Tag: Black Dials Fake Omega Speedmaster Watches

While growing up in Sri Lanka and Australia, Shanka gravitated towards watches made for adventure, and none more so than the perfect Omega Speedmaster replica watches.

Shanka has been a reader for many years. Since he and I both live in Australia, I had the privilege to meet him in person over a coffee mere meters from the ocean. One of the best things about this hobby is getting to meet people from all different walks of life.

It all starts with a vintage wall clock

Shanka’s AAA UK Omega fake watches journey started when he was a kid growing up in Sri Lanka. “As a kid, I always had a fascination for mechanical things and trying to understand how things worked. Looking back, I had more fun opening up my toy robots and RC cars to see how they worked than actually playing with them, pretty much driving my parents mad.

“One of my earliest childhood memories was of being absolutely captivated by a clock. I used to spend my school holidays at my grandmother’s home in the countryside in Sri Lanka. She had this great big wall clock with a striking hour and pendulum, and if I looked closely enough, I could peek into the mechanical gears moving inside,” he said.

Shanka’s first watches

Despite his interest in mechanical objects, Shanka’s first watch was a Casio. “My first watch was a Casio F-91W, like many kids who grew up in the early ’90s. After that came a Casio G-Shock DW-5000, which got me through high school. Also being very nostalgic, I bought the 25th-anniversary edition as the original came out in my birth year (1983), and I still wear it from time to time. Anyway, I don’t think that boy ever grew up because I still am fascinated by how things work. Best replica Omega watches captivate me from the pure craftsmanship perspective but also due to their intricate and mechanical nature,” he said.

In 2000, Shanka moved to Australia. It was here that his passion for mechanical luxury Omega copy watches started to grow from that initial curiosity as a child. “I started playing around with ‘real’ mechanical watches when I was first moved to Sydney back in 2000… I was still pretty young. In fact, I really had no idea back then, and I tended to gravitate towards Seikos, which were also the only watches I could afford at the time. Anyway, I remember walking into a watchmaker in the Sydney CBD, getting a quote of $200 to fix my Seiko, and being floored because that was almost all I earned in my casual job. I had to save up for a month to get that watch serviced,” he said.

Bitten by the watch bug

Nevertheless, the costs of servicing mechanical Swiss movements replica Omega watches did not dissuade Shanka. In fact, he’d been bitten by the watch bug. “My first big-boy watch was a vintage Omega Genève with a blue dial. I wore the heck out of it for a few years. I also wore it when most of my friends were wearing chunky G-Shocks and fashion brands. Although it was only about 34mm and wore like a ladies’ watch, I absolutely loved it because it was different from what everyone else wore. Also, underneath it all was a piece of mechanical engineering that, at the time, no one else could appreciate except me.

“I’m always looking for my next watch, but my current rotation is mainly a CWC RN Diver automatic, Panerai Radiomir 512, Omega Seamaster 300M 2531.80, a Zenith Rainbow Flyback, and, of course, a Speedy. Over the years, I have dabbled a lot in vintage watches but have also tried consolidating them down to only a handful. At the moment, my most prized vintage pieces are a Heuer Autavia 11036 and a stunning Omega Seamaster 176.004 that has a lot of sentimental value as it was my late uncle’s.”

Shanka’s fascination with the Omega Speedmaster

One thing that remained with Shanka on his journey into the watch hobby, though, was a fascination with and love for the top China Omega Speedmaster fake watches. This passion is partly what led him to Fratello. As you know, Fratello has become a hub for Speedmaster enthusiasts as founder RJ is a Speedmaster collector and the “instigator” of Speedy Tuesday.

“The Omega Speedmaster was always a grail for me growing up. Space travel and science fiction took up a lot of my brain capacity as a kid growing up in the ’80s. The more I read and dug deeper into the first Moon landing, I got hooked on the idea of growing up to be an astronaut, again, pretty much like every other kid my age. The first pictures I would have seen of an Omega Speedmaster super clone watches shop would have been from the Moon landing articles or Omega ads in LIFE Magazine (my dad used to read them and would have a stack of old magazines at home). This must have been when the association was burnt into my psyche,” Shanka explained.

Owning a new Speedmaster manages to provide a watch icon with a vintage design and the advantages of modern build quality, Shanka told me. “Vintage watches always had more appeal to me than modern watches because they had more character. The only downside was that they didn’t suit my active lifestyle very well, so I was always a little worried about them. I was always mindful to take a vintage watch off when I was playing sports, swimming, and so on, whereas modern watches didn’t get the same level of attention.”

An Omega Speedmaster to celebrate a life milestone

It was a special birthday, and what that year symbolized for Shanka finally led to the purchase of his very own Swiss made replica Omega Speedmaster watches. “Although I always admired the watch from a distance, I never felt I quite deserved the Speedy until I told myself that I would get one for my 40th. I couldn’t be happier now with my 3861, which I feel is a massive step up from the previous models in terms of wearability, upgrades to the movement, and the bracelet. I’ve had it for just over a year now, and it still brings a smile when I look at it on my wrist as it brings out the sentimentality around it. As impossible as it sounds, if I ever had to go down to a one-watch collection, I think this would be it for me.”

Shanka’s other most frequently worn watch is the Tudor Black Bay 58 in navy blue, a watch I also own. “Honestly, the Tudor Black Bay 58 is one of the best watches out there both in terms of versatility and build quality. I wear it on a President-style bracelet that gives it a big bump of vintage looks,” Shanka said. The bracelet happens to be one I sold Shanka in the past, which shows just how small this watch community can be (in the best sort of way!).

Closing thoughts

It was wonderful to catch up with one of readers as part of this feature. Shanka’s journey is a testament to how we can attach meaning and emotional significance to these intricate mechanical objects. By creating memories with them on our wrists, we give them a much deeper meaning than as a simple time-telling device. As for Shanka, he’s looking at a few interesting brands for his next Omega replica watches wholesale. “I’m really happy at the moment (if that’s possible) with my current collection, and I’d like to enjoy wearing them before getting anything significant any time soon. But that doesn’t stop me from making an occasional impulse buy when I see something I really like. There’s so much value out there at the moment with a lot of the vintage reissues from brands like Doxa and Nivada Grenchen.”

You’re probably familiar with astronaut Ed White, who performed NASA’s first spacewalk in 1965 as part of the Gemini IV mission. In the pictures of that spacewalk, you can see him wearing two best UK Omega replica watches.

Unfortunately, Ed White died in a fatal accident with Apollo 1. His name will live forever, though, as the first NASA astronaut to “walk” in space. As a member of the Apollo 1 crew, White should have launched into space once more on February 21st, 1967. However, during a test on January 27th, he and fellow crew members Grissom and Chaffee all died in a horrible fire in the command module.

Speedmaster collectors often mention Ed White’s name when talking about the Speedmaster ref. 105.003. This is the Speedmaster model that Ed White wore during his Gemini IV flight and spacewalk, and it was also on his wrist during that fatal accident. A few questions arise when seeing Ed White wearing two Speedmasters over his spacesuit. Why did he wear two cheap 1:1 Omega fake watches, which specific watches did he wear, and where are they now?

Speedmaster “Ed White” 105.003

With the help of Omega and the brand’s access to the NASA archives, we’ll try to answer those questions. Although people have made many assumptions on this topic, it is good to have our research fact-checked by Omega (and, through Omega, by NASA).

The Speedmaster ref. 105.003 was the watch that NASA tested and qualified for all manned space missions in 1965. NASA initially received three of these watches for testing. After the qualification, Omega sent another batch of 24 high quality replica Omega Speedmaster 105.003 watches. Later on, NASA also ordered the Omega Speedmaster Professional 105.012 and 145.012 references for use during the Apollo missions. The 105.003, however, was still in use at the same time as the 105.012 and 145.012. Consequently, all three references saw action until the end of the Apollo missions.

Speedmaster 105.003-63

Omega confirmed that both AAA online Omega copy watches on astronaut Ed White’s wrist during the Gemini IV mission are Speedmaster 105.003-63 references. One of them was Ed White’s training watch, and, according to NASA’s former engineer James H. Ragan, “It was one of the first Speedmasters to be delivered after the tests performed by NASA.” The training watch was later sold by Ed White’s son to a collector in Japan. The late Chuck Maddox wrote about this on his website.

We know that the other 105.003-63 watch was destroyed in the tragic Apollo 1 fire. That top Omega replica watches had NASA’s internal serial number S/N 5 and reference code CF5503 engraved on the left side of the case. On the case back, it was engraved with SEB1210039-001.

NASA engravings

With the 105.012 and 145.012 references, the NASA number changed from -001 to -002, and the CF5503 coding was shelved. Interestingly, the CF5503 engraving was originally meant for Gemini missions. The SEB1210039-001/002 engraving was for Apollo missions. The luxury Omega super clone watches used for Gemini, which only had CF5503 originally, later got an additional SEB1210039-001 engraving. These codes were internal references or product numbers for identification. Every piece of equipment NASA used was labeled and categorized similarly.

Omega serial numbers

That answers the question of what happened to these two Swiss made replica Omega Speedmaster 105.003-63 watches. Unfortunately, that means it is difficult to find out the exact Omega serial numbers of these watches. We do, however, know roughly where those serial numbers would have fallen. From the archives, we can tell that the serial numbers would have started with 20,252,6xx. The last two digits seem likely to remain unknown.

The other astronaut on Gemini IV was the command pilot James A. McDivitt, who would go on to become the commander of Apollo 9. McDivitt also wore a Speedmaster during the Gemini IV mission. It was a ref. 105.003-63 with NASA’s S/N 4, CF5503, and SEB1210039-001 engraved. This Omega fake watches for men is now part of the Smithsonian’s collection in the USA. The Omega serial number of this watch is also in the 20,252,6xx range. Interestingly, astronaut Frank Borman also used this particular watch during Gemini VII.

Why Ed White wore two watches

According to NASA’s former engineer James H. Ragan, astronauts kept track of not only the mission time but also their home (Houston) time. The same applied to Ed White during his 23-minute spacewalk in 1965. Swiss movements replica Omega Speedmaster 105.003-63 watches indicated the mission time of Gemini IV, while the other one indicated Houston time.

According to space-watch buff Philip Corneille, founder of Moon Watch Universe, both Gemini IV astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White wore two Omega Speedmaster chronographs. It was the first mission with two control centers, Launch Control Florida and Mission Control Texas.