OMEGA Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary

After much anticipation, OMEGA is releasing its new Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary edition. The dial features a blue and white colour scheme, while the unusual caseback takes the OMEGA Speedmaster to a whole new level of design, from the inclusion of a flying Snoopy to a realistic-looking disc of the Earth. The watch also uses NASA’s Snoopy to evoke the Apollo 13 mission, which led to OMEGA being awarded the Silver Snoopy award back in 1970. Notably, the new Speedmaster is not a limited edition.

The new edition’s 42 mm stainless steel case takes its inspiration from the fourth-generation Speedmaster style. The white enamel tachymeter scale, with the iconic “Dot over Ninety”, lies over the top of a blue ceramic bezel, matching the subdials, hands, indices and logo.

The dial of the OMEGA Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary features blue, PVD-coated angular hour markers and hands , as well as an embossed silver Snoopy medallion on the blue subdial at 9 o’clock. Snoopy wears his famous spacesuit, in the exact same style of silver pin as the one that NASA astronauts give to award its recipients, such as OMEGA. Furthermore, the dial is laser-engraved with sterling silver.

The movement

Powering the watch is the in-house, manually wound OMEGA 3861 calibre. This is an updated version of caliber 861/1861. The chronograph movement, which features a Co-Axial Escapement, is certified by METAS as a Master Chronometer. Furthermore, the calibre is resistant to magnetic fields of up to 15,000 Gauss, and integrates a free-sprung balance with a silicon balance spring. Additionally, the movement boasts rhodium-plated finishing and bridges with Geneva stripes. Most importantly, the movement (which uses the Lemania 1873 as its base) has a 50-hour power reserve and a frequency of 3 Hz. Finally, it has over 240 components as well as 26 jewels.

The Caseback

The caseback is the real star of the show. Firstly, it is a Naid Lock caseback – this is OMEGA’s patented system, which locks the caseback while ensuring that all of the features on the caseback remain correctly oriented. Interestingly, while OMEGA’s logo is the last letter of the Greek alphabet (meaning “perfection”), the Greek word “Naid” chosen by the brand refers to mythological water spirits.

The caseback has several other notable features. This includes a hand that displays an animated Snoopy in a Command and Service module. This module rotates whenever the chronograph function is in use, and sends Snoopy to the far side of the moon. This imitates the movements of the Apollo 13 team. Meanwhile, the lunar surface has been decorated onto the sapphire crystal using a micro-structured metallisation. Behind it, an earth disc rotates once per minute in the same rhythm as the small seconds visible on the dial. This symbolises the steady rotation of the Earth. Elsewhere, the iconic quote, “Eyes on the Stars”, is included across the top of the caseback’s black universe. Finally, the caseback is engraved with the date in 1970 – October 5th – that OMEGA received the award.

Finally, the watch is presented on a blue nylon fabric strap with white stitching to match the dial. The lining features the actual path taken on the Apollo 13 mission. As always, the Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary comes with OMEGA’s full five-year warranty.

As mentioned, it is not in fact a limited edition. Furthermore, the watch is presented in a special Apollo 13 presentation box, along with a microfibre cleaning cloth, brochure, and magnifying glass. Priced at 9,160 euros, it is available from the end of October.

www.omegawatches.com

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