The Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon

The Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon pays tribute to the Apollo 8 astronauts that landed on the moon in 1969. Each one of these space explorers wore an Omega Speedmaster Professional on this voyage. This watch is the first and only watch to be worn on the moon. Due to extensive work needed to be done on this watch, Omega says that the Dark Side of the Moon takes 20 hours more to manufacture than its stainless steel counterpart.

The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon is notably crafted from a single block of black ceramic (ZrO₂), which has been both brushed and polished for a sophisticated look. Ceramic has grown rapidly in its popularity due to its lighter and stronger than steel properties. The color of the ceramic was chosen as it best characterizes the nature of space. The case carries a diameter of 44.25mm, which gives the watch an excellent wrist presence.

The chronograph pushers are polished and they act independently, assuring the wearer that no harm can come to the chronograph mechanism due to erroneous handling of the chronograph. The bezel is stationary and features a tachymeter made from chromium nitride. This allows the scale to be viewed under low light conditions. Tachymeters work with the chronograph to gauge average speed over a set distance. This timepiece uses a black coated nylon strap, which is fastened with a black ceramic folding clasp. This piece from Omega is water resistant to 50 meters (165 feet).

Protecting the black ceramic dial is a scratch resistant sapphire crystal with glare proofing. This does differ from the original ‘moonwatch’ which used Hesalite as NASA didn’t anything that could shatter and float around the capsule. The dial features two subdials at the 3 and 9 positions displaying the chronograph minutes and hour, and the true seconds respectively. The central seconds hand indicates the chronograph seconds on this watch. At the 6 position is the date aperture. All of the markers and hands are coated with Super-LumiNova® for legibility at night.

The movement powering this watch is a self-winding chronograph caliber 9300, made in Switzerland and officially certified a chronometer by the COSC.  This movement uses Omega’s revolutionary Co-Axial escapement which uses radial impulses to transfer the energy to the gear train. The balance wheel is the Si14 made from an antimagnetic material. As with all Omega watches fitted with the Co-Axial escapement, the Omega Dark Side of the Moon carries a warranty for 4 years from the date of purchase.