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PHOTO REPORT: Omega Dark Side of the Moon Australian Launch PHOTO REPORT: Omega Dark Side of the Moon Australian Launch

PHOTO REPORT: Omega Dark Side of the Moon Australian Launch

Andrew McUtchen

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Before we begin the photo report, let’s recap one important detail. The ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (DSOTM) Speedmaster released at Basel 2013 in black ceramic took precisely 19 years to get right, or as Head of Product at Omega Jean-Claude Monachon says “to get it to a point where Omega would be satisfied to release it”. The already verging on iconic timepiece is kind of a big deal for the venerable Swiss maison; you might even say epic.

And epic is the only word that could sum up the launch for the DSOTM, at Fox Studios, Sydney, the location used by Australian director Baz Luhrmann for sweeping cinematic films like Great Gatsby and Australia. In an event akin in size and scale to a moon mission, Omega treated 80 guests to an experience too large, too enveloping, too dwarfing to ever forget. And not only because the bloody grey ‘cosmic dust’ in the table setting is now all over my black tux and may never come out…

Here are some figures and some pictures to begin to express the size and scale of the event:

THE NIGHT, IN NUMBERS

 1 – The number of times Bollinger has co-branded a bottle of their champagne. This was Omega X Bollinger, the first and only time the 185-odd year old champagne producer has done so. A flute was served on arrival and refilled diligently by wait staff throughout the night.

100– The length in feet of the dining table. That’s one and a half cricket pitches or tennis courts. Guests were seated for a candlelit two-course dinner beneath enormous projections of moon-landing scenes and shots of the DSOTM.

15 – The number of Speedmaster museum pieces flown over from the Omega archive for the event, dating back to 1957. They were arranged in glass spheres, somewhat like fish bowls, in a circular formation – encouraging guests to re-tread the historical journey.

0 – The number of times Omega President Mr Stephen Urquhart said that the DSOTM was a “giant leap” for the watchmaking industry. Oh, go on, just once would have been fine.

2.2 – The weight, in kilograms, of fine chocolate and honeycomb we consumed from a display that spilled over serving tables, laced in dry ice for dramatic galactic effect.

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Celebrities, champagne, etc, but what part of the studio had our rapt attention from the minute we walked in? These pretties….
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The subtlety and space of the interior was impressive, with a refined colour palette of black, red and at least 50 shades of grey. Watch geeks could sneak away from proceedings at any time to look at the super-rare museum pieces up close and illuminated.
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Why choose this one to show? The King of Speedies right here; the mythic Calibre 861, still in production today. “People won’t allow us to change it, nor do we want or need to.” – Stephen Urquhart, President of Omega in an interview with Time+Tide.
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The unusual display cases worked with differing levels of success, depending on the position of the bulb. Overall though, the glass slightly magnified the watch, giving it slightly bigger proportions.

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Seated under a super-moon.

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Much talk ensued at our end of the table on moon-landing conspiracy theories. The coincidence that we were dining inside a movie studio was not lost. “It had to be fake,” said one guest, “the flag flaps in the wind. There’s no wind in space.” And there’s no comment here.

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“Emerging markets like Australia are so refreshing to visit…” – Stephen Urquhart, President of Omega.
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Death by chocolate….

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Erin Collins, Stephen Urquhart, Megan Parker and Shannon Moor
Erin Collins, Stephen Urquhart, Megan Parker and Shannon Moor