![]() ![]() With the Chronoscope, however, the designers were able to both retain the crown guards on the right and make the left and right sides of the case about as close to symmetrical as you can get. All Moonwatches, from 1969 until the present have this type of case. That asymmetrical design, with the extra case material on the right side acting as crown guards, has remained a signature of the Speedmaster since 1964. While the dial borrows its design from 1940s Omega chronographs, the case design dates back to 1964 when Omega first introduced the 105.012, which was the first Speedmaster with a 42 mm diameter asymmetrical case with “twisted” or “lyre” lugs. The silvery azurage surface of the sunken dual counters set against the gorgeous blue dial makes this reverse-Panda-style dial a knockout in person. While there are three other dial variations - silvery-white with blue accents, silvery-white Panda-style with black and red accents, and brown with silver counters - this particular combination is the most stunning and my personal favorite. One of my favorite features of this dial - available thanks to Omega’s 9900 series movement - is that the chronograph hours and minutes (12-hours 60-minutes) are in the same subdial, located at 3 o’clock. And even rarer is a pulsometer, used with the chronograph’s second hand to determine the heartbeat per minute or “pulse rate” of someone (graduated to 30 for the Chronoscope), which means you start the chronograph and count 30 heartbeats with your hand and then stop the chronograph - the actual pulse rate is then shown by the center chronograph seconds hand on the scale. Less common is a telemeter which can measure exactly how far you are from something that is visible and audible, such as your distance from a lightning storm. The most common scale found on chronograph wristwatches is a tachymeter, which is used to measure the speed that the wearer travels over a specific period of time. Inspired by a design dating back to the 1940s, Omega has created a two counter layout, with a printed “snail” style telemeter (outermost ring), pulsometer (inside the telemeter), tachymeter (the two innermost rings) in the center, the latter of which works in unison with the tachymeter ring printed on the blue anodized aluminum bezel. Using steel leaf-shaped hour and minute hands, with no coating such as the white lacquered baton-shaped (luminous stick) hands offered on all Moonwatches represent yet another upscale element of the Chronoscope dial. The Arabic numerals and the process of applying them by hand, naturally, costs more to produce - they also elevate the dial aesthetic. ![]() The indices on a Moonwatch are printed, whereas the Chronoscope hour markers are applied Arabic numerals (except at 3 and 9 because Arabic numerals would otherwise overlap dual counters). The three distinctive scales allow the Chronoscope to be used as a tachymeter, pulsometer, and telemeter - and they give the dial a cool retro look.Ĭompared to a standard matte black lacquer Moonwatch dial, the luxurious metallic navy blue sunburst dial is richer and provides some color pop. 329.30.43.51.03.001), which is not a Moonwatch but is inspired by both the 1964 asymmetrical twisted lugs Speedmaster and 1940s triple timing scale Omega chronographs such as the Scalemaster or CK 2393. Most famously, the 1969 Speedmaster Professional, a later version of the 105.012 reference - also with a 42 mm diameter asymmetrical twisted lug case - was the first watch worn on the moon during Apollo 11 and became forever known as the “Moonwatch.” Fast forward to 2021, and Omega introduced the all-new Speedmaster Chronoscope Co-Axial Master Chronometer (Ref. ![]() Then in 1964 came the 105.012, the first Speedmaster with a 42 mm diameter asymmetrical case with “twisted” or “lyre” lugs. In 1962 the CK2998 became the first Speedmaster in space. The very first Omega Speedmaster, reference CK2915, also known as the “Broad Arrow,” debuted in 1957 - approximately six years before the Rolex Daytona.Īfter the original Speedmaster came the CK2998 (1959 – 1964), which retained the 38 mm straight lug case of the CK2915 and marked the switch from Broad Arrow to Alpha hands.
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