Marking the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission, history’s first-ever journey toward the moon, OMEGA is proudly releasing its new Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 timepiece
OMEGA has an unrivalled heritage within space exploration and its Speedmaster watches have been worn and trusted by astronauts aboard many of history’s greatest missions, including Apollo 8 in 1968. This crew were the first humans to ever see the far side of the moon and the legacy of that achievement is beautifully celebrated in OMEGA’s newest Speedmaster watch.
The unique design is instantly clear when you view the dial, which has been expertly skeletonised to reveal the blackened movement inside. The movement itself has also been laser-ablated to precisely decorate the bridges and main plate with realistic imagery of the lunar surface.
Just like the moon, the movement 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 shows the dark side that only astronauts get to see.
Elsewhere in this new creation, OMEGA has embraced its popular “Dark Side of the Moon” innovation, producing the entire watch in black zirconium oxide ceramic. To contrast this dark tone, the brand has chosen chronograph hands that are varnished yellow, while the watch’s tachymeter scale and crown are filled with Super-LumiNova. The black and yellow theme extends to the perforated leather strap, which contains a section of yellow rubber through the middle.
On the caseback, the special words, “We’ll See You On The Other Side”, have been engraved. These were spoken by Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell on board the Apollo 8 mission at the start of the crew’s pioneering orbit to the far side of the moon. Seconds before the spacecraft disappeared beyond the range of radio contact, Lovell spoke these final reassuring words to ground control.
Few people will ever get to view the moon’s mysterious distant surface, but to wear the OMEGA Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 is to make an authentic connection to space exploration history. Its blackened and decorated version of the Calibre 1861 – called 1869 as a tribute to the first moon landing – is a reminder of the original Moonwatch movement and OMEGA’s legendary story in space.
