Since then, the Speedmaster has become known around the world as the “Moonwatch”.
Because the Speedmaster is now such a diverse collection of different watches, the models known as Moonwatches 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 Moonwatch Professionals’ cases are asymmetrical and are characterized by twisted lugs and crown caps.
Today, replica Omega offers the option of Hesalite crystals or modern scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, along with the chance of a matching steel bracelet or black leather strap. In addition, those Moonwatch models with sapphire crystals on the dial also have sapphire on the caseback for a view of the movement within. Current production Moonwatches run on Caliber 1861, which is distinct from the original Caliber 321 that powered the original Speedmaster Professional watches that went to the moon.
We’ll find a quick overview of the key design specs between the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch vs. Speed Master ’57. These specifications apply to the regular production models and not to the unique limited edition versions.