Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Moon Watch 310.20.42.50.01.001 Review | SwissWatchExpo

Fresh from the Showcase here at 
SwissWatchExpo, and we have another  
incredible Apollo edition Speedmaster 
that just came in. It is one of the  
most impressive ones I’ve seen yet. And 
I am going to tell you why right now.
In 2019 which was the 50th anniversary of the 
famous Apollo 11 moon landing mission, you know,  
Omega had to do something very special for it. And 
boy, did they! I’m gonna do the video a little bit  
backwards now because I’m going to have to address 
first this incredible packaging that it comes in.  
There’s incredible case we do have a full set 
because this is a completely unworn edition,  
and boy does it just come with a whole lot 
of goodies? The first thing you’ll notice,  
I guess I’ll just break it down one at a 
time, you do get this wonderful looking loupe,  
which does mimic the actual look of the 
watch being inlaid with the ceramic Ceragold.
So this is a very, very impressive loupe here, 
as well as a pair of mission patches. I believe  
these are supposed to be pretty authentic type 
of replicas from what was the original mission  
patch of Apollo 11. Plus this Omega one here, 
this is a mission patch as well. It also comes  
with a Velcro strap, which I believe is a first 
for the Speedmaster. I’ve not seen one before,  
as well as a tool, the booklet, we also have all 
the original parts with it as well. And perhaps  

one of the most impressive things ever is the
holder that this watch has actually comes on
is a mimic of the actual moon landing module here,
which is incredible. I have not seen this before.
So I think this is one of the most impressive
NASA based packages you’re going to see,
and you get everything that it originally
came from with the factory, with this set.
Now, I’m sorry, I’m done gushing over the
over the goodies that you get with it. Now
let’s get into the watch itself. This was
again released in 2019 to commemorate the
50th anniversary of this famous moon landing.
It was one of two watches they released this
one being the more traditional in steel with
some gold accents. And then they did one in
all 18 carat moonshine gold, which they
call, I believe we’ve done a video on that,
but sadly we no longer had that watch. It did
not stick around very long. This one’s a little
bit more traditional, but like all limited edition
Apollo missions, it shares a lot of similarities
with the original Moonwatch and a lot of really
interesting departures that make it interesting.
The first thing we’ll notice is the dial
itself is a beautiful looking gray color.
So this is sort of a Moonwatch without a black
dial that does make it pretty new, unique,
especially amongst the NASA editions. I’ll go
ahead and take it off here to show you all of it.
But the dial here is a beautiful matted
sort of taupe gray color, which it does
blend beautifully with the black accents on
both the sub dials and the outer ring on the
dial itself. One thing you’ll notice here is at
nine o’clock you’ll have a special engraving,
which is actually a replica of the picture of Buzz
Aldrin, descending the module, wearing his Omega
Speedmaster one of the most famous pics of the
lunar landing. And it looks absolutely incredible
detail here on the dial. The fact that they were
able to get all this detail in such a little tiny
space on the sub dial there it’s very special, and
this is a super clean watch, 42 millimeter case.
So very much like a traditional Moonwatch in
that regard. One difference is this one is
going to have a Sapphire crystal, as opposed
to the traditional has a light. I’ve done a
lot of these videos. And at this point, if
you get a new NASA watch or an Apollo watch,
I honestly never know what kind of crystal
is going to come in. It’s a toss up. A lot
of them have, hesalites. A lot of them have
sapphires. I definitely prefer the Sapphire
from a sheer durability standpoint as this is
a very special watch that you are going to want
to keep in pristine condition whoever is lucky
enough to own it. Some more details about it.
The movement in particular is something that’s
very different. They’ve actually upgraded. Some
might not call it an upgrade to a caliber 3861.
This is going to be very different in that it’s
probably the first Apollo watch that doesn’t
have either an 861 or an 1861 movement in it.
The main upgrade is it is going to come with
the coaxial escapement. So this has got to
be a Moonwatch with probably the most modern
type of Omega movement out of all of them. Now,
because this particular movement hasn’t been
flight tested by NASA, like the 1861 famously was,
I think a lot of purists are gonna balk at this a
little bit and say, well, if it doesn’t have that,
how much of a Moonwatch is it really? Which
is a fair question. But then again, this is
a Speedmaster Professional. That’s commemorating
the Apollo 11 mission. So to me, I don’t really
think there’s that much debate, but of course
a lot of people might argue. Otherwise the
movement is incredible though. Coaxial movement is
going to be a huge upgrade mechanically from the
traditional one, just hasn’t gone through
the exact same rigorous type of testing.
On the back, we have another interesting
detail here. Now, the 18 karat Moonshine
gold alloy that they made for this came with
an exhibition case back showing that movement,
because this one is a limited edition Apollo. They
went in a little different direction for the steel
version, and this one is going to actually have
Neil Armstrong’s footprint or a picture of it,
on the case back. It is also going to have
the famous quote, one small step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind on the back, as well
as the limited edition number of this watch,
they actually made a 6,969 pieces to commemorate
the 1969 date of this famous mission. This is an
incredible watch for a lot of different reasons.
Another one is the bracelet, which I believe is
a very unique one that I have not seen on any
sort of Professional Speedmaster before very
reminiscent of a modern Aqua Terra bracelet, where
you’re going to have a very flat profile here.
You know, pretty flat, not a lot of rounded
edges on either, and it’s going to have a brushed
center and a high polished outer. So
in a lot of ways, sort of an inverted
Aqua Terra bracelet. So this is when I think it
gives it a very modern type of look. It’s not
going to look quite as vintage as a traditional
Moonwatch, but then again, this was released
in 2019 and it is meant to be a very special
commemoration of the most famous Apollo mission.
So of course they had to do something to really
set it apart from the others. And I think they
did a fantastic job with this one. So this is
a completely unworn full set edition of what
is one of the most special Speedmasters ever. It’s
been out of production for two years. So these are
only going to get harder and harder to find, but
of course, if you’re not ready to quite step it
up to the super limited edition Apollo watches, of
course, we’ve got a ton of traditional moonwatches
and Omega’s of all colors, shapes, stripes, and
sizes, and of course a ton of other brands too.
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