Apollo 8 – The Best Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Edition
When Omega introduced the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon back in 2013, I was destined to buy one. An amazing full ceramic piece with their in-house developed chronograph. What more could you wish for? That came only five years later, with the introduction of the Apollo 8.
Well, a year later (2014), Omega introduced the Grey Side of the Moon, which made a choice more difficult even. An excellent platinum-like dial with an anthracite ceramic case color. We reviewed the Grey Side of the Moon here. Then, in 2015, Omega did something they better couldn’t have done in my humble opinion, they released a few too many variations on the Dark Side of the Moon. There was the ‘black black,’ the ‘pitch black, the ‘vintage-inspired’ model, and the version that had Sedna gold accents. In 2016, an additional version of the Grey Side of the Moon was introduced with a meteorite dial and some Sedna gold accents as well. We reviewed it and compared it to the (then) new Daytona here.
Dark Side of the Moon
It is not that these additional models since 2015 are no good, but it is just too much, and they diluted the original Dark Side of the Moon (and Grey Side of the Moon) a bit. I think the success and impact of the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon could have been substantially better (and longer) if they would have waited a bit longer before releasing all sorts of variations. It prevented me from buying the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon, as I believe the model would be more of a ‘statement’ in my collection of Moonwatches if there were just this one from 2013. More choice is not always better when done ‘horizontally,’ ‘vertically’ I believe in more choice to serve different budgets. Anyway, while the original Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon is still somewhere in my mind to purchase at some point, Omega released another version in 2018. The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8.
Apollo 8
When the original Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon was introduced in 2013, Omega already made the connection with the Apollo 8 mission in their communication. That mission was the first Apollo mission where the astronauts were on the dark side of the Moon. Somehow, this was only just a few lines in the press communication and on the website, but it wasn’t picked up by most people. Perhaps this black ceramic Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon was also mainly picked up by people who weren’t interested in Omega, or the Speedmaster, before. If I look at my circle of watch collecting friends, it was the first Omega to many of the Rolex enthusiasts that I know, for example. It opened their eyes towards Omega and became their first watch of this brand. More than once, I was ready to purchase the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon, but another (vintage) Speedmaster Professional came on my path, and that’s what I (mainly) collect. With all the Dark Side of the Moon variations being introduced in the few years after, my interested faded away a bit. Until 2018, that is.
DSotM Apollo 8 on the wrist of sailor François Gabart
Omega’s Last Baselworld
In 2018, during Baselworld, Omega showed us the new collection like they did every year. Their focus was mainly on the new Omega Seamaster 300M collection, a watch that celebrated its 25th anniversary and was revamped with an in-house movement, new case diameter, new dial etc. Ready for the next 25 years, you could say. But, for the Speedmaster fans, there was one watch that stood out (the Speedy Tuesday ‘Ultraman’ was introduced in July that year): the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8. The watch, with hand-wound caliber 1869, is almost the perfect combination of both worlds: modern Speedmasters using new materials and the Moonwatch heritage with its hand-wound movement. The caliber 1869 is based on the famous caliber 1861 but received an extraordinary decoration. This decoration is the result of laser ablation techniques combined with beautiful blackened bridges. The moon landscape has been used as an inspiration for this. A more in-depth review of this watch was done here. It took me quite a while to get used to the yellow accents of this watch, and for a long time, I wasn’t very sure if this was the right color for it.
Speedy Tuesday Event
The Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Ultraman that was introduced by Omega and us in 2018 took all of my capacity to think about other Speedmasters that year, to be honest. So the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 disappeared a bit to the background in the designated area in my brain reserved for watches. In January of this year, we then hosted an event in Bienne with Omega to introduce the new caliber 321 to a select group of Speedmaster enthusiasts from the Speedy Tuesday community. It was during this event that one of the guests put the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 on the foreground again. Even though before I wasn’t sure about the use of yellow on this Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8, this guy added even more yellow to make me realize it is actually an excellent combination. You might recognize his wrist, but if not, it is the world’s uncrowned Schnitzelking and Speedmaster collector Roy Davidoff. He put his Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 on an official Omega NATO strap in yellow, which makes the watch even stand out more.
The initial deliveries of this watch took quite some while, and I think Roy Davidoff was one of the first to receive his Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8. Watch flippers were already lining up to make a quick buck on these beautiful pieces, but luckily Omega managed to get their deliveries going at some point, and meanwhile, you can find them at a large number of Omega boutiques and authorized dealers.
Some thoughts on the Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8
As I wrote above, I think Omega would have been better off by limiting their Dark Side of the Moon collection by the first watch from 2013 and the Grey Side of the Moon in 2014. But, as the decision to bring out additional models can’t be reversed, it is what it is. I have no idea about the performance of the other models besides the Dark Side of the Moon from 2013, but I wouldn’t mind if these would leave the collection at some point. However, with this Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 (reference 311.92.44.30.01.001), I think Omega saved the Dark Side of the Moon collection. At least from an enthusiasts’ point of view.
The good thing is that this Apollo 8 watch is priced below the original Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon. Where that one has a retail price of €10.300,-, the Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 is a bit friendlier for your wallet, at €9200,-. This probably has mainly to do with the movement, as the in-house manufactured caliber 9300 is more expensive than the hand-wound Lémania based caliber 1869. The laser ablation process makes this movement very special, but it is still the good old 1968 base hand-wound movement from the Moonwatch, of course.
In my opinion, the Omega Speedmaster Apollo 8 is the best edition of the Dark Side of the Moon series, especially for those who have a weak spot for the Moonwatch. The 44.25mm case made of ceramic has all the pros the original Dark Side of the Moon has/had as well, and the hand-wound caliber 1869 movement is a feast for the eyes and visible on both sides of the watch. It puts this Lémania based movement (with a fantastic track record) in the spotlights. It could have done without the racing minute track on the dial and the racing strap, in my opinion, but at least the latter is easy to solve with a cool yellow NATO. Oh, and let’s not forget this is not a Limited Edition but in the regular Speedmaster collection.
Specifications can be found below. More information on the Speedmaster Apollo 8 can be found on the official Omega website here.
