This Baselworld 2018 Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 houses a specially decorated version of OMEGA’s famous Calibre 1861 Moonwatch movement.

The Omega Speedmaster stands as one of the few horological icons in watchmaking that happen to also symbolise a pivotal moment of human endeavour. When combined with other legends which contributed to man’s progress, wading ankles deep into the ocean of space, the story of the Omega Speedmaster is deeply enriched with another chapter in mankind’s historical saga. The Baselworld 2018 Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 takes us on our first flight into lunar orbit with Commander James Arthur Lovell Jr.

“We’ll see you on the other side” – Commander James Arthur Lovell Jr.

Launched December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 is the second manned spaceflight mission in the United States Apollo space program and the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth orbit, reach the Earth’s Moon. 50 years later, Omega is launching the newest addition to the Dark Side of the Moon Speedmaster series, one inspired by Apollo 8’s historic flight.

The new Baselworld 2018 Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 takes the core DNA black ceramic but updates it with a brushed finish reminiscent of the original Speedmaster Moonwatch and instead of two subdials, you get three register display

Baselworld 2018 Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8

Unlike previous Dark Side models, which carries Omega’s signature deep striping and waves on the mainplate and oscillating rotor, this Baselworld 2018 Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 houses a specially decorated version of OMEGA’s famous Calibre 1861 Moonwatch movement.

In 2013, Omega released the first Dark Side of the Moon all-black Speedmaster with a full ceramic case and dial with twin subdial chronograph configuration. The new Baselworld 2018 Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 takes the core DNA black ceramic but updates it with a brushed finish reminiscent of the original Speedmaster Moonwatch and instead of two subdials, you get three register display without date similar to the NASA approved flight instruments, driven by the very same legendary calibre, alas not the 321 but the generation of chronograph movements after it – the calibre 1861 with special decoration and a new appellation: calibre 1869.

The dial of the new Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 has been expertly skeletonised to display the specially decorated calibre 1869. The manually wound chronograph movement has made use of laser ablation to precisely decorate the bridges and main plate of the blackened movement, producing realistic imagery of the lunar surface. And like the moon, it reveals two unique sides. The dial-side is a light shade to represent our view of the moon’s surface from Earth, while the back of the watch delves into the dark side that only astronauts get to see. More importantly, while Omega’s two register chronographs like the Dark Side and Speedmaster ’57 series have a reputation for being thicker than your usual chronographs, the new Baselworld 2018 Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 is a much slimmer creature because the Bienne manufacture eschews automatic winding and the typical box sapphire crystals on the face and caseback, reducing the Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 to just 13.8mm thick.

The chronograph hands of the Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 are varnished yellow, while the watch’s tachymeter scale and crown are filled with Super-LumiNova. The black and yellow theme extends to the leather strap where a milling tool has been ingeniously used to create micro perforations through the constructed strap to reveal the yellow rubber within.

“WE’LL SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE” – words spoken by Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell on board the Apollo 8 mission at the start of the crew’s pioneering orbit to the dark side of the moon are engraved on the caseback It’s a statement Commander Lovell will utter another time on another Apollo mission, 13, and one where he also used his Speedmaster Moonwatch to time his module thruster burns to slingshot around the moon and return NASA’s “most successful failure” safely to Earth.

Omega Speedmaster Dark Side Of the Moon Apollo 8 Specs and Price

Movement Manually wound Calibre 1869 with 60 hours power reserve
Case 44.25mm black ceramic with 50 metres water resistance
Strap Leather with rubber backing
Price SG$13,800