2017 Omega Speedmaster First Omega in Space 311.32.40.30.01.001
Ref: 311.32.40.30.01.001
Specification
Lugs : 19mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : Box & Papers
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold with its original Omega box, numbered edition plaque and Omega paperwork. The watch comes paired with a brown Omega 19mm tan leather strap with a signed buckle plus an additional Uncle Straps 19mm Flat link polished and brushed stainless steel bracelet with a signed deployment clasp, this will fit up at 7inch wrist. The watch is from November 2017 and is in worn condition, however, as you can see from the photos it is in great overall condition with few signs of wear. The watch comes with our 12-Months Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JTgkQS_eBz2nSltSh6YR1XkYIbNKVqVB?usp=sharing
4K YouTube video, skip to 12:20 - https://youtu.be/2wNwouWt3Gw
The Watch
Here we have a 2017 Omega Speedmaster First Omega in Space 311.32.40.30.01.001, this watch's design draws inspiration from the Speedmaster CK2998 that astronaut Wally Shirra wore during his "Sigma 7" mission orbiting the Earth in 1962. It was introduced in 2012 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this momentous occasion, the 39.7mm stainless steel case curves over your wrist with tapered flat-ended symmetric lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 47mm and a case thickness of 13.5mm give the watch an impressive wrist presence. Polished and brushed surfaces transition with crisp lines, down the right side, we have the piston chronograph pushers and a signed crown in the centre. The characteristic fixed stainless steel bezel has a black aluminium Tachymeter scale precisely executed holding a box-shaped sapphire crystal AR coated on the inside above a varnished black dial. An outer minute track is precisely marked with baton indexes coated in lume marking the hours, at 3 o’clock a recessed 30-minute register with a white hand, at 6 o’clock a recessed 12-hour register with a white hand and finally at 9 o’clock a recessed small seconds register with a silver alpha hand matching the hour and minute hands infilled with lume and complemented by a white tapered chronograph hand. At 12 o’clock an applied Omega motif, “Speedmaster” underneath. On the reverse a screw-down case back with a polished embossed Hippocampus in the centre of a waffle pattern and polished “The First Omega In Space” October 3, 1962” in relief around the edge., engraved on the polished edge “Numbered Edition No." The Hippocampus represents Neptune the God of the sea, it was conceived by Pierre Borie after seeing a picture of Neptune riding a chariot pulled by seahorses, it is the reason why the seahorses are wearing a bridle. Inside a manually wound Omega Cal. 1861, 18 jewels, beating at 21,600 beats per hour, as a manual wound movement, it is the direct descendant of the original moon watch that used the Cal. 361 movement. The watch comes paired with a brown Omega 19mm leather strap with a signed buckle plus an additional Uncle Straps 19mm Flat link polished and brushed stainless steel bracelet with a signed deployment clasp. The watch comes with its Omega presentation box, swing tag, numbered edition plaque and paperwork.
Personal Note
The perfect alternative to the "regular" Speedy, or any Speedy for that matter! This gives you all the charm of the original Speedmaster such as the "Ed White" reference, but in a modern and far more affordable and reliable package. The size is also perfect on the wrist at just under 40mm, the perfect choice for those battling with the larger 42mm Professional model and the smaller reduced automatic models.
The Brand
Formerly known as the La Generale Watch Co. in 1848 founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds. When he died in 1879, his sons carried on his dream. In 1880 they moved to 96 Rue Jakob-Stampfli where they remain today. The brothers produced their first mass-produced calibre, the Labrador In 1885. Just a few years later in 1892, they produced the first minute-repeater. In 1903 they renamed the company Omega until 1982 when they officially changed their name to Omega SA. During WW1 Omega watches were used as official timekeepers for the Royal Flying Corps and the US Army. In 1930, Omega and Tissot merged together to form Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère (SSIH) In 1931, another group was formed - Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG). Where SSIH was primarily French-speaking, ASUAG was founded by the more German-speaking members of the Swiss watch industry. In 1948 they introduced the first edition of one of its most symbolic watches: the Seamaster. Omega first introduced the Constellation in 1952. At the time it was Omega's flagship timepiece. The first models had a Cal. 354 bumper movement in them. Later in 1955, Omega introduced the Automatic Cal. 50x, followed in 1959 by the Cal.55x (no date) and 56x (date) versions. Many of the Constellations came with pie-pan dials, diamond indexes, and fancy lug configurations. All the gold Constellations of that time have the Observatory of Geneva's hand engraved on the back. The stainless steel and stainless steel/gold versions had a gold medallion on the back with the Observatory of Geneva. The eight stars above the Observatory stand for the many exploits of Omega in the world Chronometer competition. Celebrating the fact that all Constellations are Chronometer Certified. In 1962, when astronaut Wally Schirra wore a Speedmaster on his Mercury Sigma 7 Mission, making it the first Omega watch to enter space. After rigorous tests, NASA used Omega for all their Apollo missions including the 1969 Moon landing of Apollo 11. Today Omega is still an astronaut's first choice. In 1969, President Nixon famously said it was “too valuable” and turned down the first-ever all-gold Speedmaster Professional Deluxe. As a response to the ever-growing threat of electronic watches to the manufacturers of mechanical watches, Omega and many Swiss brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe formed Centre Electronique Horologer (CEH). Prototypes began to appear in 1967 with their production starting in 1968. Then In 1972, Omega introduced the reference, 198.030, which included the Omega calibre 1250, a ‘tuning-fork electronic movement made under Bulova's licence. Later we saw a merger of SSIH and ASUAG into SMH, or Société de Microélectronique et d’Horlogerie. This merger took place in 1983. In 1992, the company acquired Blancpain, and in 1998 it officially rebranded itself from SMH to the Swatch Group. Then, in 1999, they purchased and integrated Breguet into the Swatch Group.