Would the Omega Speedmaster Still Be an Icon If It Never Went to the Moon?

Omega is one of the most famous and successful watch brands in the world.

The reasons for this basically boil down to three long-running partnerships that, while very different on the surface, all serve to strengthen Omega’s reputation as a producer of some of the best sports watches and tool watches on the planet, if not beyond.

The first of these relationships is Omega’s status as the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games, a position it has held since the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Next is Omega’s position as the exclusive on-screen watch of James Bond, a sponsorship established 30 years ago in the 1995 blockbuster film Goldeneye.

Lastly, and most significantly, are Omega’s ties with NASA. The first Omega to make it into space was a Speedmaster reference CK 2998, the personal watch of US astronaut Walter Schirra, who wore it during Project Mercury’s Sigma 7 mission in 1962.

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Three years later, in 1965, the Speedmaster became the only watch to pass NASA’s testing and earn qualification for space flight.

As a NASA-issued tool, the Speedmaster Professional then made it to the moon on the wrist of Buzz Aldrin, when he and Neil Armstrong became the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

But what if it didn’t?

Since its fateful journey to the moon, the Speedmaster Professional has been known as the “Moonwatch,” and it remains Omega’s biggest claim to fame — an accessory to mankind’s greatest achievement of the 20th century, possibly ever.

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Had it not, though, would the Speedmaster still be an iconic watch? Or would the chronograph have been lost to time?

No one can say for certain, but there is one person whose opinion carries more weight on the subject than perhaps anyone else: Omega CEO Raynald Aeschlimann.

Marking a milestone

I recently visited Omega’s headquarters in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Speedmaster’s NASA qualification.

In the early days of NASA, the organization did not issue watches to its astronauts. It was only after requests from the astronauts themselves, who in those days were exclusively trained military pilots used to having a watch as a backup tool, that NASA decided it needed to issue mechanical watches to its flight crews.

NASA put out a call for “high-quality wrist-worn chronographs” to a number of watch brands, but just four submitted products for testing: Hamilton, Longines, Rolex and Omega.

For reasons unknown today, Hamilton submitted a pocket watch and was disqualified immediately. Watches from the other three brands were subjected to 11 rigorous tests conceived by NASA engineer James Ragan.

NASA

The Speedmaster reference ST 105.003 submitted by Omega was the only watch to pass every test, with the Longines and Rolex both failing during the high-temperature test.

Separately, Ragan gave all of the watches to astronauts to evaluate on their own without informing them of the test results. The astronauts unanimously chose the Speedmaster, clearing the path for Ragan to recommend the Omega for missions.

As a result, the Speedmaster Professional was the sole watch to earn NASA’s qualifications for manned space flight and extravehicular activity, and the rest, as they say, is history.

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When visiting Omega, it’s impossible to miss the importance of the brand’s connection to NASA and space exploration. A life-sized lunar lander replica greets you in front of the brand’s headquarters, and the most elaborate section of the fascinating on-site museum is dedicated to the Speedmaster and space travel.

During my visit, my colleagues and I were presented with some incredible watches that told the story of Omega’s, and America’s, history in space.

Some of these pieces, like President John F. Kennedy’s personal Omega watch, were on loan from the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. JFK kicked off the 1960s race to the moon with his famous “We choose to go to the Moon” speech in 1962.

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But the shadow of the Moonwatch looms large in Omega’s world, even if the name only tells half the story.

Stay grounded

The Omega Speedmaster wasn’t supposed to go to space. At least not initially.

The watch was originally created as a timekeeper for motorsports racing, and it debuted in 1957 as part of a trio of new tool watches from Omega.

The others were the Seamaster 300, the brand’s first professional dive watch, and the Railmaster, an anti-magnetic watch for railway workers and engineers.

The original Speedmaster was a chronograph, of course, and it was the first watch in the world to feature an external tachymeter bezel, which is used to calculate speed in conjunction with the bezel. Even the watch’s name, “Speedmaster,” alludes to its use as a racing tool.

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I brought up this fact during my interview with Mr. Aeschlimann when I asked him what he thought the Speedmaster’s legacy would be today had Omega not answered NASA’s call for chronographs 60 years ago.

“Oh, that’s a good question. I’ve never had this question,” Aeschlimann answered.

“I’m sure the iconic design would still be here,” he added. “There are very few chronographs on the market today that have created [this picture] in the human mind: ‘What is a chronograph watch?’ Or even for some, ‘What is a watch?'”

Aeschlimann went further, breaking down just what it is about the Speedmaster’s design that makes it the prototypical chronograph and one of the most recognizable watches in history.

Omega

“Every single kid you would ask today to create a chronograph would go for a black dial, pushers, and there’s a very big chance, almost one-hundred percent, they would put a tachymeter bezel and ‘smiling’ counters,” Aeschlimann said, describing the Speedy’s design hallmarks. “If you do this, you’ve created a kind of perfect chronograph.”

As further proof of the popularity of the Speedmaster’s design, exclusive of its connection to the moon and NASA, Omega’s CEO revealed that bootleg Speedy dials are the most downloaded digital watch face on smartwatches around the world.

“We know that because we fight these guys [over the] design,” Aeschlimann joked. “The counters, the hands, the dial and the tachymeter (are all there). Funny, huh?”

The future of the Speedy

Omega is celebrating a huge milestone with the 60th anniversary of the Speedmaster’s relationship with NASA, and in four years, it will likely celebrate 60 years since the watch’s first visit to the moon.

But Aeschlimann acknowledges that the story of Omega’s space connection may not always connect with future generations.

“Charlie Duke, the youngest person to walk on the moon, is ninety, so they will all one day be gone and you will ask yourself, ‘How can the new generation believe it?’ That was always something that we’ve discussed,” Aeschlimann admitted.

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Omega’s space connection is still going strong for now, and Aeschlimann hinted that we can expect “one or two” celebratory watches this year marking the NASA qualification’s 60th anniversary.

But he also strongly implied that the brand will be scaling back on its endless Speedmaster anniversary editions moving forward.

“We’ve been celebrating a lot at Omega,” Aeschlimann said, referencing milestone-marking models like the Silver Snoopy Award 50th-Anniversary Edition and the reborn Calibre 321 movement.

“It’s normal that we continue to celebrate our history. But what I don’t want is like ten years ago when we were celebrating each and every event … What I want is not to link [releases] too much with one specific moment.

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“Like the Snoopy, it was never meant to be just one year. It’s better not to link it too much with the celebration of the time being because if we do that too much, the life cycle of the watch goes down.

We want people who can dream about the Snoopy to be able to continue to buy that watch. I still get demand for the Snoopy, for the white dial. I still get a lot of demand for some watches, and if you link them too much with one single moment, then they’re very quickly outdated.”

In other words, Omega will increasingly allow the Speedmaster’s iconic design to stand on its own, because even if the watch had never altered its history by going to the moon, it may still be the perfect chronograph.

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