Conceived in the laps of Neuchatel Mountains, Omega watches have continually captured the imagination of its patrons. Over the years, not only has it offered some of the finest chronographs to the world but it has also reached the moon.These luxury watches are a perfect blend of form and function, giving you the most exhilarating experience.
Talking about the legendary brand, it also becomes imperative to mention Omega Speedmaster. To know why, you have to check out some of the finest collections.Omega watches at Ethos watch boutiques has a myriad range of Omega Speedmaster – from Moonwatchto Racingand beyond.
Let us explore some of the most exciting ones.
- Space victory
Omega Speedmaster happens to be the only watch approved by NASA for manned space flights. Yes, you heard that right.
After many temperature and pressure tests, the only chronograph amongst many to survive a series of test was the Omega Speedmaster. It was not long before, in 1965, that NASA decided that Omega would be the only brand for their space flights.
The funny part is that Omega didn’t know anything about this till they came across a photo of Ed White sporting the watch during his first spacewalk, which was a part of the Gemini 4 mission in 1965.
Talk about underplaying things.
- Wise decisions
The much-talked about co-axial escapement feature of the Omega Speedmaster was invented originally by the British watchmaker George Daniels in 1974, and none of the watch brands at that time were keen on adopting this feature.
It was only in the 1990s that Nicolas G. Hayek, founder of the Swatch group, discovered that it would be a good selling point for Omega. The three-level-co-axial does wonders when it comes to eliminating sliding friction between the wheel tooth and the pallets in the conventional level escapement.
- What is in a name?
Ever wondered why it is called Speedmaster? It was, after all, named after its tachymeter. It was introduced in 1957, and at that time, the tachymeter scale allowed speed to be assessed by timing a fixed distance. It was something novel, and exciting.
Russian History
Omega has an old-time association with Russian cosmonauts, to this extent that Russia wanted its own indigenous technology for their space watches.
In fact, with improved Soviet-American relations and the Apollo-Soyuz project, there also came a time when all astronauts and cosmonauts wore Omega Speedmaster.
Omega mystery
What will probably blow your minds away is that the last man on the moon possesses a Speedmaster that was never serviced. No, not even once.
Eugene Cernan, a present-day Omega ambassador, is still the proud owner of his Speedmaster – with the special memory of taking it to the moon and back. Well, quite literally.
He has been quoted saying, “What’s interesting about my first one is that it’s beat up, it’s never cleaned, it’s never repaired and to this day I can take that watch and wind it and it keeps time as well as the day I got it. I have walked in space with it for two and a half hours and worn it on the Moon for over three days.”
Well, what a special love story.
- The Buzz around Aldrin
We all know that Buzz Aldrin was the first person to wear an Omega Speedmaster on the moon. We also know that Neil Armstrong was the first person to step on the moon. But what I am sure many of us don’t know is that he abandoned his Omega on the Lunar Module as he hoped it would serve as a backup for one of the electronic timekeeping systems that had unfortunately malfunctioned. Speedmaster was their safety net, good going Omega!
