Speedy Tuesday – Omega Speedmaster FOiS in Sedna Gold
If you are a regular reader of our Speedy Tuesday publications, you know that there are quite a number of variations on the Omega Speedmaster watch. One of them was this 2012 Omega Speedmaster “First Omega in Space” or FOiS in short. The Omega Speedmaster FOiS was initially introduced in 2012 as a 40th anniversary numbered edition model, to commemorate the fact that astronaut Wally Schirra wore an Omega Speedmaster (CK2998) in 1962 during his Sigma 7 flight.
The 2012 stainless steel Omega Speedmaster FOiS has – compared to the normal Omega Speedmaster Professional – a smaller case (39.7mm), lack of crown guards and the famous alpha hands instead of the white baton hands. The movement, caliber 1861, is the same manual winder that can be found in the Moonwatch. The Omega Speedmaster FOiS however, is only available on a leather strap and has a sapphire crystal (instead of a Hesalite crystal) and a solid caseback with bas relief Seahorse logo. A watch that was well-received among Speedmaster enthusiasts and that we covered here.
During this year’s BaselWorld however, Omega introduced a second version of their Omega Speedmaster FOiS. In gold to be precise, Sedna gold. Not only the material of the case, crown and pushers changed, Omega also decided to give it a beautiful “Panda” dial. The cream/off-white dial with its dark chocolate brown sub counters and minute-track might recall a certain watch from the Crown and named after a certain actor, there are more watches with a “Panda” dial of course. The beautiful combination of Sedna gold and brown really makes this watch stand out. This gold Omega Speedmaster FOiS watch is, like its stainless steel brother, also a numbered edition (not limited!) and will have a CHF 15,000.- Swiss Francs price tag.
The Omega Speedmaster FOiS in Sedna gold also uses the famous manual-wind Lemania based caliber 1861 movement. The Sedna gold case back bears the number of each individual piece and of course the Seahorse in bas relief. The watch is being delivered on a brown alligator strap and with a gold buckle.
According to our contributor Michael Stockton, who mentioned this watch as his favorite BaselWorld 2015 piece here, the watch is amazing on the wrist due to its size and straight-lugs design.
In my opinion, this watch is a step further away again from the original watch it commemorates, the Omega Speedmaster CK2998 (here, here, here and here). However, my guess is that Speedmaster collectors probably found their way to a CK2998 already anyway before buying a watch like this. The world is bigger than Speedmaster purists of course (we’d like to think differently), so there will probably be enough people out there who don’t have a specific association with this numbered edition Omega Speedmaster FOiS other then it is just a nice watch, in gold.
The guy who’s interest in the Speedmaster is also sparked because of the Apollo or space program in general is probably more likely to either buy a brand new Omega Speedmaster Professional ‘Moonwatch’ or go with one of the vintage models (click here for an overview in our Omega Speedmaster Buyers Guide). However, if you have those already and there is still appetite left for another Speedmaster, the FOiS in Sedna gold is an awesome choice for sure!
More information on www.omegawatches.com
