In the historic year of 1968, the Apollo 8 mission achieved a monumental feat by becoming the first human flight to orbit the Moon. As watch fans in general and Speedmaster fans in particular are well aware of on this groundbreaking mission, each astronaut was equipped with an Omega Speedmaster, a reliable tool watch chronograph that has proved crucial throughout NASA’s lunar exploration.

Now the Swiss brand announced a new iteration of the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8, first introduced in 2018, incorporating the latest in technology, materials, and craftsmanship.

In this special new model, the legendary hand-wound Caliber 3869 with Master chronometer certificate features a laser-ablated moon relief on the blackened main plate and bridges that comes to life on the dial. Just like the Earth’s satellite, this movement reveals two different sides. The dial-side represents our view of the lunar surface, as seen from Earth, while the back of the watch shows the dark side that only astronauts get to see.
Omega has enhanced the moon?s definition by the means of laser engraving and reworked the contrasting surfaces. The features are clearly pronounced and sit beautifully alongside the light grey coated wheels and dark grey gold coated balance wheel that are exhibited on the left and right side of the dial, which is crafted from black anodized aluminum. The central chronograph seconds stands out in bright yellow, a color theme ...