Omega - 2014 Speedmaster Moonwatch 3570.50.00

WHAT WE LOVE:

The Omega Speedmaster Professional ref. 3570.50.00 is one of the longest-running, most documented, and most discussed references in the history of watchmaking — and a 2014 example carries a specific significance: this is one of the last examples produced under this reference number, before Omega retired the 3570.50 in 2014 and replaced it with the updated 311.30 series. A late 3570.50 is a direct connection to over eighteen years of unbroken production history in the most consistent expression of the original Moonwatch formula.

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 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: it is not a compromise, it is a specification. Chosen for NASA because it outperformed sapphire in certain test conditions, it gives the dial a depth and warmth that sapphire's hardness cannot replicate — and on a late 3570.50, the crystal is still fitted exactly as it was in 1969.

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