I would like to use this week’s Fratello Friday to make an educated guess on a new watch that Omega is likely to present during Baselworld 2015 later this month. Almost every year, Omega introduces a limited or special-edition Omega Replica Speedmaster to commemorate historical achievements by NASA in which a Speedmaster was involved.
For example, every five years, Omega introduces a Speedmaster Professional Apollo XI limited anniversary edition to commemorate the moon landing in 1969. Last year, it was the Cheap Omega Replica 45th Anniversary edition, limited to 1,969 pieces.
So, going through the list of Apollo missions, we see that Omega would have only a few milestones to commemorate in 2015. There are the 1970 Apollo XIII mission and the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission. I also had a look at Space Shuttle missions, but it wasn’t until 1981 that the first Space Shuttle mission took place.Since Omega did an Apollo-Soyuz limited edition in 2009, with a beautiful meteorite dial — and in fact had already done others in 1975, and gold versions in 1995 and 2000, I think Omega will drop a new Apollo 13 mission limited edition on us this year.
Now, officially, Omega Replica Watches released a limited edition to commemorate the Apollo XIII mission in 1995, and used the same watch for the famous white mission cases (50 pieces in total). The model from 1995 was limited to 999 pieces only. I say officially, because an unofficial, but very much Apollo XIII-related, model came out in 2003: the Omega Replica Speedmaster Professional “Snoopy Award.” I am a bit in the dark as to why Omega chose that year to introduce this watch, but I will make sure to ask Omega in Basel.
I actually own both the Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo XIII and the Snoopy Award model, and cherish them both. While the Snoopy watch tells us the story of the accident during the Apollo XIII mission in 1970 in which a Speedmaster came to the rescue, the 1995 Cheap Omega Replica Speedmaster Professional Apollo XIII simply shows a mission patch on the subdial.
Also, given the fact that the number of limited-edition Apollo models available has gone down drastically in the last few years, I think you need to act quickly, and as soon as you like what you see, order it. The Apollo XI 45th edition was limited to “just” 1,969 pieces and those skyrocketed out of the boutiques. Now, since Omega Replica Watches knows about the demand for these limited editions, especially the demand for the Snoopy, it just may make a few more than 1,970 pieces this time around. That is my hope, anyway. Either that or I’m able to snag one of the 1,970 pieces in time.
