Earlier this year, images of a rather peculiar looking Speedmaster used by US military pilots cropped up, prompting guesses at what it might mean for a commercial release at some down the line, if ever. Today, we get our answer with the release of the Speedmaster Pilot, a unique and colorful variation on the Speedmaster formula. We associate the Speedmaster with NASA’s moon missions, but the history of the watch itself goes back much further, even appearing on the wrists of the test pilots that would become the first astronauts. This is a ‘flight qualified’ Speedmaster that honors atmospheric flight, and the brand’s history within.
The Speedmaster enjoys a prolific history, and Omega isn’t afraid to leverage that fact. With the Speedmaster Pilot, the watch’s connection to active pilots is highlighted. If you’ve ever read (or watched) The Right Stuff, you’ll be familiar with the process by which a group of military test pilots known as the Mercury 7, would lay the groundwork for NASA’s eventual space program. Here, Omega is establishing the Speedmaster’s history not only as a space watch, but also a pure pilot’s watch. Omega points out that they: “…delivered more than 110,000 watches to Great Britain’s MoD to support its Air Force and Navy pilots during service.”
In looking at the new Speedmaster Pilot, there are three watches that come to mind which serve as a base to set context. The first is the modern Speedmaster ‘57, which uses a dual register layout as we see here, stacking the minute and hour totalizers into a single sub dial at 3 o’clock. The Speedmaster Pilot takes the similar route, and even uses the same 40.5mm straight lug case. One key difference is that Omega is using their automatic caliber 9900 with the Speedmaster pilot, forgoing the manually winding caliber 9906 in the ‘57. As a result, the Pilot measures in at 14.7mm in thickness.
The other two watches are the Mk40 Speedmaster, and the flightmaster references, both of which introduced bold, graphic color schemes to the dial to aid in legibility of the complications. The new Speedmaster Pilot finds inspiration here, and makes use of instrument panel style designs in an effort to make the complications that much easier to read and use. The running seconds hand at 9 o’clock is set within a gun sight style recession, with the top half rendered in blue. Further, the initial segments of the timing sub dial are framed in a similar manner to the fuel burn-rate gauge found in a cockpit. Both bring a flair of style to the situation, and their benefits to legibility a nice side effect, as far as I’m concerned. Especially when paired with a matte black dial.
The flightmaster was a particularly compelling watch made in the late ‘60s and ‘70s with a unique dial design set within a UFO shaped cushion case. The watch made an outsized impact both then and now, and Omega seems keenly aware of that fact with the design of the new Speedmaster Pilot. Lord knows we have enough Speedmaster variations, but this one feels different. Like the new Seamster 300M references we’ve seen released recently, this watch steps off the well beaten path just enough to have me excited to see what Omega has cooking as we head into 2024.
The new Speedmaster Pilot is priced from $9,500 on a steel three link bracelet, with additional fabric straps available. Omega
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