Design your own omega

[mamas]

Here is an interesting question.. if you can modify your favourite omega.. how would you do it to make it better for yourself?

i would add a date window at 6pm on the speedy pro, and make all their casebacks see through. I would also make the calibre 321 in limited numbers (maybe 1000 pieces) in sucgh a piece and i think i would own the perfect speedy pro!

ghow would you make your ultimate omega?

[Sam]

I'd like to see a GMT Planet Ocean or an Aqua Terra Power Reserve.

[jeanmichel]

mamas said:

Here is an interesting question.. if you can modify your favourite omega.. how would you do it to make it better for yourself?

i would add a date window at 6pm on the speedy pro, and make all their casebacks see through. I would also make the calibre 321 in limited numbers (maybe 1000 pieces) in sucgh a piece and i think i would own the perfect speedy pro!

ghow would you make your ultimate omega?

hum I presume you are looking to a Speedy pro close to ... this one :-)



not mine unfortunatly :-( , but one of the personnal watch of Marco Richon, curator of the Omega museum : this is a prototype powered with the Caliber 3300 the prototype movement of the 3303
unfortunatly the marketing of Omega do not select this model to go in production and finally choose to make the "racing" instead

such a Speedmaster would also be one of my choice as my "own" Omega , but with the date at 6' like the Racing and with a display back , and the 3313 movement with the co-axial escapment

I would NOT be personnally in favour of a re-issue of the Speedmaster with the 321 caliber : I prefer thoses to be kept exceptionnal ... because they are vintages ! one of the pleasure to "hunt" a good vintage is to know that money can't buy everything ;D ... and finding a NOS speedy 321 is still a collector dream , planning a restauration is also a solution but this is a long process and need work !

What I LOVE with my 105.012 is ALSO the fact you will NEVER find it at your Omega AD



even if, despite its 40 years old it looks brand new !



the only point I "customized" was to fit a display back on it ... with THE engraving "the first watch on the moon" : because this ONE indeed was the first watch on the moon ... and not the new Speedy 861/1861

so yes I concider my 105.012 close to "the perfect speedy pro" but no I would not like to see Omega trying to rebuilt it : I love the idea of re-issuing older watches like many brands is doing now ... but I prefer re-editions not to be perfectly identical to the real vintages giving to them their unique features

cheers
JM

[mamas]

WOW! i did not know that such a model exists.. i think omega make a mistake and not release such a dream speedy and insted release the racing (which i also like, but prefer the prototype above, but as you say, the date at 6pm)

I supose in principle i agree with your sentiments with 321 re-release.. but i suppose i will agree with them more once i have my own 321 ;D
mamas

[mike]

sam said:

I'd like to see a GMT Planet Ocean or an Aqua Terra Power Reserve.

I would love to see a PO GMT!

[jeanmichel]

mamas said:

WOW! i did not know that such a model exists.. i think omega make a mistake and not release such a dream speedy and insted release the racing (which i also like, but prefer the prototype above, but as you say, the date at 6pm)

I supose in principle i agree with your sentiments with 321 re-release.. but i suppose i will agree with them more once i have my own 321 ;D
mamas

As a purist I would personnally prefer Omega issuing this watch WITHOUT the "professional" marking but only "speedmaster" , IMO the "professional" should be ONE and ONLY one watch : THE PRO , as soon as the movement is not either a 321 or a 861 it should not be a PRO and do think it was a mistake of Omega to call the X-33 "speedmaster professional" , I would by far prefer the "Flightmaster" name as it was first given : (spot this on the prototype displayed in the Omega museum)



this would have make more sense as it is a true a legit son of the vintage "flightmaster"

concerning your 321 "hunt" be sure your search is a PART of the pleasure of owning one it took me 3 YEARS to find the two vintage speedies I was looking for : the two speedmasters of my birth year one 105.012 and one 105.003 both manufactured in 1965
it took again 4 month to get my 105.012 back from restauration as I wanted one resteured "as new" and the other with the original patina: here is my other Speedmaster dated 1965 : a 105.003 :



note the rare "professional" dial on a 105.003 but which is indeed original and legit as the "professional" marking appear in summer 1965 (and not in 1966 as commonly stated) : I will keep this watch in the original condition as the patina is very nice on this one IMO

cheers
JM

[erik]

1) Sapphire casebacks on all automatic/hand wounded Omega's lucky Omega is a brand who does sapphire casebacks.
2) Power reserve on the Black AT Co-Ax + Brown leather strap.
3) Hope they will not discontinue the Speedmaster Pro. 3573.50 Sapphire/sapphire caseback + black leather strap, as it is the most beautiful chronograph in the world.

[stevew62]

I am making my own "Omega".

Using genuine Omega parts from various models & a "slightly" modified case.

I had an AIM chat with a fellow Omega collector oneday & we got talking about about various features that we liked & things "We'd have done differently". Our various ideas resulted in the conclusion that we'd both like to build similar watches.

I promised not release any Info about the final "product" until we're both ready.....

so what is it ?...... na na na ..... you'll just have to wait !

[mamas]

JM.. agree with you on the use of the term professional.. used too loosely by omega. I am not really a fan of the X-33 watch.. although i respect it..i do not like it that much.. i just can not see it fitting amongst the same echelon as the other Nasa watch, the speedmaster professional. I suppose that even if this is no ordinary digital watch.. i still could not grow to love it.
If it werent for the NASA relationship of this watch.. would you still like it? i suppose it has many useful functions for sure.
mamas

[mamas]

SteveW .. when you do unveil this omega.. please post some pics here!
mamas

[jeanmichel]

mamas said:

JM.. agree with you on the use of the term professional.. used too loosely by omega. I am not really a fan of the X-33 watch.. although i respect it..i do not like it that much.. i just can not see it fitting amongst the same echelon as the other Nasa watch, the speedmaster professional. I suppose that even if this is no ordinary digital watch.. i still could not grow to love it.
If it werent for the NASA relationship of this watch.. would you still like it? i suppose it has many useful functions for sure.
mamas

X-33 ... hum I guess this can be a new thread because we are getting quiet far from the initial discussion , however let me reply to you in a brief way (I would be delighted to devellop more if you want)

first of all a reply to your question : If it werent for the NASA relationship of this watch.. would you still like it?

YES definitly ! I am a fan of the X-33 nearly from the begining I bought mine and my father's one (a group buy !) in 1999 we both choose the X-33 for various reasons , none of them beeing NASA related

I was looking (as my father) on a "work" watch capable of "easy" countdown because my job involve quiet a number of task where the countdown is very important , and I wanted the alarm of the countdown VERY audible : I was owning a Breitling Aerospace which is a good watch BUT access to functions is loosy (all functions by the crown) AND the alarm is a very small beeep nearly inaudible in noisy situations

I wanted my "work" watch capable of displaying another time (I am working with the US so I want to keep track of US time) to be rugged but lightweight and if possible capable of timing very long events (I am in charge of qualifications and thoses can be VERY long)

The X-33 simply match 100% all the functions I was looking for ! and this is still the case on the market , I have tried the B1 of Breitling but I prefer my good old X-33 with a less "bling" look and functions I prefer (particulary long timing event : mission time)

So I own only one quartz watch, and this is the X-33 IMO the best quartz watch ever built by far , because instead of trying to "copy" mechanical watches, it takes the benefit of its technology and offers functions no mechanical watches will ever propose

Yes the look is "different" but do you expect computers to copy the look of typing machines ? : the X-33 have this "particular" look also because of the large LCD display with the incomparable backlight (it can be use as a small ... torch !)

IMO the only negative point of the X-33 is the shiny bezel : a point Omega corrected on the second model of the watch : the shiny bezel is IMO too "bling" for the watch any is very enoying because of light reflexions ... funilly the first prototypes had a satin finish bezel .. but again the marketing guys made a big mistake !

hopefully it is quiet easy to "convert" the shiny bezel into a satin finish one : I have done the work myself and here is the result



IMO the X-33 is the best quartz tool watch ever created it have only one competitor on the market : the Breitling B1 but the B1 do not fully match the functions of the X-33 , the only advantage of the B1 is having a thermo compensated quartz ... but my X-33 have a precision of 15 sec .. a year !!! so I think I can accept that

sorry that was a long reply ...

cheers
JM

[mamas]

Always a pleasure to read your informative and interesting posts JM.. howvere long or short that they are ;D .
I can see form your line of work that certainly the functions of the X-33 would be very useful. I suppose for my needs, a speedy pro prety much fullfills my requieremnets. I agree the bezel was way too bling for me.. but certainly, when i saw your pics on WUS with before and after.. a great improvement matt finish is.
Maybe you can post your X-33 review here.. as certiably for those looking for a multifunction Quartz watch.. the X-33 may fit the bill.
Has this X-33 replaced the speedy pro as official space watch? or do astronauts have a choice.
if you were astronaut what would you choose?
all th best
mamas

[jeanmichel]

mamas said:

Always a pleasure to read your informative and interesting posts JM.. howvere long or short that they are ;D .
I can see form your line of work that certainly the functions of the X-33 would be very useful. I suppose for my needs, a speedy pro prety much fullfills my requieremnets. I agree the bezel was way too bling for me.. but certainly, when i saw your pics on WUS with before and after.. a great improvement matt finish is.
Maybe you can post your X-33 review here.. as certiably for those looking for a multifunction Quartz watch.. the X-33 may fit the bill.
Has this X-33 replaced the speedy pro as official space watch? or do astronauts have a choice.
if you were astronaut what would you choose?
all th best
mamas

Has this X-33 replaced the speedy pro as official space watch? :

no it have not they indeed have the choice

Now that the shuttle flights have become operational, there are no longer requirements by NASA for specific watches to be worn during shuttle missions. With the exception of extravehicular activity where ONLY the Speedy pro is approved, all astronauts are confined within the pressurized environment of the shuttle. Nonetheless, the Speedmaster continues to be used by many of the shuttle astronauts.

however for the critical flight phases such as the lauch astronauts are REQUIRED to wear only an aprooved watch which can be :

The Speedmaster Professional
The Speedmaster X-33
Casio G-Shock
Timex Ironman

most of the astonauts choose the X-33 for its functionality (who whould PREFER a G-shock over a X-33 if you have the choice !) but some still prefer the speedy pro

if you were astronaut what would you choose?

EASY : a X-33 on left wrist and a speedy pro on right wrist 8-)

but if I had only ONE to choose you KNOW my answser : the Speedy Pro of course : nothing can beat the speedy pro for reliability , I own one for 20 years now and it have followed me EVERYWHERE so if I had the chance to go in space it would be OF COURSE with a speedy pro

cheers
JM

[mamas]

i agree, why anyone would want to use a timex iron man or a g-shock!, when they have x-33 or speedy pro. Not wishing to knock g shocks or timex iron men.. they are good watches.. but in a different leaugue to omegas. rather surprising that some of the breitling quartz models do not make this list.. i wonder why??
i would definately go for speedy pro.. it is the original!
mamas

[jeanmichel]

mamas said:

i agree, why anyone would want to use a timex iron man or a g-shock!, when they have x-33 or speedy pro. Not wishing to knock g shocks or timex iron men.. they are good watches.. but in a different leaugue to omegas. rather surprising that some of the breitling quartz models do not make this list.. i wonder why??
i would definately go for speedy pro.. it is the original!
mamas

Bare in mind that NASA supply the watches if you want BUT you need to give them back ... so some astronauts are carrying their personnal watches that is why you can spot some other brands
cheers
JM