Much has been said about the Omega Speedmaster. It's "legendary," "classic," and "iconic." To the uncharitable among us, it might be considered boring--or even cliched.
As Omega's flagship chronograph, the "Moonwatch" has been marketed more aggressively than almost any other. But many critics maintain it is deserving of its sterling reputation. No less an authority than Hodinkee says "every manually wound Speedmaster...is a spectacular watch." Going further, they assert "the Speedmaster does everything so well, ...[it] is an unbelievably satisfying watch to own long-term."
High praise indeed. But does the ownership experience live up to the hype? Here's a critical assessment of the Speedmaster's pros and cons:
PROS:
- Timeless design & heritage
- Versatility: an all-rounder that can be dressed up or down
- A well-finished movement that is both attractive and on display
- Value
CONS:
- No date function and inadequate water resistance (a mere 50m)
- Since it's a manual movement with a mediocre 48 hour power reserve, it needs almost daily winding, but you're never quite sure when because there's no power reserve indicator.
- The tightly recessed crown, which is hard to grasp, makes winding the watch a chore
- A "crunchy" cam-actuated chronograph and fragile pushers
If we’re getting nit-picky (which we should be), cam-actuated chronographs tend to have a rougher pusher feel than column-wheel ones. In other words, activating the Speedmaster's chronograph function just doesn't feel as smooth or precise as its competition.
So, is the Speedmaster a "spectacular" watch? Well, it's certainly a good watch, with a spectacular looking movement (for the money). But as the list of cons outlined above shows, it does not do "everything so well."
Of course, Omega has a Speedmaster Racing model that addresses most of these shortcomings. Unlike the basic Moonwatch, the Racing edition offers both automatic winding and a column-wheel chronograph. It also showcases a more striking and evocative design, complete with ceramic bezel, luminous silver hands, and applied hour markers. All of these premium features aren't cheap, of course, which explains the 50% premium.
Hodinkee concluded they couldn't think of a "better way to spend $5,000 on a new watch." Perhaps that's true, but being the best value is an altogether different proposition than being an "unbelievably satisfying watch to own long-term."
In a word, the Moonwatch is more "satisfactory" than "spectacular." Perhaps that's the price we pay for value.
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