The Omega Speedmaster line is about much more than the famous Moonwatch, of course, and it’s not all that rare for Omega to riff on the chronograph collection’s styles. Now the Speedmaster’s familiar silhouette gets a quite distinct new look with retro-informed “snail” dials in the form of the new Chronoscope. It’s a look you probably haven’t seen from the brand in a while.
Read More
The most notable feature of the new watches is the multiple scales on their dials. This type of dial is found on pocket watches from the 1800s and later on wristwatches by Omega and others, particularly around the 1930s and ’40s. While many such watches offered a single scale in a spiral shape, the Chronoscope has multiple scales arranged on concentric circles.
It’s kind of an eyeful, so here’s what’s going on: There are three different kinds of scales you’re looking at: A tachymeter on the bezel is used for measuring speed between 60 and 450 miles per hour (or kilometers or other units) based on a known distance — this is very common on chronograph watches, including the Moonwatch. The Chronoscope, however, extends the tachymeter’s utility for speeds between 20 and 59 with the dial’s innermost two circles.
Moving outward, the next circle is a pulsometer, for measuring a heart rate; and the next ring is a telemeter scale, used for measuring distance based on sound (like the distance of a storm based on the time between seeing lightning and hearing thunder). Then, there’s a decorative circle around it all. People like chronograph watches in part because they’re captivatingly technical looking with all their scales and buttons, and this kind of design doubles down on that appeal. At the same time, however, it leans toward a classical aesthetic with its thin lines and vintage nods.
Otherwise, this is a very modern Omega chronograph. It’s got a somewhat boldly sized 43mm-wide case with the Speedmaster collection’s well-known lines and proportions, and it’s powered by a manually wound version of Omega’s cal. 9900 (automatic) movement dubbed the cal. 9908, with 60 hours of power reserve. It’s visible through a display case back and beautifully decorated in a manner that’s new for the brand, featuring “Geneva waves in arabesque” that radiate from the balance wheel.