Omega adopted the primary Alaska prototype with a second design the next 12 months, cased within the typical 42-mm Moonwatch case. It retained the oversize pink aluminum outer case and white dial, whereas on this mannequin the metal instances have been bead-blasted reasonably than polished to scale back dazzling reflections. The “capsule” arms additionally remained, however in black, and the basic Speedmaster’s tachymeter bezel (most helpful for monitoring velocity over a identified distance; comparatively inconceivable in area) was changed by a 60-minute scale.
Regardless of its extra typical styling and cheaper manufacturing prices, NASA determined to not order the watch, preferring to stay with what it knew. The Alaska Challenge watches did finally make it into area, nonetheless, worn by Soyuz 25 mission cosmonauts between 1977 and 1981.
A white dial wouldn’t grace one other Speedmaster Moonwatch till 1997, when a commemorative restricted version was produced to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Speedmaster, and it was solely offered in Italy.
In 2008, a limited-edition Alaska Challenge homage was launched, and others have since adopted, together with the Silver Snoopy of 2015. In 2021, a white-dial Speedy was launched in Omega’s proprietary Canopus white gold.
However this new mannequin in stainless-steel (reference 310.30.42.50.04.001) is probably the most attainable white model up to now. At present, Omega says the colour scheme is a nod to astronauts’ area fits, which it might be—however for followers of the model it is going to at all times relate again to these Chilly Conflict creations.
So vital have been the Alaska Challenge watches, they have been additionally immortalized in MoonSwatch type in 2022, because the red-bioceramic-cased Mission to Mars.
There are a selection of different touches that cement this new Speedmaster’s place because the non secular successor to the Alaska Challenge watches: The pink Speedmaster dial textual content is a refined nod to the design of each Alaska fashions; and the shiny lacquer used for the dial (one other small first for Omega-kind) is in its personal approach reminiscent of the extremely reflective capabilities of these top-secret prototypes.
Geared up with a sapphire crystal, water resistant to 50 meters, and machined to tolerances that engineers of the Sixties may solely dream of, this can be a totally fashionable Speedmaster—however like all the most effective Speedmasters, it has a robust connection to the previous.
