Omega

Team,

Weeks back, Nicolas show to us a picture of a Speedmaster Alaska. Cool watch.

Talking with a dear friend, that is a heavy Omega collector, he made a mention that he has a version of this watch and next weekend he handled to me a shoe box.

Inside was a Alaska Project, version 3 as we go to read in front.

Here is a picture if my friend's Alaska, as I just opened the box:

Background

Bye the end of 1967, Omega decided to enhance the Speedmaster Professional, that was already tested and certified by NASA for space flight, to improve its resistance to extreme temperatures (high and low).

At that time NASA wanted to create the perfect "Space Watch".

The Alaska project was born, with Pierre Chopard as the team leader

Two main goals were defined:

• Improve the movement resistance to very high and low temperatures
• Enhance the case, in order to better protect the watch, by adding an external protection
  

When the Alaska Speedmaster was initially created, several improvements to the Omega 861 movement, including lubricants were created. The dial and hands, from the classic Moon Watch were changed targeting better legibility.

For external protection, an big red cover, made in anodized aluminum. This red cover protects the watch from temperature variations based on the low thermal conductivity from the material. The red color was selected based on the level of protection of radiation.

For the watch normal case, titanium was selected (Some says that this was the first Ti cased watch).

Here is one of the five prototypes made, that is located at the Omega Museum.


(Picture from Omega Facebook page)

When those prototypes were made NASA, based on the performance from the classic Moon Watch, decided that there was no need of a better watch and the project was canceled.

To recover some of the project costs, Omega made the Speedmaster Mark II.

Later, Omega made a small run of the Alaska Project, without the titanium case.

This small run is know as Alaska version 2.

Here is one of the Alaska version 2, as it was auctioned by Antiquorum in 2008 by a fantastic price:

"Our" Speedmaster Alaska

My friend Alaska was released in 2008, with a limited production of 1970 pieces.

Classic 1861 movement, I'm unsure if it can handle the complete range of extreme temperatures as the original one.

As a serious collector, the watch is in perfect shape:



With the aluminum protection cover:

It's a beautiful watch. I wish I had one.

Classic Moon watch size. "Dresses" very well:

Finally a B&W picture. Lovely:

A warm thank you to Mr. E. for sharing with us, for some short time, its beautiful Speedmaster Alaska.

Thanks for seeing.

Cheers,

Nilo
This message has been edited by nilomis on 2015-12-27 13:29:30

It is so " Unspeedie "! 

Nicolas,

You need to see this one "in metal".



The dial color changes with the angle.

Mesmerizing.

In any case, any Speedmaster has some "fatal attraction" for me.

Cheers,

Nilo

 

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My second favourite Speed, after the unobtainable Snoopy. Got close to one on several occassions but it was not to be - let's see what the future brings



This message has been edited by KMII on 2015-12-27 13:53:18

I believe that the Snoopy will show up after the fad vanishes.
Be patient.
Cheers,
Nilo

Thanks for the encouragement

I've only seen one in pictures and never realized the significance. A white dialed Speedmaster is also less common, but this one looks different in a nice way, and actually stands out in the world of so many Speedmaster variations.

One point that I forgot to mention is that, I don't know why the running seconds at 9 uses a regular (black) hand.
My preference was for the three sub dials should be with the "triangular" hands.
Cheers,
Nilo

Amazing! I'm a huge Omega fan and I thank you so much for sharing with us these fantastic photos and the great story behind. I wasn't aware of this project and never saw this stunning Speedmaster version! I wish I could have one...

Cheers
Pietro

Pietro,

I wish I had one.

Cheers,

Nilo

That would be a nice addition to the Silver Snoopy

Mission Impossible?

That is the question.....


There are some for sale on Chrono24 for €4 - 5K. Perhaps that is still reasonable considering the new interest in special editions Speedmasters? Or will that fade away?

Again: compare quality, history, provenance, coolness, etc with other brands.... In my opinion they are still reasonably priced (ok, some Silver Snoopy's are maybe a bit overpriced at the moment). Why is a Daytona worth so much more? Better movement? Better quality (3 times?)? The (brand)name?









This message has been edited by Arie on 2015-12-28 12:45:16

I have some rules for watch (used / non-AD) acquisition:

1) I need to see/feel it "in metal"
2) Depending on (1), I need it checked by my watchmaker
3) Provenance is I nice word but it can also be tampered

You may call me paranoid but I saw so many fakes/franken in my years of this hobby that I'm very demanding on this type of deals.

Tempted, yes!

I just try to avoid the worst case scenario, that happened with me and many others.

I'm traveling to Europe by mid January and ... who knows?

Thank you very much,

Nilo

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Thanks for sharing the pictures and the detailed history. Great-looking watch.