Omega London Trip with Moonwatch Universe March and October 2022 (Photo heavy)

So last week I spent a couple of days in London with @SpeedyPhill the creator of Moon Watch Universe (tumblr.com)

@SpeedyPhill was hunting the Smiths / Hillary Everest watch and trying to avoid the MoonSwatch launch… although MoonSwatch is a hit for me :0)

In the meantime, on day one I organised a visit to the Old Bond Street Omega boutique.

The team there were very helpful and had arranged some nice watches for us to view….

30/10/22 - Edit - We had such a good time we have just met up again in October 2022 - this time to visit the RAF Museum at Hendon.
https://omegaforums.net/threads/ome...october-2022-photo-heavy.144087/#post-2071860

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So what did we get to look at the Old Bond Street Omega boutique and what would two old forum friends pick from the collections……

Well not to our taste but we had to see the Speedmaster 57 Rory Mcllroy special edition yellow gold on yellow gold. A real statement piece and you could feel the quality abd weight of the metal.

Next was the speedmaster in white Canopus gold. It was interesting to compare it with my steel 3861. Again, you could feel the weight of the gold. This is a really classic understated watch and a hit for both of us I think.

Then came the Silver Snoopy Award watch. I was not a huge fan of the watch when it launched, but this visit was a reminder that you need to see a watch in the flesh. The watch was very impressive and fun. Viewed through a loop the detail of the moon on the case back (taken from a NASA photo) is truly spectacular. I had also missed some details like the Apollo 13 mission track plot on the watch stap. This watch was another big thumbs up.

We then had a look at the new Chronoscope which is a respectable watch but the dial was too busy for us and not to our personal styles.

Over time a lot of us seem to move towards simpler / cleaner watches and in keeping with the Everest Smiths hunt we selected a trio of watches to look at:-

A trinity Rail master 1957, a modern Railmaster and an Aqua Terra.

The 1957 edged it for me but I own the Seamaster I am biased. For a one watch collection the Aqua Terra also ticked all the boxes and looked very stylish with blued hands.

The team at the boutique were very accommodating and it was a great way to start a watch meet.

There are a lot of great watch shops in that area and we did spot a nice Ranchero as we headed off for dinner.
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Day two and @SpeedyPhill continued on from the Omega boutique basecamp and onto the science museum. The place is well worth a visit. The Apollo 10 command module also has the control panel on loan and in the clocks and watches section for the next three years you can see the George Daniels Space Traveller II…The Space Traveller II is an 18ct gold-cased watch with a silver engine-turned dial. Fitted with Daniels’ independent double-wheel escapement, the watch can display both mean solar and sidereal (star) time. The watch also shows the phase of the moon, an annular calendar, the equation of time and features an ingenious chronograph (stopwatch) which functions with either solar or sidereal time via the flick of a lever.

After interrogating a few Museum staff and looking round the aeronautical section @SpeedyPhill tracked down the Everest watch which coincided with some other elements of his London visit.

Celebrating a successful mission was a good excuse to head off to the Southbank to enjoy some sunshine and a late lunch :0)
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Great report, it sounds like a really interesting and fulfilling trip.

And if I had to choose one of the watches shown it would have to be the 18kt Flightmaster.

The level of preservation of the ship is amazing due to the depth and temperatures. An amazing legacy from an amazing story - Everest and the artic are the nearest to space on Earth - those early explorers were extremely brave and dedicated given the level of equipment they had. The survival and rescue of endurance crew is very inspiring.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60662541

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90mph hits a hole in the ice riding with the RAF Bobsleigh team....It nearly killed him and he was still doing a piece to camera / not a medic in sight (just a flesh wound ;0) They bred kids TV presenters tough back then / John Noakes is a bit of a legend.
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(25) TV program Blue Peter - Feb 1975 St. Moritz - John Noakes behind John Blockey - YouTube
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Staying with the kids TV legend John Noakes I came across some old Blue Peter annuals today.
He had a good bruise from the Bobsleigh crash…and then back to baking…
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But I had forgotten about his record breaking 5 mile free fall parachute drop in 1973….kids TV presenters went the extra 5 miles for childhood entertainment back then. He was a legend. I can’t quite make out his wristwatch…
And then back to sticky back plastic and Diorama models……
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So this week I had another chance to catch up with @SpeedyPhill the creator of Moon Watch Universe (tumblr.com) in London. This time we went to the RAF Museum at Hendon. Six hangers filled with aircraft and information. The exhibits are well laid out and the lighting is good. It is well worth a visit (free to enter but you must book tickets). The staff and volunteers are also super helpful and well informed. We had a great day and rounded it off with a nice dinner (ok maybe not Belgium nice but Philip was very polite :0). But with so much to chose from which watches did we take and which aircraft caught our eye............
(Photo heavy sorry).
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