Reply With QuoteSimply, no. Not robust enough and lacks sufficient water resistance to be classed as a truly great sports watch.
Have just rejoined the Omega Speedmaster moonwatch love and I have to admit I have asked myself the question of is the Speedy the greatest sports watch ever.
With the history, build quality and price point, you get one hell of a watch. A watch which has changed little since NASA took it on board in the 60’s. With all this clamour for all that is Rolex or limited edition Speedmasters , buyers paying double or even triple to own one from the grey market, what are you actually getting that the original steel Speedmaster does not deliver.
Looking at the Speedmaster and the current watch market, I really do believe it is simply the best sports model available.
Simply, no. Not robust enough and lacks sufficient water resistance to be classed as a truly great sports watch.
I'm a bigger fan of the Speedy 125. I do appreciate you need the wrist to pull one off.
"A man of little significance"
I got one on loan.... Absolutely couldn't live with the difficult manual wind. Must be my fingers, but I couldn't get a decent grip on it
Eddie's prs5 was a delight to wind in comparison.
Simply put. No. Nice watch. Worthy of a collection. But nothing more, in any of it’s fancy guises. Too Audi for me.
I very much like mine but I don’t think it’s the “best ever” watch by a long stretch.
In fact there is no “best ever” watch at all.
If you like it, great. If you don’t then that’s also great.
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It’s a good, highly legible, robust watch, with sufficient WR for anything anyone does on dry land.
I do though wonder how many Omega would sell, if it hadn’t been to the Moon.
I imagine that to call a watch “best ever” in a given category there would need to be a tight definition of the term “Sports watch”. Without such a definition I find it difficult to pick a watch with less than 100m WR. I doubt that anything more is required for the majority who include swimming in their “sports activities”.
This ^^^^^^^^ plus don't forget it's manual, rather than auto.Originally Posted by TaketheCannoli
If you need an auto chronograph, (with a date? ), which is tough as nails, waterproof, nicely made, looks good and easy to read, then you could do a lots worst than a Zenith or Blancpain.
Failing that save some money and buy Seiko.
Personally I don't require a chronograph when out sporting, so my choice would have to be either a Rolex SD or Rolex GMT/Explorer 2. Does every thing I need it to do.
Last edited by Andyg; 16th August 2019 at 20:16.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Speedmaster Moon Watch is among the _most legendary_ watches. Definitely in the top-10.
What is the "best"? Well that's difficult to say (or even define).
But the most iconic watch is the Rolex Submariner, like it or not.
Yeah a lot of people say it's too "mainstream" but so was Elvis and The Beatles.
Is it the best ever watch?
Yes.
Seriously?
No.
..and I absolutely love my Speedmaster.
But it’s like what is the best ever car?
Wait, talking about cars:
I think the Speedy is like you could get a freshly manufactured but all original E-Type from a Jaguar dealer anytime you walk in.
Would I love one?
Absolutely.
Would it be the best car by today‘s standards?
No.
Collectors will tell you that the Speedmaster is an exceptional watch, however, they would sell the virtue of their wives and daughters for a Daytona. Close but no cigar.
Spot on.
Omega is a great brand but it will ALWAYS play second fiddle to Rolex.
That being said, I personally like the Moon Watch more than any Daytona. But would I choose it over a Daytona? Never.
Nonsense. Ugly things, Daytonas. The old ones are too small, I'd rather have Val.72 Autavias, and do.
"A man of little significance"
Rolex watches are all horrible. The dealers are generally absolute w)(&7rs and the whole “waiting list” business is just manufactured to try to keep the prices up.
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You've no shortcomings in that department Simon
In a word No
Planet Ocean is .
Not sure what all the fuss is about with the speed master.
Just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid.
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Fnarr.
I do love a good speedie and am lucky to have 2 in my possession. Are they the best? No, not now after recent price increases. Bang for buck there is probably better out there (certainly if buying new but second hand I think is a better way to go with them now) and they always feel not overly robust in the same way as say (god help me) a rolex. Maybe its because I've got the heslite models, I may feel different with a crystal one. Other than that they are extremely comfortable, easy to read, I like the manual wind, look smart on no end of straps. To me honest its my go to watch when I think about it
I need a big, heavy watch on my left wrist to balance out the unnatural muscles on my right.You've no shortcomings in that department Simon
"A man of little significance"
Form and function blended seamlessly. From a design perspective the Speedy Pro is superlative. Wouldn't say best watch ever by a long stretch
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Legibility wise I’d guess it was the first really easy to read Chrono . Of course there are plenty of beautiful Longine , UG chrono’s but it stands head and shoulders above others for readability . Those who say it’s not robust . Well it was near on melted , frozen , blasted with sound waves and god knows what.
Omega in their wisdom decided to re WR my -71 so it’s perfectly possible to swim in a 48 year old watch. It’s not a diver so it makes no claims for that.
Is it the best ever ?
I’d say it joins a happy group of the Rolex Sub , Omega Speedmaster and Breitling Navitimer as being the classic tool watches. Personally I’d add an SM300 to that list as well.
Daytona’s, whatever the collectivity and immense price are simply not legible enough and never filled a specific industrial / sport / engineering requirement .
Doesn’t mean Daytona’s don’t have a place , but there place is more in the UG Nina’s or Eric Clapton’s . Super fashionable and super expensive.
The speedmaster is a lovely watch, but in my view it's not even the best Omega - my vote goes to the Seamster 2254.
I found that, but if you just use just the index finger underneath and grip keeping the thumb still, it’s all good !
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Visually it could be. It's a phenomenally legible and attractive design. The lack of WR does affect its versatility.
So yes and no. ;-)
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Exactly, no need to grip.
Really? Not me, and not plenty of other watch owners. I sold my Daytonas , including the ceramic, because they are, in truth, a second-rate design visually. The dial is a bit of a mess, hard to read and the lockable pushers are absurd.
Well made, tough, but really bought as jewellery .
The Speedy Pro is just a much better design visually. Streets ahead. It’s one of only a handful of truly great designs. I’d put it in the top five....along with the Rolex Sub and DateJust.
2 of my 3 favourite watches in the same post!
I agree. I had both. I still have the Speedmaster.
What a load of nonsense.
Are we still talking about my reasons for having a Speedy 125?
"A man of little significance"
Best watch ever? Maybe, maybe not. It’s all about opinions. I’ll say yes, I’m a big fan! It’s not even about the moon link for me. I like the fact it’s a manual wind and therefore different to almost every watch I come across. Biggest thing for me though it’s the looks and versatility of it. It looks good on almost any strap/bracelet.
I love my Speedmaster, it’s legible, robust, good looking, accurate but it’s not even the best manual winding Chronograph Omega made.
That honour belongs to the Flightmaster. 😋
The Speedmaster is not the best watch in the world by some margin (the Tuna surely) but it beats the pants off a Daytona in my eyes.
Nope.
Without the NASA connection it’d be loved like a ginger stepchild.
It is a nice vintage watch.
As a watch that is still in production, it is overpriced and nothing special:
- WR sucks (lack of it...)
- plexiglass where sapphire is industry-standard
- handwound, not auto
- low frequency movement
- no date
- no column wheel
It is just the NASA link that saved it from being taken out of production 20 years ago.
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LOL, I love my ginger daughter...
The best? No! But I'd say the most iconic. It went with us off this planet and onto another celestial body... nothing will ever be as cool as that. I cannot see us going to Mars with a mechanical watch... so, that was that.
It’s an excellent iconic design, it’s robust enough for most wearers, it’s got enough WR to not leak under most conditions....enough is enough if it keeps the water out and in my experience it had enough. Appeals more to the folks who appreciate vintage watches, where acrylic crystals and hand- winding are accepted without question, but viewed objectively by a more critical owner it doesn’t stack up.......but neither does an E Type vs a modem sports car!
What I really struggle to understand is the high esteem in which the vintage models are held, that’s really contrived in my view because rhe current offering is virtually the same beast! All that Ed White and dots over 90 business is pointless to me, I really can’t see the appeal.
I really wish the Moonwatch was a couple of mm smaller, it wears too big for my taste.
LOL, the Ed White is 39 mm with a 19 mm lugsize.
Ideal size. That is why I love mine so much.
Best ever? Probably not.
My favourite watch? Yup. Love it and I always have, for lots of reasons. History, cachet (Omega was the ‘best’ brand in our family when I was a kid), looks, versatility, all sorts.
However, even I would admit that it’s probably not even the best Omega. Nothing wrong with thinking it is though, if it ticks more boxes than anything else in your book of bestest things ever
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You are aware that Omega dwarfed Rolex until the late seventies and have made everything for everyone, often brilliantly, for rather a long time. Rolex has a superb ad agency and some cool bits, but they really don't come close to Omega's depth and breadth until surprisingly recently. Rolex may have supplied a few hundred pilots in prison, Omega provided the UK with over 110,000 watches as well as parts, jewels and so on. Rolex may have failed to reach the top on Everest, but it was Griffith Pugh's Cal.321 Seamaster chronograph that timed the science in 51 and 53 that got Smiths to the top. While Rolex gave watches to spacemen in an act of marketing genius, it didn't quite pay off. While Omega made the first dive watch in the thirties Rolex slipped in eventually after Zodiac and Blancpain. Rolex have never made a thermocompensated or thermoinsensitive quartz, hell, Rolex didn't actually make their own movements until '93, relying instead on the Aegler factory from the thirties onwards. I could carry on...
I always say that every watch is a compromise, and I'd say that the Speedmaster is the best watch I am aware of for that range of compromises. It can convey rather a lot of information at a glance in any light conditions and be operated flawlessly without looking at it. The Daytona simply doesn't have the unity of purpose. It's a lovely watch and the Oyster case never fails to delight as well as it protects, but...
I certainly wouldn't. The modern Daytona is probably the most overrated watch (in terms of design) ever. A vintage Daytona, however...........
It's close.
It's just not a Datejust.
So it's second best but way ahead of the Casio who's behind it. IMHO ;)
That's easy, it's the only Speedmaster made with the finest chronograph movement ever made bar none. Even if you do have to have a particularly capacious mantelpiece to be able to wear it properly.
If only a Datejust could survive a drop of six feet and was 200m waterproof it would be almost up there with the Certina DS1 ;-)
It could be argued that a Bulova Lunar Pilot watch is equally cool.
The Bulova was used on Apollo 15 and landed on the moon.
Best chronograph? Almost certainly.
“Best ever watch”? Not so much.
Ah, didn’t know it was smaller, thought they were all 41 or 42mm.....every day’s a schoolday.
The Speedmaster seems to be a watch lots of people want to love because WIS rules say you must.
To me it does everything right, but is missing a special spark.
Best looking watch, possibly.
Coolest watch, possibly.
Best watch, certainly not.
Still love it.
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And if you wanted a modern one.....FOIS Numbered Edition hits the spot
Best watch ever? Probably not but definitely in the top ten.
I think it has a unique ability to look fantastic whether on a modern bracelet, a vintage bracelet, leather band, perlon, NATO in almost any colour. Dressed up or dressed down. Any combo looks great!
Not many watches look great with 50 years worth of wear and tear clearly in evidence
Well....
It’s very photogenic
There is a cool NASA story
In the mad world of watches it represents excellent value
Hand winding is inconvenient
Inexplicably, I don’t really like mine
So no, it isn’t
D
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