for me the fisrt that has landed. personnal point of vue. My opinion is, just buy the one you like at first glance. the rest is marketting.
Have you considered selling Kidneys to fund this venture? Joking aside, I don't think there is a "best one" You have three core movements that are variants of each other, 321, 861, 1861 (there are other versions that are a little more dressy, or a very rare chronometer). Then it's aesthetics - dials/cases/bracelets.
-The first Speedmaster that went to space was an earlier 2998 -The first Speedmaster that went to the moon was a 105.012 -The current Speedmaster Professional with solid caseback (not display back) is still currently woven into the gauntlets of EVA suits for NASA, ESA, and sometimes Roscosmos, and can be purchased from any Omega Boutique or authorized dealer Take your pick as to which one is "the NASA version"
That analogy works pretty well, especially when you factor in the original unreliability of the Co-axial movements, and compare it to the IMS bearing failures in the original watercooled engines from the 996, 997, and Boxster (we will ignore for these purposes the turbo watercooled engine which doesn't have the IMS issues and pretty much is awesome).
to me it is a handsome, rugged and all rounder watch. When I was new to watches, I did a lot of research and in most portals, the submariner, Reverso, Daytona , etc would always ranked pretty high as the watch to own but somehow I was always drawn to the speedy. Proud to say, it is my first "proper watch"
This "Which Omega Models are like Which Omega Models" deserves it's own thread BTW Reduced are like 912s but Speedy dates are more like 944s
Having lived through the space race and the apollo landings, that is a huge factor The fact that when I was old enough to afford one, they were also an extremely good-looking and easy to read and use watch was just a bonus As has been said - original and best, often copied,never equalled and all those cliches apply. It is the genesys of the modern chrono There's a couple of other icons of style, but for me and many othersthe speedy is "it" for this niche.
One of the nice things about the Speedy (for me) is that very little has changed on it in the past 50 years. You could take a modern speedy, whack it on a Velcro strap and only someone who spends too much time on this forum would be able to tell the difference between it and something that the Apollo astronauts wore. There is some thing nice about that level of continuity, and it is fairly rare in the watch world AFAIK.
https://www.omegawatches.com/watches/speedmaster/ By reckoning there are currently 78 variations on that page. Granted some are bracelet v strap models, but the majority of modern Speedies imho don't look like Moonwatches. Close (or sometimes distant) relatives maybe......
Yes you can buy a different speedmaster for every day of the month, but the point being you can still buy a new watch that is pretty much identical (bar WIS style nitpicking) to what was available in 1966. The modern version of the moon watch is much closer to it's ancestor than the say the rolex sub (blingier dial, ceramic bezel) and that's a watch that has a lot of heritage to hang on to as well.
Why is the Mona Lisa the painting? Why is the Ferrari 250 GTO the car? Why is a parking spot in Manhattan so expensive? Who knows. But i do know that a Speedmaster is a great watch. I guess if you have to ask the question then you really need to be on the Rolex Forum.
Yet with all that said (and an owner of several Rolex's....and a huge huge fan of Heuer......and a lover of Enicar, who knows). Its all just personal taste Just enjoy! everyone has a different taste.
Something that hasn't been mentioned yet: they're easy for tinkerers to work on. Swap a crystal or bezel, regulate the timing to your particular circumstances, etc. Not so easy with a Rolex, for example.