Eagerly awaited by die-hard Omega fans since the watch was spotted on Daniel Craig’s wrist at a New York exhibition in November 2023, Omega has finally unveiled a new version of its famous Speedmaster Moonwatch chronograph. It is the first of the current generation with a white dial, a high-contrast alternative to the classic black aesthetic. Crucially, it also follows in the footsteps of some of Omega’s most experimental vintage Speedmasters.
The 42-mm, $8,100 (£7,600) hand-wound watch joins the core collection of Speedmaster Professional references, making it the first time Omega has offered a white dial option outside of now-discontinued limited editions. Powered by the METAS-certified Master Chronometer calibre 3861—Omega’s flagship manual-winding movement, offering up best-in-class magnetic resistance and a 50-hour power reserve—inside the new Speedmaster is mechanically unchanged, yet the simple change of dial color places it in a tradition of highly desirable rare Speedmasters.
The first Speedmaster debuted in 1957. It was first worn in space by Mercury 7 astronaut Walter Schirra in 1962, but the Speedmaster Moonwatch traces its lineage to 1965, when the watch was officially certified by NASA as “flight-qualified” for all manned space missions.
But the history of white-dialed Speedmasters begins in 1969, as NASA engineer Jim Regan worked with Omega to prototype improvements to the watches worn into orbit and to the moon. The brief was for a more shock-proof and temperature-resistant watch for use on lunar expeditions and EVA (extravehicular activities), or spacewalks—temperatures could reach 120°C (248°F) in the direct glare of the sun.
Omega responded with a prototype known as the Alaska project (nothing to do with the state, it was simply Omega’s in-house codename for all NASA-commissioned watches). Cased in titanium—at the time a rare, exotic, and demanding material to work with—it boasted an additional shielding case of anodized aluminum in bright red. Inside, Omega upgraded the movement with various new components, more durable polymers, and lubricating oils specially chosen for their resistance to heat. The white dial was a purely functional choice, for its ability to reflect more heat.
Rejected by NASA as too expensive, the Alaska stood out for its white dial with checkered inner flange and large, triangular chronograph hands. These resembled the Apollo reentry capsule, but were designed with a purpose: It was supposed to make the watch easier to read under extreme vibration.
Omega followed the first Alaska prototype with a second design the following year, cased in the conventional 42-mm Moonwatch case. It retained the oversize red aluminum outer case and white dial, while on this model the steel cases were bead-blasted rather than polished to reduce dazzling reflections. The “capsule” hands also remained, but in black, and the classic Speedmaster’s tachymeter bezel (most useful for tracking speed over a known distance; relatively impossible in space) was replaced by a 60-minute scale.
Despite its more conventional styling and cheaper production costs, NASA decided not to order the watch, preferring to stick with what it knew. The Alaska Project watches did eventually make it into space, however, worn by Soyuz 25 mission cosmonauts between 1977 and 1981.
A white dial would not grace another Speedmaster Moonwatch until 1997, when a commemorative limited edition was produced to mark the 40th anniversary of the Speedmaster, and it was only sold in Italy.
In 2008, a limited-edition Alaska Project homage was released, and others have since followed, including the Silver Snoopy of 2015. In 2021, a white-dial Speedy was released in Omega’s proprietary Canopus white gold.
But this new model in stainless steel (reference 310.30.42.50.04.001) is the most attainable white version so far. Today, Omega says the color scheme is a nod to astronauts’ space suits, which it may be—but for fans of the brand it will always relate back to those Cold War creations.
So important were the Alaska Project watches, they were also immortalized in MoonSwatch form in 2022, as the red-bioceramic-cased Mission to Mars.
There are a number of other touches that cement this new Speedmaster’s place as the spiritual successor to the Alaska Project watches: The red Speedmaster dial text is a subtle nod to the design of both Alaska models; and the glossy lacquer used for the dial (another small first for Omega-kind) is in its own way harking back to the highly reflective capabilities of those top-secret prototypes.
Equipped with a sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 50 meters, and machined to tolerances that engineers of the 1960s could only dream of, this is a thoroughly modern Speedmaster—but like all the best Speedmasters, it has a powerful connection to the past.
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Chris Hall
