A Collector’s Story: Arjun’s Speedmaster Odyssey
It is not a secret that we love our Speedmasters here at Fratello, and it’s great to see (and talk to) others who share this passion for these amazing chronographs. A few months ago, I met with one of our readers, Arjun, and we talked about Speedmasters for a while. To me, one of the perks of this job is to talk about the things we love with like-minded people. After we met, Arjun decided to take some time to write his story and share it with all the readers here on Fratello. So, without further ado, here is his “Speedmaster Odyssey” as told in this collector’s own words.
Arjun’s Speedmaster collection
Time Well Spent: My Speedmaster Odyssey
My personal journey to becoming an ardent Speedmaster fan is not particularly spectacular or article-worthy. It started almost by accident and was nurtured through countless hours on online watch forums. It reached its current crescendo after years of inspiration from those who walked the path before me. Yet, in its own way, it is unique by virtue of being mine and thus very special with all its happenstances and imperfections. And the milestone it reached on Wednesday, June 12th, nearly twenty years after I first entered this world, is one that I will fondly look back on. But more on that later.
Speedmaster Reduced. Image via Xupes.
My first real watch was the 3510.50 Speedmaster Reduced
It was 2006, and I had just helped a close friend pick out a beautiful Omega Seamaster at an AD here in San Francisco. I remember drooling over the shiny horological treasures in the glass cases without ever seriously contemplating getting something for myself. Fast forward two weeks and my buddy lost his brand-new Omega on a beach vacation (he’s pretty sure it was stolen). Being the unique human that he is, he decided that the only remedy for a broken watch heart was to buy another Seamaster!
So back we went to the AD to reacquire his watch. This time, I tried something on. It was a beautiful black dial chronograph on a bracelet with the iconic Omega logo. It was allegedly pre-owned but looked brand new, and it fit my wrist like it was custom-made. I was smitten! The reasonable sales price closed the deal, and I walked out of the store with my first luxury watch: an Omega Speedmaster.
The Speedmaster Reduced also came with a Hesalite crystal. Image source Xupes.
Learning the hard way
At this point, it may amuse readers to know that I happily wore that watch for five years before someone informed me that what I owned was a Speedmaster Reduced. “A Speedmaster what?” I said. The reference 3510.50 is a wonderfully sized sub-39mm Speedy, complete with a domed Hesalite crystal. It is powered by an ETA movement and thus has the convenience of being self-winding. Even the dial layout is interesting, evaluated on its own merit. But boy, does it have its critics! From being mocked for its name to being called “not the real thing,” no Speedy gets this sort of uncalled-for scorn. And Omega themselves did nothing to help the cause with the terrible model name! To be fair, a section of Speedmaster fans also defend this reference as a great gateway watch to the world of Omega Speedmasters, a point I wholeheartedly agree with.
Speedmaster Pro 3592.50. Image by ZeitAuktion
Next was the Speedmaster Professional 3592.50 Hesalite Sandwich
While I went on to own and love the 3510.50 for over a decade, my knowledge of the watch world and Omega Speedmasters had grown dramatically. I was active on several online watch communities, soaking up the advice and opinions of other Speedy fanatics. After the appropriate amount of brainwashing, I decided to “upgrade” to a Moonwatch and put that fabricated debate to bed. This commenced a quest that only nerds would find familiar. Articles were read, videos were watched, and faceless friends were consulted. The search hit a significant turning point when I ran across the original version of this article on Fratello.
Speedmaster Professional 3592.50. Image by Krlyuzh
For a very short period in the 1990s, Omega made a standard-issue Hesalite sandwich: the 3592.50. The 863 movement that powered that piece was given a “gilt” finish for an even shorter period. This creates a unique yet not highly collectible (read: affordable) Speedmaster Professional. The watch was easily available on the pre-owned market, and most pieces had a gorgeous aged tritium lume. Omega hadn’t yet made the move to Super-LumiNova. The configuration really packed a punch for its price. Fortune smiled at me when a well-known UK-based watch aficionado that I was forum friends with decided it was time to part ways with his 3592.50. I became the happy beneficiary of that sale.
Speedmaster with caliber 863, image via Sixfignig
I was not unaware that my final choice would still not qualify as a “real” Moonwatch due to the sapphire case back. But it was a dream purchase, and the watch is unlikely to ever leave my collection.
My First Limited Edition was the Speedmaster 60th Anniversary
The year 2017 was a banner year for modern Omega Speedmasters. It was the year Omega broke new ground by launching a first-ever online-only collaboration with every Speedmaster enthusiast’s favorite website: Fratello. But it was also the year Omega released a very special near-perfect reissue of the first-ever Omega Speedmaster CK2915 for the icon’s 60th anniversary. Available both in the stunning trilogy set (which contains all 3 releases from 1957) and as a standalone limited-edition piece, the watch combined modern robustness and vintage aesthetic executed to perfection.
I am not into vintage watches, and this was my opportunity to own the “OG” Speedy without going vintage. Interestingly, this limited edition was not so limited. Omega produced 3,557 stand-alone pieces in addition to the 557 that were part of the three-piece box sets. So, despite this being a limited release, it was not a long, painful search. One reason for this might be that many people confuse this release with the more widely available Speedmaster ’57 range.
But, if you know your Speedies, you’ll know that the no-date Trilogy is a stand-out piece with true historical roots and a one-of-a-kind modern Speedmaster. Once again, the forums came through, and a friendly collector in New York shipped me what looked to be a near-mint specimen. The watch has a modern flat-link bracelet that is to die for. But it looks equally elegant on a strap. The fact that it has a steel tachymete bezel and broad-arrow hands certainly makes it stand out even in a Speedy-only watch box.
Speedmaster Co-Axial Racing. Image by Arjun
Adding some color with the Speedmaster Racing Co-axial Chronograph
While horology has been a big part of my life over the past two decades, it has played second fiddle to a couple of other obsessions. I became a Scuderia Ferrari fan in the Schumacher era and have been an ardent AC Milan supporter for about 27 years. If you follow F1 or football, you know red is on my mind here. Remember that beloved Speedy Reduced we discussed earlier? Well, it just so happens that several Michael Schumacher Speedmaster Racing releases from the late 90s and early 2000s are all essentially the 3510.50 in an F1 livery. Additionally, the legendary Italian giant, AC Milan, released a limited edition 3510.50 for their 100th anniversary in 1999. This should have been the re-entry pathway for that (since sold) 3510.50 back into my collection.
Speedmaster Co-Axial Racing. Image by Arjun.
A sportier Speedy
That was until I accidentally stumbled onto the 40mm Speedmaster Racing Co-axial Chronograph—a watch that is so much more robust than those 25-year-old racing dials that it’s not even funny. This new variant (which was discontinued rather rapidly after its release) came in a series of gorgeous racing colorways. But for a Milan and Scuderia Ferrari fan, there would always be only one winner. Given the limited run, I had to do some deep online research to find a new or mint example.
So, imagine my shock when the piece I found happened to be located at a local San Francisco Bay Area AD. Hurried calls were made, followed by a quick drive down to Burlingame. And, just like that, a stunning column wheel chronograph with a red and black dial, clous de Paris subdials, and a handsome tire-tread rubber strap joined my collection. It makes for a world-class companion when I am watching my favorite sports or at the kids’ soccer game. And I regularly run into Omega fans who have never seen this model. I couldn’t even find a Fratello article on this model. And that’s saying something.
The Speedy Tuesday Dream
By the late 2010s, I was fully immersed in the world of Speedmasters and had a dozen or more Speedmasters past and present on my wishlist. And every such list has a crown jewel. Mine was the ST1. As I mentioned earlier, 2017 was a special year for Speedmaster fans, and when the iconic Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday: Tribute to Alaska Project III was announced to commemorate the 5th year anniversary of the #SpeedTuesday online community, there was a mad dash to acquire the piece. IIRC, it sold out in hours. Sadly, I was not a participant in the feeding frenzy.
But, as the years wore on and the ST1 reappeared on the secondary market at markedly high prices, I joined the hoards of Speedmaster fans who regretted not going for it immediately. If you’ve never handled the ST1 in person, the Instagram shots and reels will never do it justice. It is staggering how different a wrist presence is created by applying an all-brushed finish to the Speedy Pro case. And what about those radials? I’ve burned through light years in battery life UV-ing those concentric circles.
But wait, I got carried away and didn’t tell you the crazy story! I admired the ST1 but still wasn’t technically in the market for one. By now, Omega × Fratello had collaborated on a sequel that was very different yet equally masterful in its execution. The Speedy Tuesday 2 “Ultraman.” A watch that can quite easily claim to be the greatest modern Speedmaster. And now, it was testing my willpower to keep the ST1 at the top of my wishlist.
A golden opportunity
Then it happened. Someone in our local San Francisco watch community (49 Crowns) posted that a seller in Singapore was selling both Speedy Tuesdays. Out of sheer curiosity and with zero intent to make a purchase, I sent out an inquiry. Both pieces were fully stickered NOS and available to ship right away. Obviously, the seller preferred to move them both to a single buyer.
To this day, I will never fully understand what prompted me to be that buyer. And while it was the most (and probably only) impulsive watch purchase I’ve ever made in my life, I can safely say I have no regrets as both pieces are “lifers.” The Ultraman (now mounted on a custom onyx sailcloth strap with orange stitching) is definitely the attention grabber and conversation starter. Wearing it without carrying the accompanying UV torch is almost a crime. The ST1, though, is the quiet genius confident in the knowledge that it came first and represented a milestone for online watch enthusiasts.
A Speedy Grail to me is the Modern Speedmaster 321 Ed White
In 2020, when we were all emotionally recovering from the pandemic, Omega did something crazy to exacerbate that emotional state. Following their 2019 announcement that broke the internet about the resurrection of the iconic 321 movement, Omega officially unveiled its first modern steel 321 watch. The Omega Speedmaster Caliber 321 “Ed White” was a thing to behold. Some called it the perfect Speedy, combining many major historic design themes such as a classic 39mm case, straight lugs, DON bezel, and a stepped dial with the robustness of modern materials and manufacturing techniques. Yet, the biggest attraction was the aforementioned 321 visible through the exhibition back, hands-down the number one reason to own this watch.
This time, price wasn’t the only barrier. While not a limited edition, the production run on these highly coveted pieces was so closely aligned with demand that no regular Joe would get their hands on one. In fact, it was hard to even see one in the flesh until a few of our 49 Crowns watch club members in San Francisco started to get calls from their dealers. Much like its hard-to-get cousins before it, it took me a while to accept that I needed this modern marvel in my collection, even if it was unknown when that would be.
I had a close brush with a few overpriced aftermarket models over two years before one of our watch club friends decided it was time for their (pristine) 321 to find a new home: mine. And while I will always make a case for Hesalite over sapphire when it comes to Speedmaster crystals, the 321 (which is a sapphire sandwich) is now the marquee piece in my Speedy collection.
What comes next?
At the start of this contribution, I mentioned that I marked a special milestone on Wednesday, June 12th. This milestone prompted me to write this piece as a tribute to this site that shaped my Speedmaster journey. As luck would have it, I found myself in the Netherlands. A kind gentleman by the name of Robert-Jan Broer, with whom I had exchanged a few online messages over the years, agreed to meet me at Fratello HQ in The Hague.
Sipping a coffee with the greatest Speedmaster collector of all time, our ST1s on our respective wrists, I soaked in his passion for the watch I had myself come to love. He regaled me with stories I had only read in articles or never heard. We toured Fratello’s charming offices, and Robert-Jan showed me his personal collection. Time flew by as I filled my heart with horological gold. The hospitality and generosity made it a perfect Wednesday. I thought I would be meeting a celebrity, but in reality, it was just two watch nerds talking about our shared love of the Speedmaster. It was a day I shall not forget anytime soon.
Just the beginning
Like every fully infected Speedmaster fanatic, the story is far from written. While I don’t aspire to have an infinite collection of watches, there are two or three Speedmasters that I will cross paths with soon. I don’t know how long it will take, but the next chapter is already written. And that doesn’t factor in the 3.8 million special editions Omega will release over my lifetime!
If your Speedmaster journey has followed a similar serendipitous path, follow me on Instagram. Or send me a DM. I would love to connect: @sfeedytuesday
Do you want to share your Speedmaster story? Drop us a line!
