What We Know
Omega started 2022 by introducing a top-of-the-line take on the design language of the very first luxury replica Omega Speedmaster watches, 1957’s ref. CK 2915, to commemorate the model’s 65th anniversary. Outfitted in the company’s proprietary Canopus gold alloy and featuring the absolutely lovely revival of the Lemania-based caliber 321, that limited-production release is priced at an eye-watering $81,000. Ever since then, we’ve been wondering when Omega might release a CK 2915 anniversary watch that’s priced in the realm of mere mortals.
Omega has just announced a complete refresh for the two-register Speedmaster ’57 line, a sub-collection of the Speedmaster family that was first introduced in 2013. It’s worth mentioning that the Speedmaster ’57 is an entirely separate beast from the ’57 Trilogy releases we saw in 2017. Although based around the same best UK fake watches – again, the OG ref. CK 2915-X – the Speedmaster ’57 incorporates some notable new upgrades even if the aesthetic package remains similar.
A major highlight here is the presence of a brand-new manual-wind chronograph movement, the Omega caliber 9906. It’s (naturally) certified as a Master Chronometer by METAS, features twin mainspring barrels mounted in series for a 60-hour power reserve, is outfitted with a column wheel, and has top Omega replica watches’ customary Arabesque Côtes de Genève decoration.
That’s all great, but what’s really interesting is its size. A 14 ligne movement (translation: approximately 31.5mm in diameter), the caliber 9906 has a height of just 6.4mm, which makes it thinner than the Omega caliber 3861 (6.7mm), the Sellita SW 510 M (7mm), the Breitling B09 (6.73mm), and a number of other mainstream manual-wind chronograph movements.
The thinness of the movement inside appears to have emboldened Omega to make the updated Speedmaster ’57 the smallest Master Chronometer-certified Speedmaster so far, measuring 40.5mm in diameter and under 13mm total in height. The few current-production high quality Omega Speedmaster copy watches under 40mm use movements that have not yet been certified by METAS, including the caliber 321 and caliber 3330.
The Speedmaster ’57 case has also been redesigned to even more closely resemble the profile of the original CK 2915. That means straight lugs with zero facets, absent crown guards, and a symmetrical caseband, just like the 2915 you’ve always wanted. Omega used tomographic scans of vintage CK 2915 examples – an approach no stranger to the Omega Speedmaster replica watches for sale at this point – in order to best understand the original case design and bring it back to life. The dial retains the classic “Broad Arrow” handset, as well as sunken hour markers (on the black dial) and, potentially controversially, the same shade of vintage-hued Super-LumiNova that’s found on previous Speedmaster ’57 releases. The green, burgundy, and blue dial variants all feature applied hour markers and white Super-LumiNova that glows green in the dark.
The bezel also maintains the inside-baseball double feature of a “dot-over-90” and “base-1,000” tachymeter scale. (Fun fact: OMEGA described the scale on the original CK 2915 as a “Tacho-Productometer.”) However, that bit of vintage esoterica might distract from another one of the new Speedmaster ’57’s new features – a stainless steel bezel insert that’s undergone a black laser engraving treatment for the tachymeter scale. Omega describes this process as involving two separate procedures, an initial engraving process followed by colorization, both done by laser.
Another fresh aspect of today’s Speedmaster ’57 launch are the number of dial variations available at launch. You’re now able to pick between four options, including archetypal black and blue, or you can go a bit wild and opt for a rich shade of burgundy or dark green. (Omega says it’s the same shade of green used on the popular Aqua Terra 41mm, from 2020.)
Finally, Swiss movements Omega super clone watches has opted to use the current version of its fan-favorite flat-link bracelet, which first appeared on 2019’s Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Limited Edition and the 2020 “Ed White” re-edition. It’s been updated with Omega’s micro-adjustment clasp that debuted on last year’s Speedmaster Chronoscope and allows the bracelet to expand up to 2.3mm. It’s a serious upgrade over the ref. 7077 bracelet used on 1957’s original Speedmaster CK 2915.
The new Speedmaster ’57 is priced similarly to the recently released Chronoscope, at $8,300 on leather and $8,600 on bracelet.
What We Think
I was in Geneva last November when vintage wholesale replica Omega Speedmaster 2915-1 watches, with a tropical dial, unexpectedly became the most expensive Omega at auction ever, selling for over $3.4 million during the Phillips: Geneva Watch Auction: XIV sale. I remind you of all that for a reason – vintage Speedmaster 2915s are seriously, exceedingly rare and have been highly sought-after for years if not decades. Examples in good condition don’t show up often, and when they do, collectors aren’t afraid to fight over them. (Check out Eric Ku’s episode of Talking Watches to see a top-notch 2915 example.)
A watch like the 2022 Speedmaster ’57 will allow countless more individuals to engage with the history of one of the watch world’s most famous chronographs. Because I don’t know about you, but the $8,600 price of the new Speedmaster ’57 is a lot more palatable for my budget than chasing a pristine CK 2915 into seven figures at auction.
Early Speedmasters from the 1950s hold a special sort of mystique for many watch lovers, myself included. These AAA fake watches tell the story of a function-first racing chronograph before NASA or even Wally Schirra got ahold of them, illustrating just how special a watch the Speedmaster was from its beginning. Did you know that the CK 2915 is considered by many collectors to be the first wristwatch that incorporated a tachymeter scale onto an external bezel? Now you do – older chronographs would generally place the scale on the dial itself.
I appreciate how the new Speedmaster ’57 is able to look back at its 65 years of history but also able to continue the evolution of the Speedmaster family as a whole. The new Master Chronometer manual-wind caliber 9906 (the previous production version of the Speedmaster ’57 used an automatic movement) looks simply fantastic. The moderate 40mm × 12.99mm dimensions make the new Speedmaster ’57 even smaller than the Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional 3861. And the combination of the contemporary flat-link bracelet paired with a micro-adjustment clasp is something Speedmaster fans have been waiting on for decades.
When Omega first launched the Speedmaster ’57 line in 2013, it was a nice-enough reissue with a few controversial attributes – the primary one involving the lack of the “Broad Arrow” handset, a choice eventually rectified with another ’57 release, a whole two years after the collection’s debut. Ben even wrote in 2013 that he didn’t view the replica watches shop site as intended for “serious vintage guys.”
“To me, this watch offers a vintage look without going too hard into watch-nerd territory,” he said, in a Hands-On article published a few months after the collection’s release at Baselworld.
That may have been the case nine years ago, but I think the new-for-2022 Speedmaster ’57 has nailed its watch-nerd quotient. In my mind, the updated ’57 line is ready to assume the role once occupied by the CK 2998-inspired “First Omega In Space,” as a vintage-inspired, manual-wind alternative positioned right next to the classic cheap online fake Omega Speedmaster Moonwatches Professional.