Hello from SwissWatchExpo. Most of us are familiar with the phrase shoot for the moon,
and if you miss you'll land among the stars. With graduation right around the corner,
we couldn't be more in tune with setting our dreams really high for our future.
So today we're going to be talking about watches that have that same
iconic level of going to the moon. In fact, the Speedmaster professional known as the MoonWatch.
Like I said before, today, we're going to be speaking about the Omega Speedmaster Professional,
the Moonwatch. This is going to be the series of watches that were actually worn
on the moon and their successors, right? So we've got a couple of different variations
of the Moonwatch as they've come out through the years, the decades, rather, and over here
on, what would be your far left is going to be a 321, which is the movement,
not actually the reference number of the watch itself, but today we're going to be talking about
the different movements that power, the different versions of the Moonwatch. So over here, we've got
the caliber 321. This is going to be the original caliber that was used in the,
the first Speedmaster models. You know, dating back from 1957, all the way up until about 1968,
when it was replaced with a later movement that we'll get to, but this is actually going
to be the watch that was worn on the moon by Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong had one as well.
He did not actually, I don't believe he took his onto the surface of the moon, but it was there.
They did go into space. They're very somewhat elaborate movements that use a column wheel
and I'm servicing them can be quite hindersome. Not only because there were so few of them produce
relative to the very large number of Speedmaster Professionals that have come out since the
fifties. But these are going to be watches that not only have a difficult time sourcing the parts,
but the labor on them is much more extensive. So servicing these watches can come at a cost,
but for the truest, the person that is pure and really wants to identify with the culture
and the history of the watch. The 321 is the only way to go. Now, as I said,
in 1968, 1969 timeframe, they relaunched it and they came out with the 861 to replace the 321.
Now what they changed inside this movement was they removed the column wheel and replaced it
with a cam. So it's a cam controlled movement. And the reason that they did that again, was to help
create like a, a product that could be produced on a more massive scale to reach more people. There
was a lot of talk about the Moonwatch after it, after it became the Moonwatch, you know,
after going to the moon. And so a lot of people wanted to get in on this part of history,
but creating the 321 was only able to be done in relatively small numbers. The service was
extensive. And so they redesigned it and made some tweaks that made it
a little bit easier to service, a little bit easier to produce the movements,
which cuts down on your costs, the residual cost of owning one of these watches.
Now, aside from changing that column wheel to the cam control movement, they did increase the
beat rate from 18,000 vibrations per hour on the 321 to 21,600. You know,
which operates at three Hertz is going to be the reading that will come from that.
Now this one, like I said, came out like 1969. It was in production for the longest period of time
until Omega relaunched it again, this time adding a single digit of one to the
beginning of the movement. Now we're going to be talking about the 1861. This is a movement that
was released in the late nineties. And it, it was the successor to the three or the 861. It's very,
very similar, but they replaced some of the, the copper or bare metal parts inside the watch with
rhodium plated that, you know, increase some, it just makes it for a prettier watch.
It's easier to produce the parts. And again, once again, it is easier to service. So cutting down
on your residual cost of owning one of these and keeping it in your collection, even passing them
down for future generations. So all very, very, you know, relevant elements that you would want
to consider when choosing which Moonwatch you want to go with. They did make another change
when they went from the 861 to the 1861. And that was the, the removal of tritium, right? Which is a
radioactive element that fades away over time due to the natural, you know, the half-life
phenomenon of radioactive materials. So that was replaced with, uh, a photo luminescent LumiNova
Super-LumiNova where you can actually charge it with white to get that glow in the dark property.
Plus it's a lot healthier for the watchmakers who would be dealing with those materials.
You know, Tridium is not something that the wear of the watch would need to be concerned with,
you know, poisoning their body. But for anybody using a paintbrush,
that's actually dealing with the material. It was quite hindersome and damaging to their health. Now
I did say we've got four here, and this last one has a very similar movement to the 1861,
but it's actually an 1863. And the difference is going to be found in the fact that this has
an exhibition case back. This is very common in the world of horology, where they will put
a Sapphire crystal on the back on the case back, allowing a viewer or wearer to look
into the movement and actually see what is going on. So it's the same movement as the 1861,
but it's got the exhibition case back and they actually made it a little bit more ornate, right?
So they they've replaced some of the parts with just fancier looking parts that are more attracted
to the eye, more appealing I've got, they've taken a great step in detail, very fine detail on
a bunch of parts on the bridges and other elements of the, of the watch that when you really start to
look at it, it's quite captivating. It's something that you can stare into for quite some time
without ever really getting bored, because there's just so much going on in these watches now kind of
talking about all of them as a whole, they're all going to be 42 millimeter case size. That's very,
a signature feature of the Moonwatch or the Speedmaster Professional. They're also all going
to be manual winding movements. You know, you can get speed masters with automatic movements,
but to be within the professional lines, to have a Moonwatch one of the watches
that either went to the moon or a descendant of those, it's going to be a manual wind movement.
Now you're welcome to choose whichever one you want. Again, the truest or the purist is going
to be lean towards the 321, but the, the cost of owning one of I'm pursuing it as a collectors item
that you want to maintain over time. Something to be aware of it is going to be that more desirable
by collectors, but it does come with a couple of cons just simply because there aren't as
many parts for them. Come check them out at SwissWatchExpo, like the bell, subscribe. And
if you have any questions about the Moonwatch or any other watch that we may come across,
please reach out to us. We'd love to answer your questions. We'd love to get your suggestions,
and we can do some more videos in the future that kind of helps supplement
any of the information that you're looking for. Thanks for watching.