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Velorum
·OK, this is hardly an original subject or unique Speedmaster but I thought that I would share it with you.
As a boy in the late 60's and early 70's I was captivated by the NASA space programme. I followed every mission avidly - fortunately there was good coverage of these on British TV. I would also gaze longingly at the glossy ads for Omega Speedmasters in things like National Geographic
Well the year passed by and my attention wandered to all sorts of other watches. In my adult years I started to amass themed collections of divers, vintage dress watches, chronos, all sorts of things.
Then a couple of years ago the Speedmaster from those ads back in the 60's started to call to me. Lacking the funds to buy a full size moonwatch I tried a 'Reduced' auto for a while which was very nice but didn't quite do it for me
I also got hold of a rare LCD Professional, something that had caught my eye in the mid 70's and I had always wanted, a lovely thing
This year the call of a proper moonwatch became stronger and I decided to sell off most of my lower end and mid range watches to fund this. The also necessitated selling the above LCD version. This was the hardest decision to make as I loved it so much, however I accepted that it would never be worn very often - its rarity and the fragility of the now irreplaceable bezel were a worry to me.
Before I took the plunge however I needed to satisfy myself that I could live with the Speedmasters case size. Having smaller wrists I have always gravitated towards sub 40mm watches. OK, you can try one on in a shop but what I really needed to do was a longer term trial. In order to get some idea of how feasible it would all be as a daily wearer I bought an Alpha homage. Some would say that these are copies more than homages, and they would have a point. I'm surprised that Alpha haven't been hit with legal action. Anyway, as a short term solution for seeing if I could live with the case size it was successful (it is in fact slightly greater in height). I sold this one on eBay once it had served its purpose.
Having concluded that a full size Speedmaster would be fine I decided to find a good example. Having now sold most of my collection I had the funds to buy a brand new one, however I ended up going for one a couple of months old. The seller, a Rolex enthusiast, had bought it new from a dealer in London as he thought that he ought to try a Speedmaster at least once. He concluded that it wasn't for him and went back to his Rolex's - selling me this as new version for £1K less than list price.
It came in the biggest watch box Ive ever seen!
All this over the top packaging is now safely stored away at the back of the loft along with the extra straps and bracelet - all unworn.
I have now fulfilled an ambition that has flitted in an out of my consciousness for nearly 50 years and am enjoying using this as my everyday watch. In fact, apart from a couple of vintage watches which are on display and too fragile for regular use and a cheap G Shock (5600 so also NASA qualified though!) this moonwatch is now my one watch.
Its super comfy and practical on a Di Modell Rallye strap - however I have a Kizzi Apollo programme Velcro replica on its way so am looking forward to trying it on that.
Regards
Ian
As a boy in the late 60's and early 70's I was captivated by the NASA space programme. I followed every mission avidly - fortunately there was good coverage of these on British TV. I would also gaze longingly at the glossy ads for Omega Speedmasters in things like National Geographic
Well the year passed by and my attention wandered to all sorts of other watches. In my adult years I started to amass themed collections of divers, vintage dress watches, chronos, all sorts of things.
Then a couple of years ago the Speedmaster from those ads back in the 60's started to call to me. Lacking the funds to buy a full size moonwatch I tried a 'Reduced' auto for a while which was very nice but didn't quite do it for me
I also got hold of a rare LCD Professional, something that had caught my eye in the mid 70's and I had always wanted, a lovely thing
This year the call of a proper moonwatch became stronger and I decided to sell off most of my lower end and mid range watches to fund this. The also necessitated selling the above LCD version. This was the hardest decision to make as I loved it so much, however I accepted that it would never be worn very often - its rarity and the fragility of the now irreplaceable bezel were a worry to me.
Before I took the plunge however I needed to satisfy myself that I could live with the Speedmasters case size. Having smaller wrists I have always gravitated towards sub 40mm watches. OK, you can try one on in a shop but what I really needed to do was a longer term trial. In order to get some idea of how feasible it would all be as a daily wearer I bought an Alpha homage. Some would say that these are copies more than homages, and they would have a point. I'm surprised that Alpha haven't been hit with legal action. Anyway, as a short term solution for seeing if I could live with the case size it was successful (it is in fact slightly greater in height). I sold this one on eBay once it had served its purpose.
Having concluded that a full size Speedmaster would be fine I decided to find a good example. Having now sold most of my collection I had the funds to buy a brand new one, however I ended up going for one a couple of months old. The seller, a Rolex enthusiast, had bought it new from a dealer in London as he thought that he ought to try a Speedmaster at least once. He concluded that it wasn't for him and went back to his Rolex's - selling me this as new version for £1K less than list price.
It came in the biggest watch box Ive ever seen!
All this over the top packaging is now safely stored away at the back of the loft along with the extra straps and bracelet - all unworn.
I have now fulfilled an ambition that has flitted in an out of my consciousness for nearly 50 years and am enjoying using this as my everyday watch. In fact, apart from a couple of vintage watches which are on display and too fragile for regular use and a cheap G Shock (5600 so also NASA qualified though!) this moonwatch is now my one watch.
Its super comfy and practical on a Di Modell Rallye strap - however I have a Kizzi Apollo programme Velcro replica on its way so am looking forward to trying it on that.
Regards
Ian
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