SKU: 24444
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WHAT WE LOVE:
The Omega Speedmaster Professional Ref. 3570.50 is one of the longest-running, most documented, and most discussed references in the history of watchmaking — and with its original box and papers from 2000, this example carries its original provenance.
The story requires no embellishment. On the 20th of July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon. Strapped to their wrists were Omega Speedmaster Professionals. The Speedmaster had been selected by NASA in 1965 following rigorous qualification testing against every major chronograph on the market — it was not chosen because it carried the most prestigious name, but because it outperformed everything else across extreme temperature, shock, vibration, humidity, and pressure. The solid caseback of the 3570.50 carries the two most important sentences in watchmaking: "Flight Qualified By NASA For All Manned Space Missions" and "The First Watch Worn On The Moon." These are statements of fact, not marketing. No other watch carries them.
The 3570.50 is the closest neo-modern expression of the watch that went to the Moon. The 42mm twisted lug case, the black matte dial with its three-register chronograph layout, the fixed tachymeter bezel, the hesalite crystal — all present, all correct, all essentially unchanged from the references worn by Apollo crews. The hesalite deserves specific mention as it is lighter than sapphire, more shatter-resistant, and in the event of a surface scratch it can be polished to new. It was chosen for NASA because it outperformed sapphire in certain test conditions, and it is still specified on the Moonwatch today for the same reason. On the wrist it gives the dial a depth and warmth that sapphire's hardness cannot replicate.
Coming with its original box and papers — an increasingly rare condition for a Speedmaster of this era — this is as complete a Moonwatch as the market offers.
WHAT'S INSIDE:
The 3570.50 is powered by Omega's Calibre 1861 — the direct descendant of the legendary Calibre 321 that went to the Moon, and of the Calibre 861 that succeeded it. A 17-jewel manual-wind column-wheel chronograph movement beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour, it is rhodium-plated for corrosion resistance and delivers a power reserve of 48 hours.
FIVEFORTYFIVE SIX MONTHS WARRANTY