Omega’s Newest Speedmasters Are Built for Awards Season
Colman Domingo has long been one of the best-dressed guys on the red carpet, but since becoming an official Omega “friend of the brand” last year, he has managed to level up his accessory game significantly. Before Domingo and Omega hard-launched their relationship in December, there had been signs that something was blossoming when he wore an $160,000 off-menu Canopus gold Speedmaster to vie for the best actor prize at the Oscars. Then, a few months later, he accented his custom Valentino Met Gala fit with a yet-unreleased Speedmaster model—a privilege previously reserved for the likes of longtime Omega pal Daniel Craig. After months of speculation (and two days after he sported a bejewelled 38mm Speedy to the Golden Globes), we can now confirm that Domingo’s secret Met Gala Speedmaster is one of two Moonwatch Professional models with white-on-black dials that dropped today.
The newest additions to the extended Speedmaster universe are two 42mm Speedmaster Moonwatches, one in steel and the other in 18-karat Moonshine Gold (Omega’s proprietary yellow gold alloy), each with the distinctive combination of white counters against a black dial and bezel.
Lens Position: 1265Courtesy of Omega
Courtesy of Omega
The Moonwatch Professional is, as every Speedy fan knows, the purist’s choice, with a look that hews closely to that of the 1965 chronographs approved by NASA to accompany its Apollo astronauts into space. This includes a “step dial” with a slightly recessed outer ring, a “Dot Over Ninety” (DON in Speedy-speak) on the tachymetre scale bezel, and a five-link bracelet. It also includes a manual-winding movement, since automatic chronograph wristwatches hadn’t been invented in 1965.
Like most new Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional models, of course, these ones have been tweaked both aesthetically and technologically to bring them up to 21st-century standards. This includes the addition of a box-form scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective treatment, a feature that looks much like the vintage hesalite crystals found on the originals, but offers superior performance. The Speedmasters’ bracelets, meanwhile, have been upgraded with the addition of Omega’s patented comfort release adjustment system that allows for tool-free adjustment—a feature that Aldrin, Armstrong, and their crewmates would surely have appreciated. And of course, there’s the aforementioned movement, Omega’s Master Chronometer Calibre 3861, which has been certified to the Swiss watch industry’s highest standard of precision, performance, and magnetic resistance.
