It looks like a hot start of the year for Omega. Two thousand nineteen will mark the celebrations of fifty years from the first moon landing, along with the comeback of one of the most attractive mechanical movements in the brand's history too. Omega is, in fact, about to launch a modern re-edition of the original caliber 321. The caliber 321 was one of the best if not the most refined hand-wound chronograph of its time: released in the early 40s and produced until 1968, it was the first movement ever to equip a Speedmaster, in particular, the 1957 version. The Speedmaster ST 105.003, tested and certified by NASA and worn by astronaut Ed White, and the Speedmaster ST 105.102, the first watch an astronaut wore on the moon, were originally equipped with this chronograph movement, whose main features included a column wheel mechanism and a horizontal clutch.
A team of experts was created over two years at the Omega's headquarter in Bienne. They worked in absolute secrecy and industrialized a faithful reproduction of the second version of the original caliber 321, the one that equipped all the Speedmasters used during the Apollo Space Program's missions. It is too early to confirm which timepiece will ever encase the 2019 caliber 321, it might be a Speedmaster 57, a Moonwatch or both, but there's no doubt they will all be niche products with a price point higher than any current Speedmaster's. The new caliber 321 will be exclusively produced in the Omega headquarters in Bienne, where each watch will be assembled from A to Z by a single watchmaker, thus making these Speedmasters highly sought after.
(Photo credit: courtesy of Omega Watches)
Gaetano C @Horbiter®
