Whats my favorite Watch?

Whats my favorite watch?

I am a watch enthusiast. I have some nice watches but none of them would be considered premium or luxury watches. So I am an enthusiast because I don’t have a notable watch in my collection. The watches I wear daily are utilitarian and sentimental. That doesn’t mean I haven’t planned out in my head all the watches I am going to have someday. The collection of watches that I don’t have that exist only in my head are awesome! All kidding aside there are dream watches and then there are watches that I will own one day. They are certainly something to aspire to own and fortunately most of the watches I hope to posses one day aren’t exactly unattainable. My favorite watch company is Omega and THE watch that I hope to own one day is the Omega Speedmaster Professional Ref. 145.012 A.K.A “The Moon Watch” Let me explain. 

I know exactly when I started loving Omega. It was the summer of 1995, the movie was Goldeneye. The watch Pierce Brosnan was wearing? An Omega Seamaster. At six years old I never wanted anything more than that watch. I loved the look of it, that and it detonated explosives and fired a laser that could cut through thick steel. Also it was James Bond’s watch! How cool is that?! Interestingly enough since Goldeneye, James Bond has always worn an Omega. So every James Bond in my life time has worn an Omega. For me personally I don’t need any other endorsement, do you? Well, maybe one more. 

How about NASA? In the 1960’s NASA needed to find a watch that could adorn the wrists of its astronauts. It wasn’t because they wanted something to help make the look of the spacesuits pop, they needed an extremely accurate watch that would help the astronauts calculate burn times. It also needed to be durable enough to function in zero gravity, in the vacuum of space, and in extreme temperatures both hot and cold. Needless to say EVERY watch company in the world wanted their watches to be certified by NASA. Also they all knew the end goal. The title of “moon watch” was a priceless prospect that every company would have killed for. The one watch that came out the other side of NASA’s vigorous tests was the Omega Speedmaster. 

The Omega Speedmaster first saw use during Gemini IV. Gemini IV was the first mission that attempted to rendezvous with another object in space and the first where an American astronaut performed an EVA or “space walk”. Jim Mcdivitt and Ed White used their chronographs to calculate burn times, oxygen consumption, and the length of space walks. From that mission on the Omega Speedmaster was the official watch of NASA. The watch was on the wrist of every astronaut during the Apollo Program, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when they landed on the moon. To this day the Omega Speedmaster is only one of several watches qualified to go into space and is still the ONLY watch qualified by NASA to be used on an EVA. It truly is an impressive watch. 

So Omega is my favorite watch company because of their quality and history. I love their design style, and there almost isn’t any watch in their collective history that I don’t like. Their accuracy is unrivaled, not only does NASA rely on Omega, but they are also the official time keepers of the Olympics. I also love that Omega isn’t afraid to change. They are constantly changing the styles and cases of their most famous watches. They take risks to adapt to the style of the time. Other major watch companies continue to produce their tried and true watches making tiny changes along the way. I love the spirit of Omega. That all being said, I don’t know if I can sit here and tell you that if some other watch went to the moon, that it wouldn’t be my favorite. I can only tell you that the Omega Speedmaster did go to the moon. It is capable of surviving in the vacuum of space at +200 degrees in the sun and -200 degrees in the shade. I can tell you that out of literally all the watches in the world NASA had to choose from, they chose Omega for its accuracy and durability. Also when I was I kid I knew I loved the look of James Bond's watch when I saw it. For that I also can’t tell you that my opinion isn’t influenced by the fact that its James Bonds watch of choice. However, Q-branch could have literally selected any watch in the world, but Q selected the Omega Seamaster as something a secret agent, with a license to kill could rely on. 

I think the bottom line is that when you are a watch collector or an enthusiast like myself, when you get bit by the “watch bug” and you see a brand or watch that you love I don’t think anyone or anything can convince you otherwise. There is no doubt that other companies might have more interesting histories. Certainly Rolex in theory should appeal to me because of all the history that its been through and apart of. I am not saying that certain Rolex’s aren’t on my wish list either, or that I would reject one if someone gave it to me. However what I am saying is that if I suddenly had enough money to buy a luxury watch tomorrow, the first one I would buy is the Omega Speedmaster “Moon Watch”.