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The new 3861 movement...
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GMTspeedmaster
·i think Omega will move to new Caliber starting this year
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cfracing
·Wasn't Gene Cernan's 105.003 with the 321 on Apollo XVII the last watch on the moon ... so far?
EDIT: After further investigation I read that Cernan took two watches on Apollo XVII, his issued 105.012 and his personal 105.003, and that he most likely wore the issued 105.012 on his moon walks.
EDIT: After further investigation I read that Cernan took two watches on Apollo XVII, his issued 105.012 and his personal 105.003, and that he most likely wore the issued 105.012 on his moon walks.
Edited:
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GrouchoM
·I wonder if the new movement will cost more to have serviced.
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Duckie
·Why would they do that? Omega needs a reason to raise the Speedy Pro's price to the level of their remaining collection. With the 3861, they have something they can promote as the direct continuation of the 861, it's still handwound, and with the coax escapement, it now has what the average customer regards as "state of the art" technology. While on the other hand, with the new 321 Omega has something so promote as the true "original".
My gut feeling is there is going to be a new Speedmaster Professional with the 3861 replacing the current one, priced around the rest of the coax range. If not this year, then in the near future.
Agreed and totally logical.
The only issue is will they only keep the Hesalite crystal for the 321 equipped watches, whilst the new movement will eventually be only available with sapphire.
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wsfarrell
·The real tragedy is that Omega has developed an updated 321 movement and will NOT put it in the 50th anniversary moonwatch. It's all about marketing/greed. Here's the conversation:
Marketing: Let's develop an updated 321.
Engineering: Can do! You know, this would go great in the 50th anniversary moonwatch, since it was the first movement on the moon.
Marketing: Uh, no. People will buy the 50th no matter what movement is in it. We need to put the 321 in a really expensive limited edition watch.
Engineering: Why would anyone care about a 321 movement apart from a moonwatch?
Marketing: You weren't listening. It will be a LIMITED EDITION. A single watchmaker will build each movement from start to finish. People with more money than brains always snap those up. You remember how Rolex raked it in with "It takes a year to build a Rolex"? Well, chew on this: "It took 60 years to build the Speedmaestro 3-2-1!!!" Don't quote me on that.
Marketing: Let's develop an updated 321.
Engineering: Can do! You know, this would go great in the 50th anniversary moonwatch, since it was the first movement on the moon.
Marketing: Uh, no. People will buy the 50th no matter what movement is in it. We need to put the 321 in a really expensive limited edition watch.
Engineering: Why would anyone care about a 321 movement apart from a moonwatch?
Marketing: You weren't listening. It will be a LIMITED EDITION. A single watchmaker will build each movement from start to finish. People with more money than brains always snap those up. You remember how Rolex raked it in with "It takes a year to build a Rolex"? Well, chew on this: "It took 60 years to build the Speedmaestro 3-2-1!!!" Don't quote me on that.
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dennisthemenace
·Manual wind classic Speedy is their bread and butter; there’s no need for them to do away with it.
I'd be very surprised if it came anywhere near to 0.5% of total watch sales.
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Bp1000
·Speedys are not even close to the best sellers
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Foo2rama
··Nowhere near as grumpy as he used to be...Are you sure? There were 6 manned moon landings. The last one occured in 1972. At that time the 861 had already replaced the 321.
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Bp1000
·It is pretty well documented that all watches on the moon where 321. 1 861 has been documented as going around the moon in the control module as part of an experiment.
But I recall reading that the moonwatches were indeed 321 powered - but they were approved mid 60s
The 861 movement was actually introduced in 68/69 from what i recall but never went to the moon as they weren’t in professional circulation -/ but are you saying they piggybacked Apollo 11 for testing?
If so that’s a nice bit of info I wasn’t aware of
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connieseamaster
·Glad I stick to vintage...
I think you're spot on with the prediction that parts for this movement will be limited to within the Swatch service network.
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Foo2rama
··Nowhere near as grumpy as he used to be...I agree they were
But I recall reading that the moonwatches were indeed 321 powered - but they were approved mid 60s
The 861 movement was actually introduced in 68/69 from what i recall but never went to the moon as they weren’t in professional circulation -/ but are you saying they piggybacked Apollo 11 for testing?
If so that’s a nice bit of info I wasn’t aware of
One 861 went around the moon in a thermal test. The 861 was not formally tested unti 79 or so for the STS program.
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Foo2rama
··Nowhere near as grumpy as he used to be...
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Duckie
·great knowledge, very appriciated, thanks 👍
Agreed😀
I think the experiment was related to temperature.
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Duckie
·Do you honestly think that Omega relies on the Speedy pro to stay in business?
I'd be very surprised if it came anywhere near to 0.5% of total watch sales.
I don't think Omega actually relies on the Speedy sales to keep the doors open.
But the Speedy in all its flavours has remained an absolute cornerstone of their offerings hense their desire to breath new life into it at every chance they get.
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pongster
·I think one of the appealing facets of the speedy moonwatch is it’s relative affordability.
If they bump up the price of the entry level moonwatch because it now has a co-axial
movement, it would be detracting from that.
If they bump up the price of the entry level moonwatch because it now has a co-axial
movement, it would be detracting from that.
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Yukatan
·I dunno, technically the 1861 never went to the moon, so to me if Speedys went to 3861 I'd see it as an upgrade.
Are most of Omega's sales from the Seamasters?
Are most of Omega's sales from the Seamasters?
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robinhook
·Very interesting point by the OP. A classic situation that 2 arguements in opposite directions both make sense. I guess no one can play it out on paper, only market can tell. Unfortunately it is still way to early to figure out the general consensus at this point.
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