Compromise In Colors Is Gray — Brighten Up Your Life With The Multicolored Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified

Who would have thought a quote from the current Albanian prime minister would be the header of a Fratello article? It was Edi Rama (1964), who is not just a politician but also an artist and writer, who once said, “Compromise in colors is gray.” Too often, people make the safe choice of going for a black- or white-dialed watch. I get it. These two options are easy on the eye and easy to wear, but they’re also very bland and gray. It seems fear is part of the decision-making process. Chromophobia is an irrational but intense fear of colors that some people suffer from. An extremely mild case of that phobia, “chronochromophobia,” might be blocking your way to discover a lively world of watches that use colors to brighten things up — the multicolored Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified, for instance. That watch could also be the cure.

Enough about the Albanian prime minister but one more thing regarding chromophobia. Did you know most people with this disorder fear one or two colors? According to a majority of psychologists, chromophobia is a conditioned or learned response that less than 0.2% of the world’s population suffers from it in different degrees. By the way, I’m not ridiculing this disorder or people suffering from it because experiencing extreme discomfort or anxiety when seeing a color is no joke. Still, I will introduce the term “chronochromophobia” here, which refers to people who are afraid to choose a watch with a fully colored dial or one with different colors. The Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified, with its black dial and multicolored details, is the perfect watch to get over chronochromophobia.

Brighten up your life with the multicolored Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified

You’d best read RJ’s hands-on article if you’re looking for a spec list and an origin story on the Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified ref. 332.10.41.51.01.002. I will focus on my experience with it and the presence of the different colors on the dial. Colorful watches have always attracted me, especially chronographs with colorful details. Maybe you remember my article “Dear Zenith, Bring Back The El Primero Rainbow Flyback.” When I picked up the Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified, it seemed not Zenith but, rather, Omega had read the story and decided to help answer my plea.

There are so many colored details on the dial of this Speedmaster that it’s difficult to find a starting point. Maybe it’s best to begin with the most basic aspect of the watch — the hands. The hour and minute hands have been deprived of color. However, just like the indexes, they light up green in the dark due to the large amount of Super-LumiNova. The supersonic-looking tip of the seconds-counting central chronograph hand is orange — FYI, chrysophobia is fear of the color orange. And there is more orange to be found on the watch. The chronograph’s minute pointer, tachymeter scale on the aluminum bezel insert, six-minute indicator at 3 o’clock, and rectangular plots at the hour markers are all executed in orange.

Yellow and blue to brighten the gray

The matte, grained black dial is the canvas on which the colors shine. The “Flight Qualified” writing and the running seconds hand are in yellow. There’s also a yellow circle in the sub-dial at 9 o’clock. That sub-seconds register also shows a cockpit-inspired target/sight design element with a blue horizon. Just to be complete, xanthophobia is fear of the color yellow, and cyanophobia is fear of blue.

In a technical sense, black is not a color but a shade, but melanophobia and fear of the color black still exist. So does glaucophobia, the fear of the color gray. But the presence of black and gray makes the three brighter colors pop and be of functional use. After all, this Speedmaster with two sub-dials is, first and foremost, an instrumental pilot’s watch.

Nicely proportioned and brushed

What I like best about the Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified is the contrast and functionality that make for a colorful tool watch. There’s also nothing objectionable about the watch’s proportions. It measures 40.85mm in diameter, 49.6mm from lug to lug, and 14.65mm thick. This is a watch worn best with flight overalls. If you wear it with a shirt to the office, you must keep the size in mind. The all-brushed case — and that includes the crown and the pushers  — and bracelet most certainly also help the colors pop. Modern-day Omega watches are sometimes a bit too shiny for my liking, but this one has no distracting shiny bits.

Unlike most current Omega watches, this Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified has an all-steel case back decorated with the famous hippocampus medallion in the center and the 100m water resistance rating on the edge. The brushed stainless steel flat-link bracelet fits the watch and the wrist perfectly. That’s also because it has an easy-adjustment system in the clasp, which can be set in two positions for a 2.3mm total extension.

Is the Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified perfect? Almost. The steel watch weighs 145.4 grams on a bracelet. That’s not something I can’t handle, but if this had been made in titanium, an alloy 45% lighter than steel, the watch would weigh around 80 grams. Titanium would give the watch a slightly more grayish color, but that would not be a problem with the plethora of colorful details. Just look at the grayish greatness of the Speedmaster X-33 Marstimer to help visualize what I’m talking about.

A charismatic tool

The Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified is a charismatic tool watch with some neat features. In the sub-dial at 3 o’clock, for instance, there’s a gray 12-hour hand. You can use this hand to display another time zone if you start the chronograph precisely at midnight or noon for that time zone.

The date at 6 o’clock is functional, yes, but it balances the look of the dial with two sub-counters too. And not only does the watch look the business on the wrist, but it’s also a great timepiece to operate. The chronograph action of the in-house caliber 9900 is crisp and precise. True, there’s no quick-set function for the date, but the independently adjustable central hour hand is useful for time zone travelers and helps you correct the date quickly enough.

Having a METAS-certified Master Chronometer on the wrist is also part of the Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified’s appeal. While the movement performing within 0/+5 seconds per day on average and being antimagnetic up to 15,000 gauss might not be top of mind while wearing the watch, these numbers also don’t hurt. The combination of three bright colors on a black background with supporting gray hues, excellent build and finishing quality, plus definite numbers regarding the chronometric performance might cure your chronochromophobia.

The price for the colorful yet utilitarian Omega Speedmaster Pilot Flight Qualified ref. 332.10.41.51.01.002 is €10,500 (including VAT) or US$9,500 (excluding local taxes).