Wrist Game Or Crying Shame: Omega Speedmaster White Gold Moonphase
With all this talk about the new Speedy, Wrist Game or Crying Shame reviews the Omega Speedmaster White Gold Moonphase. But first…
Last week, we reviewed the unorthodox Seiko Landmaster Spring Drive. This watch was incredibly polarizing in the comments section, but the supporters won out and gave it a 64% Wrist Game win. It turns out that entry level Spring Drive is still Spring Drive. Today’s pick shares only one major cosmetic similarity with last week’s subject and that’s the hue of its case. This time, though, we go fancy. It’s time for the Omega Speedmaster White Gold Moonphase.
The Omega Speedmaster Moonphase
The Omega Speedmaster Moonphase has always been an odd duck in my book. It carries the “Professional” moniker on its dial and during its many incarnations since 1985, it’s had loads of different case backs. Some have been rather plain, some (like today’s) carry the flight-qualified status (is it?), and some have display backs.
Regardless, a moonphase complication has never appealed to me due to the busyness required to handle its business. However, the “Speedymoon” has its share of fans and the last Professional left the market back in 2018. In order to do its thing, Omega modified the Lemania movement and called it the 1866. Do you think we’ll get a new Co-Axial 3861? Who knows, but we are here to talk about a very specific Speedmaster white gold Moonphase.
The Speedmaster white gold Moonphase
With all this talk about the new Canopus Speedmaster, we thought it was appropriate to find another model with the stealth wealth material. The Speedmaster white gold Moonphase reference 3689.30.31 is an incredibly special piece. This was one of several models from Omega in the 1999–2000 period made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Apollo XI and the moon landing. A “wet behind the ears” Robert-Jan covered this watch way back in 2009 and he was entranced. When it was released, it sold for about €9,900 and it was so unpopular that discounts were supposedly rife. Unlike the current method, Omega did not number these watches, but sage keyboard warriors tell us that only 285 were ever produced. That’s rarer than the steak tartar I had last time in Prague!
Some other details
Unlike some other lunar surface models, the Speedmaster white gold Moonphase came in at the standard 42mm diameter. For good or for bad, Omega chose a sapphire crystal and a closed case back. That doesn’t make it a sandwich Speedy, but more like one of these weird things I eat in Germany at meetings where they’ve forgotten the other piece of bread.
For less than €10K thirty years ago, a black leather strap came with a white gold folding buckle. It seems like the era-specific disintegrating box was standard as well. Dial-wise, this was a very pleasing model with a silver visage, replete with applied indices, and some lovely blued hands.
Today’s candidate
The Speedmaster white gold Moonphase on offer today comes via Chrono24. It and the dearth of photos belong to the seller A.T.F. in Monte Carlo. At first, I thought that it was the Alcohol, Drug, and Tobacco agency from the American government and perhaps this was a seized watch from a drug lord, but the story doesn’t seem to be that sexy. Moving on…
Over the last several years, gold Speedmaster Professional models have gone from being common and undesirable to rarer than rocking horse droppings. This is one of very few for sale and is selling for €16,800. As you can see, it has a replacement non original strap, but keeps the original buckle. There’s a box, but no papers. A quick request to the official archives should be in order.
But now it’s time for you to vote on this Speedmaster white gold Moonphase. With all the love for the new Canopus, is this a deal at roughly €13K less than the new one on the strap?
