Supply of new Speedmaster

Owlsu

From what I'm generally seeing online, whenever someone outside of this forum says they've picked up a new 3861 the majority of the time it's the sapphire model.

I don't know why this is since I always thought the 1861 hesalite was the more popular version. Maybe it's just more people wanting Speedmasters these days compared to a few years ago but being put off by a "fragile" hesalite crystal that scratches, or not wanting to be spending this level of money on something that isn't sapphire.

I think there's a lot more buyers now who want it as a flagship Omega luxury watch and Seamaster alternative, compared to before where people really wanted something as true to the original moon lineage as possible and most buyers seemed to be watch-nerd enthusiast types. Also nearly every special edition that's been released has used sapphire so if people bought them first (as a lot of people in this hobby are now doing solely for investment value) sapphire is probably what they're used to so they chose sapphire for a standard model.

Scottie

I bought the Sapphire version yesterday, the AD said the Sapphire was in short supply and could not give much discount on it though the Hesalite did not pose a problem. As I was about to walk out the shop he suddenly phoned his head office and managed a 14% discount? Could be a national sales ploy. The watch cost me less than so called “new” versions on a well known auction site.

dsio

The MoonSwatch actually did cause a significant increase in demand for the real 3861 Moonwatch in the short term which may have added to some localised supply issues but they’re being churned out so they’ll catch up.

Omega are not restricting supply.