In tribute to the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, the first ever voyage to the moon, Omega presents the Speedmaster Dark Side of The Moon Apollo 8. The skeleton dial shows the movement, which is machined using a laser ablation technique to precisely decorate the bridges and the mainplate with realistic images of the lunar surface. Just like the moon, the movement reveals two unique faces. The side of the dial is in a lighter shade and represents the view of the moon from Earth; the back of the watch explores the dark side of the moon, which only astronauts have been able to admire.
Made of black ceramic, it features contrasting yellow painted chronograph hands, while the tachymeter scale and crown are filled with SuperLuminova. The black and yellow theme also extends to the leather strap, which contains a yellow rubber section running through the middle. The special words engraved on the case back, "We'll see you on the other side", were spoken by module commander Jim Lovell on board the Apollo 8 mission at the start of the exploration of the dark side of the moon, the mysterious hemisphere never before seen by the human eye. A few seconds before the spacecraft disappeared from the range of the communication instruments, Lovell uttered these reassuring words to the control centre.
At the heart of this model is a special 'blackened' and decorated version of the calibre 1861, now named 1869, in homage to the first moon landing, to celebrate the original Moonwatch movement and Omega's space heritage.
