Omega Speedmaster Chronoscope Chronograph mechanical watch blue dial steel bracelet 43 mm

A return to the roots

Omega is adding a new version to the Speedmaster range, bringing back a name dear to the brand, that of "Chronoscope". This new collection echoes the brand's vintage watches, and is inspired by the vintage chronographs of the late 1930s and 1940s that made the company so successful. Long before the release of the Speedmaster in 1957, Omega's chronographs often featured several scales on the dial, then called chronoscopes, and were devices used to observe, watch and precisely measure the duration of a phenomenon. For the record, the name is also much older than that, as it was the name of Louis Brandt's first watch in 1885, who later founded the Omega company.

A Speedmaster before its time

The Chronoscope does not bear the term Speedmaster by chance. Indeed, its design is familiar, with a stainless steel case combining brushed surfaces and polished accents on the sides, 43 mm in size (48 mm from lug to lug and 12.8 mm thick), asymmetrical design and facetted lugs, all protected by a box-shap raised sapphire crystal. But it is above all its anodised aluminium bezel with a tachometric scale, inseparable from the famous name, that puts the Chronoscope in the Speedmaster air.
On this reference 329.30.43.51.03.001 with a blue dial and silvered counters, we find leaf-shaped hands and rhodium-plated Arabic numerals, as well as a "spiral" pattern. At its centre are two distinct measuring scales printed in the 1940s spiral style: a telemetric scale and a pulsometer on a 30 base. A small seconds counter is located at 9 o'clock and a 60-minute and 12-hour totalizer is present at 3 o'clock.
The steel bracelet of this reference is familiar, as it is inherited from the new version of the new Moonwatch, featuring the same slim clasp with a striated pattern and easy adjustment. With a 21 mm lugs, the bracelet offers a nice drop to the clasp ending in 16 mm.

A new calibre: 9908

Within the watch, we find a new manual mechanical movement, characterised by its ¾ plate decorated with an arabesque, revealing only the Co-Axial escapement beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour. Based on the calibre 9900, it retains the same architecture, with a column wheel and a vertical clutch. It also has a double barrel to offer a stable torque and a comfortable 60-hour power reserve. Thus it meets the highest standards of the watch industry in terms of precision, performance and magnetic resistance. The watch is thus certified by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS)