When Omega was on the moon

Inside the crew’s Omega Speedmaster watches, was the now-famous Calibre 321, a movement that not only became legendary that day, but also returned for every lunar landing in history.

This year, the watchmaking house has expertly recreated the second-generation Calibre 321 and included it in a very special timepiece known as the Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Stainless Steel. Its 39.70mm case has been crafted in stainless steel, and is influenced by another piece of Speedmaster space heritage: the third-generation style that was worn during America’s first space walk in 1965. The design also includes a bezel ring in polished black ceramic with a tachymeter scale in white enamel, as well as the iconic “Dot over Ninety”. Gracing the black step dial are the familiar Moonwatch hands, along with a vintage Omega logo.

Through the sapphire crystal caseback, owners are able to admire Calibre 321 itself. It took two years of extensive research and reconstruction to bring this movement back to life, including the use of tomography (a digital scanning method) to see inside the true Speedmaster worn by astronaut Eugene “Gene” Cernan during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Each movement has been recreated to the authentic specifications of the original and assembled in the dedicated Calibre 321 workshop.

August 20, 2020