These have always been interesting, its not a typo either this isn’t a DeVille or a Seamaster it is in fact a Speedmaster. With no chronograph, no Speedmaster written on the dial, no hint of the Apollo landing and no mention in Moonwatch Only or Speedmaster 101 (for good reason).

But… its interesting, the Speedmaster Classic Heritage was probably an attempt to broaden the appeal of the Speedmaster line since in 1990 when this watch was on the market, the Speedmaster Pro was among the few genuinely good watches Omega had left in its lineup after the toll the quartz crisis and the 80s had on the brand. It’s a cool piece with a Calibre 1108 movement (ETA 2982-A2 base) and the all solid gold variant BA 166.0285 Is definitely not a common watch so it’ll be interesting to see what this one goes for.

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People don’t know these very well so they’re not as highly valued as you would expect, the Calibre 1108 movement is so simple and accurate with excellent parts availability that you can run this watch literally forever and the 18k case is actually quite heavier and more substantial than many vintage ones. They’re really good value and the oddball Speedmaster connection and the fact that you can technically post these on #Speedytuesday to confuse people makes it kind of cool as well. Keen to watch what the market sees it worth this time around.

 

I think that pretty much sums it up. In the same way that the AP Royal Oak became the offshore and 500 other things, and the Panerai Luminor and Radiomir became 1000 models Omega of the late 1980s were likely trying to make their one really good watch with a highly regarded brand name, the Speedmaster, a broader line than just the Moonwatch. It’s hard to understate how much of a mess Omega was before it was taken over by Hayek. This really proud brand that made some of the most impressive watches of the 40s, 50s and 60s was producing complete garbage in the late 70s and early 80s, and when Hayek and his people got involved they needed to stabilize the company urgently which is why they were making quite well made and good quality watches with simple ETA movements executed very well. This came out of that time, and it is a good, reliable and well made watch just not an exciting one. It took time to undo the damage of the 70s and early 80s and move the brand higher end in the 2000s and then back to what it should be in the 2010s with Calibre 8500 and its progeny.