VIDEO: Slimmer than the Moonwatch – the new Omega Speedmaster ’57 makes a giant leap towards wearability

Fergus Nash

When Omega’s eye turned towards their 1957 trilogy of sports watches, the reissued vintage watch trend was sky-high, but not yet at its peak. The last few years have seen brands like Omega perfecting the art of the retro, figuring out which elements needed updating and which ones were best kept in their original state. The new generation of Omega Speedmaster ’57 watches (read our review here) have hit every horological nail on the head, but behind their instant adoration on social media there is a a lot to delve into. Recently, Andrew visited Omega’s headquarters with their VP of Product, Gregory Kissling, to find out more about these bold new models. “Initially, I just thought this was a beautiful watch aesthetically,” Andrew says in the video. “But then, as I researched more into it, I realised there was a whole story here.”

The most obvious changes to the latest Omega Speedmaster ’57 watches would have to be the inclusion of colour on the dials, something that definitely wasn’t common in the 1950s but now feels necessary to impart more personal character to the watches. The process for achieving such a lush and colourful sunburst is explained in the video, but what’s equally significant is the dramatically reduced slimness of the 40.5mm case. This new version now comes in at a svelte 12.99mm that transforms the overall wearability of the watch. “Compare this generation to the previous one and this is more than 3mm thinner,” Gregory explains.

That, of course, all comes down to the movement. “The idea was to remove the self-winding mechanism and now we have a [movement with] a total thickness of only 6.4mm,” Gregory says. “It’s actually thinner than the MoonWatch movement.”

Despite being whittled down, rest assured you still get a serious movement in the form of the Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9906. Manually wound, the balance wheel is made of silicon, which helps lower the magnetic effect of timekeeping, while two barrel wheels are used to give the watch 60 hours of power reserve. Plus, of course, this being Omega, you also get METAS certification as well.

For all the in-depth footage of this fascinating watch, be sure to check out the video.

The Omega Speedmaster ’57 pricing and availability:

The Omega Speedmaster ’57 in its new form is available now from Omega boutiques and authorised dealers. Price: $12,725 AUD (on leather) / $12,200 AUD (on bracelet).