Since everyone else has chimed in with their thoughts about the new watch I'll add my two cents for posterity.
My first impression from looking at the watch is that it is strikingly beautiful. I absolutely love the colors of the dial as well as the use of the gold. I think the amount of gold used and in the places they used it looks great. Like others, I think the watch will look more beautiful in person.
About the details of the watch:
I give credit to Omega for the use of the flat pushers as well as the teardrop chronograph hand. I think it is a nice nod to the NASA era Speedmasters. I do however wish they had used longer hour markers like the original 321 dials. What they did with the gold markers is nice I just think they would look better longer.
The case back is very nice but the execution could have been a bit better. I like the use of the of crosshair (Reseau grid) over the image. For me, they should have added the additional cross hair that appears missing between One and Giant. I know it would run over the text but it's just a balance thing for me. The boot print is well done but does look just a bit odd to my eye. I'm not sure what the exact process is but if it was possible to shift the backs, grays, and highlights around I think the shadow on the heal portion of the print could have been better represented. Being familiar with the picture I know it is a shadowed area but looking at the case back it almost appears that the boot is not fully printed.
The Aldrin second sub dial...Hmmm...All I can say is what was Omega thinking? I know some like it and some dislike it. I'm clearly in the dislike camp and dislike it a lot. I know Aldrin wore the first Speedmaster on the Moon but I just don't feel he alone should have been singled out. If you are familiar with the Apollo 11 mission patch you notice it's the only one with no names. It was important to the crew that the mission patch was not representative of the crew alone but represented the hopes and dreams of the 100's of thousands of people who got them there as well as the support of the world behind them. I 100% believe the watch should have retained this idea as well.
For me there were four options I would loved to have seen:
1) Nothing in the sub dial making all three the same.
2) It would be similar the 40th anniversary Speedmaster but the mission patch in gold would have been appropriate.
3) With the capabilities Omega appears to have I think a laser engraved textured Moon with a small star placed in the area of Tranquillity Base would have been very nice and subtle.
4) After seeing the case back on the new gold 50th watch with the actual piece of meteorite embedded in the case back representing the Moon I would have liked to see Omega do the same in the sub dial here. This would also make each watch individually unique.
Lastly packaging, at this moment I think I'm out there alone on this but I think the use of 02:59:48 GMT as the time the first step on the Moon occurred is incorrect. I'm still waiting to hear from a few more respected researchers on this topic but the most commonly agreed upon time the actual step occurred was at 02:56:15 GMT with the most recent research putting it at 02:56:17 GMT.
For me, I think the watch falls a bit short of the expectations after all the hype and secrecy. I'm not a buyer and never was so I'm not invested in it in any way. For those that do like it and buy I'm sure you will be pleased. Heck, I'm the guy still waiting patiently for the Gemini 4 50th anniversary watch to come out so what do I know.
