Omega adopted the primary Alaska prototype with a second design the next 12 months, cased within the standard 42-mm Moonwatch case. It retained the oversize crimson aluminum outer case and white dial, whereas on this mannequin the metal circumstances had been bead-blasted relatively than polished to scale back dazzling reflections. The “capsule” fingers additionally remained, however in black, and the basic Speedmaster’s tachymeter bezel (most helpful for monitoring velocity over a identified distance; comparatively unattainable in area) was changed by a 60-minute scale.
Regardless of its extra standard styling and cheaper manufacturing prices, NASA determined to not order the watch, preferring to stay with what it knew. The Alaska Undertaking watches did ultimately make it into area, nevertheless, worn by Soyuz 25 mission cosmonauts between 1977 and 1981.
A white dial wouldn’t grace one other Speedmaster Moonwatch till 1997, when a commemorative restricted version was produced to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Speedmaster, and it was solely bought in Italy.
In 2008, a limited-edition Alaska Undertaking homage was launched, and others have since adopted, together with the Silver Snoopy of 2015. In 2021, a white-dial Speedy was launched in Omega’s proprietary Canopus white gold.
However this new mannequin in stainless-steel (reference 310.30.42.50.04.001) is probably the most attainable white model to date. Right now, Omega says the colour scheme is a nod to astronauts’ area fits, which it might be—however for followers of the model it can all the time relate again to these Chilly Struggle creations.
So essential had been the Alaska Undertaking watches, they had been additionally immortalized in MoonSwatch kind in 2022, because the red-bioceramic-cased Mission to Mars.
There are a variety of different touches that cement this new Speedmaster’s place because the religious successor to the Alaska Undertaking watches: The crimson Speedmaster dial textual content is a refined nod to the design of each Alaska fashions; and the shiny lacquer used for the dial (one other small first for Omega-kind) is in its personal manner paying homage to the extremely reflective capabilities of these top-secret prototypes.
Outfitted with a sapphire crystal, water resistant to 50 meters, and machined to tolerances that engineers of the Sixties may solely dream of, this can be a completely trendy Speedmaster—however like all one of the best Speedmasters, it has a strong connection to the previous.
