Omega Speedmaster Alaska Project: The Forgotten Alaska Iv And Grandfather Of The X-33

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Hi all

Well, as many of you know I am a penchant for Omega and for me nothing represents them better than the period between 1969 and 1980 when they were the masters of innovation and watch making excellence (IMHO).

Being a fan of this period and a child of the 70’s of course leans me toward the devil in sheeps clothing that is the quartz watch, and ‘my’ did Omega make some gems, the Marine Chronometer, Albatros, Megaquartz 32Khz, the list goes on.

Sadly this ‘hay day’ for the brand also nearly led to its’ demise and had it not been for the humble swatch watch Omega would also certainly have ceased to exist sometime in the mid to late eighties, by which time their ‘range’ lacked the inspiration and most importantly quality of their earlier products.

Now, everyone will of course be familiar (unless you have been in a watch lovers coma since 1957) that Omega are probably most famed for the Moon Watch, the Speedmaster professional which in various guises has accompanied most men in to space, Many of you will also know that over the years Omega have refined this already excellent machine and prototyped a number of models designed specifically for space use in an attempt to improve on the Speedy, amazingly they have usually (with the exception of the X-33) failed

For those of you familiar with the Speedmaster story you will know that a big part of it and the mythology focuses around the “Alaska project’ headed by Pierre Chopard, he and his team worked tirelessly to improve the already great Speedy and their work resulted in three prototypes I, II, III,

Five first gen prototypes were made in various case designs, some seen below







All watches were designed specifically for NASA use in space, white/ silver dials for less heat absorption and better visibility, new hands, again for better visibility and protective outer cases for (you guessed it) protection and easier use

The third was classed as 11003, which later became the Omega ‘FIFA’ watch, at the same time they trailed the ‘cushion case’ speedsonic, all three watches submitted survived but Omega still opted to go with the trust Speedmaster professional.

So, where am I going you ask??? Well, I bought a new watch last week (reveal shortly but sadly no it isn’t an Alaska prototype), whilst searching for info I happened across Omegas new Museum website and found this extract:

“OMEGA created a new prototype the “Alaska IV” based on the Speedmaster Professional Quartz reference ST186.0004 with a calibre 1621 movement which used a system called the BETA light that consisted of two tritium tubes behind the LCD display to illuminate the display. Twelve examples were sent to NASA astronauts who tested the watch in training and on the Space Shuttle. Ultimately, they chose not to adopt the watch”

I had heard that Omega had produced LCD’s and knew about the Condor project but I had no idea that they had produced a IV Alaska based on one of their LCD range.

So, here is my NOS 186003 running cal 1620, I would imagine looking at the above quote that very little was changed other than the introduction of the Trit tubes for illumination, The case may have had a screw back to allow for a slightly thicker movement. I would also have thought they would have added larger pushers, but I can’t find a single image or reference other than the one above.



I’ve owned a few of these before but always wanted a NOS example, now I have one, fresh from a full service but (as usual by the specialist vintage department) at STS I give you one of the rarest production Speedmasters ever made which became the forgotten Alaska prototype:



One really interesting thing to note is that the watch has ‘swiss made’ on the LCD crystal display, I have owned four of these now and never once seen a NOS one so didn’t realise this was an integral part of the watch



Cheers Tom
 
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Very nice Tom, what's even more impressive is the temperature range the Alaska Projects were rated for -148 and +260 degrees Celsius. That is beyond insane for a mechanical watch!
 
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Well I'll be, there it was all along right under my nose, Alaska IV slap bang in the middle of the other Alaska projects, because I never realised that Omega made an Alaska based in the LCD range I just assumed it was in there for display purposes, but here you are chaps I assume the middle watch is the Alaska IV as this is the Alaska display at Bienne

 
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The Speedmaster came in quartz, and Porsche made an SUV. What's next - powdered Thanksgiving turkey?
 
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The Speedmaster came in quartz, and Porsche made an SUV. What's next - powdered Thanksgiving turkey?

IMHO, like any other 'brand' Omega moved with the times and diversified where the demand was, far be it from me to pass judgement but these cal 1620 Speedmaster (all be it LCD) are a sight rarer than any of their brethren and whilst they may lack the purist enthusiasm of a clean 2915, they have a place in the Speedmaster saga, good enough to test with NASA, good enough for me.

Like many forum members I am a proud 911 owner, whilst I would love and will one day own either a 356 super 90 or an early 911, for now my daily drive water cooled 996 provides an amazing amount of enjoyment and driving pleasure for a very reasonable sum of money. There are a great many 'porsche enthusiasts' who scoff at the water cooled 911 yet for the brand to progress and see the success that it has since the mid 90's something needed to change.

Yes Omega had their ups and downs with quartz watches but they were amongst the most creative and innovative watch makers in the world in the 1970's and produced some watches which by other standards (cal 1510, 1611, 1620 etc etc) where far far rarer than their mass produced siblings.

The beauty of forums is that they provide a window to share knowledge, opinions and passions, for me I have a passion for quartz Omegas, for others mechanical, yet I have an appreciation for both, as the last image in my original post will show.

Cheers Tom
 
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I wonder how many forum members would gladly offer up more than one body part for this ??

 
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I wonder how many forum members would gladly offer up more than one body part for this ??

Certainly very interesting, but put me down for a no vote 👍
 
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I wonder how many forum members would gladly offer up more than one body part for this ??

Certainly very interesting, but put me down for a no vote 👍

Me too. Besides, they put the crown on the wrong side! 😜
 
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I wonder how many forum members would gladly offer up more than one body part for this ??


That thing is absolute awesomesauce
 
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That thing is absolute awesomesauce
We've been through this before, some of us don't have to compensate 🙄
 
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I wonder how many forum members would gladly offer up more than one body part for this ??


It's not my cup of tea. But I admit it is very handsome and I always love red Omega logo.