Omega’s latest release, the Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite, left me thinking a lot about the minimal effort the brand puts into releasing new watches and how, despite its lack of creativity, the pricing of its watches continues to increase without proper justification. Since 1969, Omega has been milking the same cow with the same boring story. The idea that the Speedmaster has to eternally remain connected to the moon landing when, for the first time, humans walked on the moon on July 20, 1969, is a stretch by now.
The new Speedmaster Moonphase Meteorite was released in two stainless steel versions with two different meteorite dials: one with a black PVD treatment and the other with a galvanic grey coating. For the first time since the release of the Swatch MoonSwatch Mission to EarthPhase, the Omega Speedmaster shows the lunar cycles seen from both the northern and southern hemispheres. Was this a bold move by Omega or just overhyped luxury by adding a new way to display the moon phases in their overmilked cow?
Per Omega’s website: “revealing a display that has never been seen on a Speedmaster before.” As I stated, it was already presented on the MoonSwatch Mission to EarthPhase watches. Therefore, this is not new, especially considering a stainless steel Speedmaster's astronomical price tag of USD 17,100.
Are the watches good-looking? Of course, they are.
Are they worth the USD 17,100 one needs to pay for them? I don’t think so. Even when the moon phase indication shows two cabochon moons, which have been crafted from genuine pieces of moon meteorite, the price is unrealistic.
In comparison, the regular Omega Speedmaster Moonphase costs USD 11,500. Is adding a meteorite dial and moon phase indicator with the northern and southern hemispheres worth an incremental USD 5,600?
To put things in perspective, the list price of a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona reference 126500LN in stainless steel is USD 15,500. While you don’t have a date indication or a moon phase, it is still the ‘daddy’ of steel chronographs today.
Per Omega’s website: “As they turn, they reveal the changing illuminations seen in the northern and southern hemispheres, and even more incredibly, the stars in the background are positioned exactly as they were on the night that Apollo 11 reached the Moon in 1969 —as seen from Omega’s watchmaking home in Bienne, Switzerland.”
The previous statement seems like a fantastic marketing copy to entice buyers. Below, you can see a star chart for that date and location, and I don’t think there’s enough space on those discs to add a whole background with the stars positioned exactly over Biel/Bienne that night. If you compare the disc with the chart below you see that is not as dense as it should’ve been.
Omega wanted to charge five figures for this new watch and to be realistic; they should’ve released it in precious metal to justify the price of a relatively basic timepiece, regardless of whether it is a chronograph with a moon phase complication.
At this price point, I can think of many watches that will give you way more for the money. For instance, with USD 17,500, one can get a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Chronograph Calendar that is way more watch than an Omega.
Are customers ever going to start challenging some of these brands that put in the least effort?
Since all the other watch media outlets don’t want to rock the boat or bite the hand that feeds them, I will remain faithful to my journalistic promise by bringing you unbiased editorials. I will continue to call a spade a spade and enough of a lack of creativity or overhyped luxury from some watch brands.
What happened to the days of Omega watches under USD 8K?
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