Thanks guys.... I pretty much invited Hoons that live pretty close to me, maybe I should have invited everyone! As it was we had 30 something folks over, and my house is only so big.
So, what did I get?
This
The OMEGA Speedmaster Professional
"Flight-qualified by NASA for all manned space missions", the OMEGA Speedmaster Professional has the most impressive history of any watch in the world. After exhaustive testing, NASA issued the Speedmaster Professional to its Gemini and Apollo flight crews because of the Speedmaster Professional's reliability in all atmospheric conditions and for the accuracy of its manual-winding c.1861 movement The Speedmaster Professional features a chronograph that can measure accurately down to 1/5th of a second over a 12 hour period. It also features a steel caseback engraved with the famous words that proclaim this wrist chronograph's unique pedigree: "FLIGHT-QUALIFIED BY NASA FOR ALL MANNED SPACE MISSIONS; THE FIRST WATCH WORN ON THE MOON".
The Speedmaster Professional is a large and heavy watch, slightly larger in size than a Rolex Submariner. Not everybody will like a watch this large. Whatever. I believe this size is perfect for a men's watch. It is large enough that it has presence. It has weight, but not bulk.
Every single part on the Speedmaster Professional's bracelet is machined from solid stianless steel. No stamped component is used. Thus the bracelet will not "stretch" over time like the Rolex Jubilee bracelet. Once sized to your wrist, the watch will fit you perfectly for your life or the watch's life, whichever ends first.The links are symmetrical and thus the inside and outside faces of the links are identical in shape. The rounded edges are very comfortable to the wrist, even when the bracelet is fitted to be slightly tight so that the watch will not move on the wrist. Compare this to the squared edges on current Rolex Jubilee bracelets or the concave inner surfaces on current Rolex Oyster bracelets. While Rolex's are superb watches, their bracelets are not in the same league as current OMEGA bracelets.
The clasp on the current Speedmaster Professional is a work of art. Those accustomed to spring-locking clasps made from stamped steel components will appreciate the superiority of the locking machined clasp featured on the Speedmaster Professional.If you are accustomed to the stamped components on Rolex clasps, this will be another world to you.
Here is the criteria NASA used in judging the Speedmaster, rating it as "Flight Acceptable"
1. High Temperature - 48 hours at a temperature of 160° F (71° C) followed by 30 minutes at 200° F (93° C). For the high temperature tests, atmospheric pressure shall be 5.5 psi (0.35 atm) and the relative humidity shall not exceed 15%.
2. Low Temperature - Four hours at a temperature of 0° F (-18° C).
3. Temperature Pressure Chamber - pressure maximum of 1.47 x 10exp-5 psi (10exp-6 atm) with temperature raised to 160° F (71° C). The temperature shall then be lowered to 0° F (-18° C) in 45 minutes and raised again to 160° F in 45 minutes. Fifteen more such cycles shall be completed.
4. Relative Humidity - A total time of 240 hours at temperatures varying between 68° F and 160° F (20° C and 71° C, respectively) in a relative humidity of at least 95%. The steam used shall have a pH value between 6.5 and 7.5.
5. Pure Oxygen Atmosphere - The test item shall be placed in an atmosphere of 100% oxygen at a pressure of 5.5 psi (0.35atm) for 48 hours. Performance outside of specification tolerance, visible burning, creation of toxic gases, obnoxious odors, or deterioration of seals or lubricants shall constitute a failure. The ambient temperature shall be maintained at 160° F (71° C).
6. Shock - Six shocks of 40g's each, in six different directions, with each shock lasting 11 milliseconds.
7. Acceleration - The test item shall be accelerated linearly from 1g to 7.25g within 333 seconds, along an axis parallel to the longitudinal spacecraft axis.
8. Decompression - 90 minutes in a vacuum of 1.47 x 10E-5 psi (10 E-6 atm) at a temperature of 160° F (71° C), and 30 minutes at a 200° F (93° C).
9. High Pressure - The test item shall be subjected to a pressure of 23.5 psi (1.6 atm) for a minimum period of one hour.
10. Vibration - Three cycles of 30 minutes (lateral, horizontal, vertical, the frequency varying from 5 to 2000 cps and back to 5 cps in 15 minutes. Average acceleration per impulse must be at least 8.8g.
11. Acoustic Noise - 130dB over a frequency range from 40 to 10000 HZ, duration 30 minutes.
NASA performed the tests several times on all the various wrist chronographs that were available. Only the OMEGA Speedmaster passed NASA's rigorous testing. All of the other watches failed NASA's tests.
Interestingly, when NASA conducted the tests a second time in 1977 in preparation for the Space Shuttle flights Only the Speedmaster , again, passed the series of tests.
This is the famous "c.1863" movement.The movement was originally plated in Pink gold , then yellow-gold from 1992, then rhodium-plated in 1996 and beyound. In 1996 the movement was renamed and re-launched as the c.1861 and is still manufactured today. This was due to a single part being changed from a metal component to a nylon-like synthetic part which wears better and is self-lubricating Additionally, a single additional jewel has been added bringing up the jewel count up to 18 from the 17 in previous calibres.
Its a watch I'm proud to wear, my son will wear it someday, as will his son too.
Its a pretty friggin cool watch!
