It began in 2013, with the Replica Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon – a bold new take on Omega’s most famous chronograph that saw it cased not in steel, or even gold, but black ceramic. Now, it seems the Moon has many sides…
The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon was a slightly unexpected hit. The last few years have seen a proliferation of black-on-black watches from Hublot to Girard-Perregaux and everyone in between, and yet the Dark Side of the Moon managed to stand out; both for its boldness in taking such a well-known reference as its canvas, and the weighty quality and clarity which with it was executed.
This year, Omega replica watches uk announced four new aesthetic iterations on the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon, with names that are, frankly, as opaque as their namesake. We’ve picked out the key details and differences for each.
Replica omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Vintage Black”
First up is the “Vintage Black”. That’s not too hard to understand, as a name: the hour, minute and seconds markers, tachymeter scale, chronograph subdials and indeed all other dial text have all been given a yellowed “Vintage” luminova treatment. The case, dial and clasp are all black ceramic Zirconium Oxide (hence the ZrO2 inscription just above the centre of the dial). The case and bezel have a brushed finish, while the dial has a laser-ablated matt finish, with “blackened applied subdial rings”. To complete the vintage look, it comes on a distressed brown leather strap (which is nevertheless lined with rubber, for longevity).
Omega replica Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Sedna Black”
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Next we have the Replica Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Sedna Black” – the flashiest of the new references. Sedna refers to Sedna Gold, Omega’s proprietary rose gold alloy. It’s roughly 75% gold, 1-2% palladium (for strength) and about 20% copper, for colouring. The name comes from the planetoid Sedna, the most distant identified object in our solar system, which it turns out is also known for being the reddest object in the solar system.
So, when Sedna meets the Dark Side of the Moon, this is what you get: a black ceramic case with a brushed gold bezel, black ceramic bezel insert with matt chromium nitride tachymeter numerals, and Sedna gold hands and hour indexes. The hour markers, hands and dots at 12 o’clock are all coated with the same “vintage” luminova as the Speedmaster DSoM “Vintage Black”, and last but not least, all the dial text and minute/second tracks are laser ablated in relief from the matt grey dial.
Omega replica Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Pitch Black”
This is where the new Omega replica watches nomenclature begins to split hairs. Welcome to the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Pitch Black”. As with the “Vintage Black”, the case, bezel, dial and clasp are all black ceramic. It’s got the blackened applied subdials of the “Vintage Black” as opposed to the laser-ablated dial of the “Sedna Black”; the key difference here is the use of traditional white-green luminova on everything: the hands, the chronograph hands (which are actually white underneath the lume), the hour indexes and the tachymetre bezel. The “Pitch Black” comes on a black leather strap with white stitching.
Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Black Black”
What’s blacker than pitch black? After some head-scratching, Omega’s branding department came up with… “Black Black”. So, this is the Batman-friendly, none-more-black, so-black-they-named-it-twice Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Black Black”. The “Black Black” looks at the “Pitch Black” and thinks ‘you call that black?’ Everything is black ceramic, and for a more ‘special ops’ type feel, it comes on a black nylon strap rather than leather. The dial finish is laser-applied to give some differentiation between text and background, and to allow you to actually see the minute and second markers, and chronograph subdial markers.
The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Black Black” is actually – perhaps fittingly – more legible at night, thanks to the presence of black superluminova on the hour indexes, all the hands, and the two dots at 12 o’clock.
All Dark Side of the Moon Speedmasters are variants of the same two register Speedmaster, with the Omega co-axial 9300 caliber and silicon balance spring. It’s a twin-barrel, 60-hour power reserve, column-wheel chronograph – not the manual-winding caliber of the “true” Moon replica Omega watches, but a whole lot of horology for your money. They are all water-resistant to 50m and all measure 44.25mm in diameter.
The other side of the story
After the Dark Side of the Moon, of course, also came the Grey Side of the Moon. While it wasn’t as impactful as the Dark Side – suffering slightly from ‘second album syndrome’ – it made a certain degree of sense. Pushing on with the research into coloured ceramics was only to be expected, and the attention to detail has been retained with the sandblasted platinum dial and blue luminova.
This year, as well as the various “Black” editions, Omega has released the Speedmaster White Side of the Moon. It’s fair to say this wasn’t entirely expected. Whereas the Dark and Grey sides of the moon Replica Omega Classic watches use heat-treated ceramic to gain their respective colours, the White Side of the Moon is essentially the raw, untreated and uncoloured version.
Specification-wise, it too is the same as the original Dark Side of the Moon, using the same co-axial column-wheel chronograph calibre 9300. It’s the same size, the same water-resistance and the same two-register layout. But it could hardly be more of a departure stylistically. The hour indexes are 18k white gold, as are the central hour and minute hands. The red “Speedmaster” text is retained from the Dark Side of the Moon, and the tachymetre bezel uses the same laser-engraved matt finish chromium nitride as the original, as well.
The Speedmaster White Side of the Moon comes on a white leather strap, similar in style to the black leather strap of the “Sedna Black” edition, with red stitching on the inside to match the “Speedmaster” dial text. Whether this is destined to be as well-received as the Dark Side of the Moon, time will tell. It’s certainly evidence that Omega replica watches is keen to push the aesthetic applications of their experiments with ceramic as far as possible, and it may well be that we haven’t seen the last colour variant in this family. Does the Moon have a blue side?
