moonwatch

Omega's New John F. Kennedy Speedmaster Watch Ads

Please note that the US President in this message does not endorse this ad. This is a brand new advertisement campaign from Omega with permission from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. The ads will not be limited to the US, as this international campaign is part of a larger effort by Omega to increase demand for the brand worldwide. Recent efforts include the opening of a flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York City, as well as a celebrity appearance by Michael Phelps (which makes sense as Omega is the official Olympics watch).

The Kennedy connection is of course possible due to licensing from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation that owns Kennedy's image's right of publicity. The idea behind the campaign is that because the Omega Speedmaster Professional was the official watch used by US astronauts, and eventually saw its way to the moon, it has a connection with John F. Kennedy who was instrumental in advancing US efforts to visit the moon and fund the space program. He was killed in 1963, several years before the space program was even looking too promising. I like how the ad displays the Speedmaster Moon Watch in the retro image, making it look perfectly at home, and helps advance the idea that it is really a timeless tool watch design. This year celebrates the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, for which special edition Omega Speedmaster Professional watches are available.

Ariel Adams publishes the popular watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ad, advertisement, JFK, john f kennedy, JohnFKennedy, moon watch, MoonWatch, omega, speedmaster

Omega Speedmaster Professional Moon Watch 40th Anniversary Limited Edition: Now In Platinum

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

The quintessential function-first, tool watch has finally gotten a healthy dose of gaudiness. It was only a matter of time before Omega decided that it needed to price a version of the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moon Watch out of its core consumer's spending threshold. Available starting at Omega's new flagship 5th Avenue store in New York City - 69 pieces of the new 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Apollo 11 Moon Watch, in platinum, will tempt collectors. The watch case, bracelet, and hands are done in platinum. An 18k gold engraved plate on the caseback, and as the seconds subsidiary dial, are emblematic of the successful 1969 moon landing mission. The gold plate on the dial pictures an eagle landing on the moon, to celebrate the historical statement made famous by event stating, "the eagle has landed."

Even after 40 years, the watch remains very true to the original. Size of the case is 42mm wide, while the crystal is made out of an acrylic compound called Hesalite. Why not sapphire? Because the plastic is shatter-proof (even though it can scratch), and a shattered sapphire crystal in a space shuttle would be a disaster. The movement is a still manually wound Omega Caliber 1861 movement. Again, this has to do with the fact that an automatic movement would be worthless in a gravity-free environment.

The platinum version is in addition to a stainless steel version of the 40th Anniversay watch, which will also be in a limited edition, but of 7,969 pieces instead of the 69 pieces for the platinum version. From afar, the only thing telling the watches apart from is the color of the engraved plate on the dial - which is gold for the platinum watch, and sterling silver on the steel version. I would guess that price for the platinum version is $100,000 plus. Still a good looking watch, but did they take it too far? We will only know after seeing what Omega comes up with for the important 50th anniversary in another 10 years.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 40, 40th, anniversary, moon, moonwatch, omega, platinum, professional, speedmaster, watch