Thoughts On The fake Omega Speedmaster “Dark Side Of The Moon”: Just How Good Is The Ceramic Speedmaster?
I hate black watches, except when I don’t. I should clarify what I mean by that. You see, I love the Omega Speedmaster. An automatic Speedmaster was my very first “nice” watch, given to me by my grandfather. It is the watch that started this whole thing, so to say the Speedy holds a special place in my heart would be an understatement. I also happen to believe that the 1960s Speedmasters (those with column-wheel caliber 321) represent the absolute best value for money in all of watchmaking, and I genuinely believe every watch guy should own one at one point in his life, no matter how big or little of a collector replica watches you are. I also think today’s Co-Axial chronometer Speedmaster is one of the better self-winding chronographs under $10,000 available (you can read the full Week on the Wrist review here). I love the Omega Speedmaster, and when I heard that we’d be seeing this absolute icon in BLACK this year, my reaction was “Ugh, gross.” Until I saw it.
The idea of a ceramic Speedmaster kind of goes against everything I stand for, and yet here I am, about to tell you how much I love this thing. Here are the pragmatic reasons why I liked the Speedmaster “Dark Side Of The Moon” so much: the whole thing is ceramic, and I mean THE WHOLE THING. I’m talking the case, the bezel, the crown, the pushers, even the buckle. Oh, and the dial is ceramic too! I can’t think of another watch that employs so much true ceramic – most ceramic watches feature crowns, pushers, buckle, etc. in either steel or titanium. Or, sometimes, they’re PVD or DLC coated to give you the same black look. But to a trained eye, they never have the same texture. This watch is made entirely of ceramic, and that itself is incredibly impressive.
What’s more is that fake Omega Caliber 9300 is mounted directly into the mono-block ceramic case, meaning that essentially there isn’t a caseback at all, simply a slightly domed sapphire crystal that shows off the impressive movement. I should remind you that the Caliber 9300 is a beautiful self-winding chronometer column-wheel chronograph movement with the George Daniels conceived co-axial escapement, complete with a silicon balance spring on a free sprung balance, and with two barrels mounted in series. It holds a power reserve of 60 hours, and is completely rhodium plated with Geneva stripes, giving it a nice radiant appearance. The shimmering movement against the satin ceramic case is really lovely.
The ceramic dial is off-set by 18k white gold hour markers and hands, both filled with Super-Luminova. As with the other Cal 9300-based chronographs, you’ll see two registers – the one at 3 o’clock displaying elapsed hours and minutes, while the dial at 9 o’clock shows running seconds. You’re getting the display capability of a three register chrono with only two registers, which is nice way of doing things. This allows for a date aperture at 6 o’clock, certainly a useful addition if the Speedmaster is to be a modern daily wear watch.
But, something that has always bugged my about this caliber (and the watches in which it lives) is its lack of a quick-set date. I just don’t understand why Omega would go through the trouble of making what is, by all accounts, a truly superb and modern mechanical chronograph movement (with silicon balance spring!) and not give it a quick-set date. What is this? 1972? I am used to spending my entire walk to work spinning the hour hands to get the date set properly, but that’s usually on watches made during the Nixon era. And I do not necessarily enjoy it. In fact, in all honesty, I wear my older watches with non-quick set dates less than those without dates completely because it’s just a pain. This caliber has a jumping hour quick-set function, and it is perhaps the reason why Omega was unable to add a quick-set date, but frankly, I (and I bet most others) would much prefer a quick-set date to a quick-set hour hand. It just doesn’t make sense. But, enough about that.
The other thing that bugs me about this watch is something I didn’t even notice for the first ten minutes I spent with it. But once I saw it, I couldn’t “unsee” it. Right above the dial’s pivot point, at 12 o’clock, you will see this: {Zr02}. It’s very faint, and I would bet most people wouldn’t even notice it’s there, but I absolutely hate it. The Zr02 stands for Zirconium Oxide, the ceramic material used to create the dial of this watch. The reason this is printed on the dial, as told to me by the folks at Omega, is to indicate to the owner / wearer / competitors that yes, not only is the watch entirely ceramic, but so is the dial too. Because so many other companies make ceramic watches, but so few make ceramic dials, I get that – I really do – but to me, this script is completely superfluous and kills the otherwise awesome dial for me. Of course, who am I to say this, but I did tell my friends at Omega that I think it’s not necessarily that bad on its own, but if you consider who is typically the average luxury watch buyer, it’s a pretty particular bunch, and that little marking will absolutely not convince someone to buy this watch, but it might convince someone not to buy it. If the retailer is knowledgeable enough and is doing his job properly, every potential buyer of this watch will know the dial is ceramic whether that marking is there or not. It’s just not necessary.
But, while I just spent the last two paragraphs bitching about minutiae, I really did love this watch, and I believe it might be one of the best things I saw at Basel World. The way the Speedmaster “Dark Side of The Moon” sits on the wrist is really excellent, and though it’s a little big for my liking (44.25mm) I did not find it offensive, nor would I classify this as one of those tacky “big black watches” that the purists scoff at. Would I prefer it at 42mm? For sure, but the size is not a deal breaker for me here. The watch is that good. It is perfectly suited for the black Cordura fabric strap on which it sits, and over all the whole package of this watch is absolutely awesome.
The Omega Speedmaster “Dark Side Of the Moon” will be sold later this year at a US retail price of $12,000. As for the price? Yes, it’s a lot for a Speedmaster, no question about it. But, when you consider the premiums other manufactures put on their ceramic cases noob watches (few of which are anywhere near as impressive as this), it becomes slightly more rational. I am just curious to see if watch buyers as a whole will agree, and spend that much on a Speedmaster. After all, it was just a few years ago that the average automatic Speedy was under $5,000. Granted, this is an entirely new watch with entirely new caliber compared to those ETA-based Speedies, but is the Speedmaster brand that strong? It might be. We’ll find out soon enough.
Read more here.