As astronaut Ron Garan Jr. was spotted with an Omega Speedmaster, they knew it was a special watch. The cooler part is that Ron walked through space with this watch. The X-33 was designed specifically with spacewalking in mind, which makes this watch super cool.

“To me it wasn’t a luxury item, but a piece of equipment — just one of many tools we relied on for mission success.” – Ron Garan Jr.

Watches given for space travel are usually NASA property rather than owned by the astronaut himself. It is very interesting to find this watch on Ron much after his space travels. After catching love for the watch, Ron decided he wanted to keep the watch so in 2014 he payed a fee to NASA to keep the watch. He added that he has been given many watches for space especially from the Russian space team, but prefers Omega everyday.

The caseback features NASA’s ‘meatball’ logo including Ron’s name and the name of the mission, STS-124 which makes it unique watch.

In the video below ViewsfromMark shows the box opening for an Omega Speedmaster 300 Spectre. This watch was a limited edition for the James Bond 007 movie. In the video, the details and features are beautiful . Omega includes many extra parts and a chest for the watch storage. Omega portrays great watchmaking excellence.

Before many of you start giving it mixed feelings about this watch, it is actually a pretty nice watch that fits a casual look. This Omega is dubbed ‘Denim’ for a couple reasons. At first glance you see the striated denim dial that looks neat. Also, the use of denim for one of the bracelets with leather accents and finishing. The denim on denim look with the dial and bracelet does not really catch my eye but when you switch it out for the steel bracelet, that looks special!

The brushed steel case measures 40 millimeters across with 20-millimeter lugs. The central second hand has a burnt orange finish to match the Railmaster text on the dial. The crystal is double-domed sapphire with anti-reflective treatment on both sides. This case is also rated to up to 150 meters.

Although this timepiece could bring in mixed reviews about its look, this new Railmaster looks very neat with a nice casual look. On the denim strap, the Omega Railmaster Co-Axial Master Chronometer “Denim” is $4,900, and on a steel bracelet it’s $5,000. This Railmaster is available at Omega. Remember that Swiss Watchmakers repairs all types of Omega watches and you can send yours in for a free estimate.

As you can see, many of the watches for the 2020 Collection have been inspired from existing or discontinued models. Three of the five watches are in stainless steel while the other two have gold aspects included. The Apollo 15 35th anniversary edition is one of those watches used to inspire this collection. The watches are limited to up to 2020 pieces and can be bought as the set of five. The set of five is limited to 55 pieces.

Every watch has ‘Speedmaster’ printed onto the dial in a deep red. On every of these Speedmasters, the case back it features an engraving of the Olympic Rings and the official logo for the 2020 Olympic Games. Some are worried that these watches are too close to the original watches used to inspire this collection. However, these watches will only be available in Japan via the Omega boutiques.

Prices are 680.400 Yen for the stainless steel models, which converts to approximately 5225 Euro. The bi-colour models are a bit more expensive, at 842.400 Yen, equals approximately 6470 Euro.

The Basics:

Case: 42mm diameter – stainless steel or 2-tone steel and gold, brushed and polished – solid steel caseback – sapphire crystal, domed – 50m water-resistant

Movement: Calibre Omega 1861 – hand-wound – 3Hz frequency – 48h power reserve – integrated cam-operated chronograph with central seconds, 30-min counter and 12-hour counter – hours, minutes, small seconds

Bracelet: 3-link steel bracelet, brushed and polished – folding clasp

The movements and calibers had to be refurbished that brought in traditional hand assembly with modern analytics and finishing techniques. An important step working with these vintage calibers were the addition of modern jeweling. Jewels used that to be a perfect fit for the original components.

The watchmakers at Omega wanted to keep the first designs of Omega’s wristwatch chronographs used during World War I by the British Royal Flying Corps. This features a hinged caseback. The result is watch that is both vintage and modern. While using the vintage calibers, the modern aspect of the watch is the analytical and manufacturing methods that were employed.

This timepiece is perfect for those who love mechanical horology as an art craft. Omega has shown great superiority by showing they have been in the game since the early 20th century.

Case Material: 18k white gold
Dial: White grand feu enamel
Strap/Bracelet: riveted leather, with 2 additional gold and brown straps included

Caliber: 18‴ CHRO
Functions: Chronograph
Diameter: 18‴
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Winding: Manual

Price: CHF 120,000
Availability: Now available
Limited Edition: 18 pieces world wide, individually numbered