Photo Report: The Dutch Speedmaster Get-Together 2023

This year, I have attended a bunch of watch get-togethers (GTGs) organized by enthusiasts and collectors, most of which are not specific to any brand or watch. A local watch community often organizes them, and when I can, I will join (though I try to keep the weekends for family). This most recent get-together was organized by someone from the Speedmaster community, and it was in the Netherlands. This combination left me no excuse not to join!

Watch roll with Moonwatches — Image: Juko

Speedmaster GTG

The exact location was only revealed on the day to guarantee the safety of all the attendees. This is quite a common thing to do because the guests tend to bring some (or all) of their precious watches. And even though everyone is responsible for their watches during these types of GTGs, it’s reassuring that the organizers prioritize safety.

Speedmaster ’57 60th Anniversary

With about 20 other participants, we gathered in a beautiful, private area in a nice restaurant in a central region of the Netherlands. This was so that everyone could drive there within 1.5 hours, as I did.

I brought a box with 21 Speedmasters and one on the wrist

Bring your collection

Most guests brought their Speedmaster collection (or part of it) to “share” with the other guests. I also brought a box with a large part of my Speedmaster collection, as you can see above. Others did the same. It resulted in some interesting insights into what drives these Speedmaster collectors, their favorite models, and what they’d like to see from Omega in the future.

The last bit was clear: they wanted another Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday edition. Another watch that came up repeatedly was the white-dial Speedmaster Professional that I recently wrote about. People seem to be very excited about that white addition to the catalog. It shows that we need more Speedmaster Professional variations again.

There were several Silver Snoopy Award models — Image: Juko

Special Speedmaster models

Anyhow, I also counted five Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award editions and three modern Speedmaster Calibre 321 “Gene Cernan” models. There were four Moonshine Gold Speedmasters, one white gold Apollo XI 25th Anniversary from 1994, a yellow gold Apollo XI from 1980, and a yellow gold Apollo XI from 1969.

The 1969 Speedmaster Apollo XI BA145.022-69

And its case back

Gold Speedmasters at the GTG

Interestingly, the number of gold Speedmasters that I see at GTGs these days is so much higher than, say, 10 years ago. That’s not only due to Omega focusing more on gold watches (there were gold Speedmaster Professional watches in the regular collection until 2012) but also because today’s Speedy crowd is willing to spend that kind of money on them.

Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday from 2017

The Omega Speedmaster ’57 from the Trilogy collection was also represented well during this GTG. I felt that many of the guests present started collecting Speedmasters around that time (2017). And, of course, a bunch of Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday models were present in the collections that the guests brought with them.

Many variations of the Speedmaster were present at the GTG — Image: Juko

Omega Speedmaster Moonshine “Panda”

Everyone is welcome

It was also fun to see that the discussion around collecting (vintage) Speedmasters was hardly about the financial side of things but about the minor differences between Moonwatch references, the details in the Speedmaster variations, the LEs that some of us missed out on, the watches that, in hindsight, guests wished they had bought.

Speedmaster Mark IV

Ah, and the effort some people went through to obtain a particular piece! I heard multiple stories, one of which was about a white gold Moonwatch (1994) that had to come from the other side of the world, with the current owner flying somewhere to finally pick it up on the evening of his birthday.

White gold Speedmaster Apollo XI from 1994, one of only 500 pieces made

The Speedmaster community is a very friendly one, that much is clear. Whether you have “just” one Speedmaster or a box full of them, you are just as welcome and respected. In this case though, for security reasons, the organizer made sure he knew every one of the guests or had gotten a trustworthy referral.

Speedmaster collection — Image: Juko

Omega Speedmaster Mark II 145.014 — Image: Juko

Speedmaster Professional “Chocolate”

Omega Speedmaster Alaska Project

Omega Speedmaster Apollo XI 2014

Omega Speedmaster “Ed White” 105.003

Omega Speedmaster 145.012-67 with caliber 321

The Omega Speedmaster Professional 105.012

The private room in the venue didn’t have the best lighting, so these pictures are not of the same quality that our photographer Morgan delivers, but I tried my best. On the Instagram account of organizer @watchstick_81, you will find some more pictures (with better lighting). A big thank you to him for hosting this event on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon. Omega also chipped in with a little gift for everyone who attended.

Omega made sure no one went home empty-handed — Image: Juko

A chocolate replica of the real deal — Image: Juko

Thanks to Juko for letting me use some of his images. Make sure to follow his Instagram account @jukowatch.