It’s Official: Omega Finally Released Daniel Craig’s White-Dial Moonwatch

Oren Hartov
·3 min read

There are a few watches you just don’t mess with—icons like the Rolex Submariner, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, or the Patek Philippe Nautilus. Of course, there are countless variations of each of these famed models, but any tweak contemplated by their parent companies has to be poured over with enormous care—because watch fans are positively feral, and they will make their discontent known.

The Omega Speedmaster Professional, a.k.a. the “Moonwatch,” is another such timepiece that you don’t mess with. Because while there are myriad versions of the Speedmaster out there, the Moonwatch is a sacred piece of horological history: a NASA-approved, hand-wound, analog wrist computer in continuous production for nearly 70 years. Indeed, when Omega finally launched its much-anticipated update to the model in 2021 and included a new movement, the Caliber 3861, it nearly broke the internet.

Which is why the new white-dialed version of the Moonwatch, which Omega officially announced today, is such big news. To be fair, Speedy fans have been waiting on this announcement since last November, when one was spotted on the wrist of a certain secret agent during an appearance in New York at the Planet Omega exhibition. Back then, no one was quite sure what this new watch was, and Omega (and Daniel Craig) offered no comment. In essence, this is exactly what it sounds like: a Moonwatch with a lacquered white dial. But as simple as the watch is, conceptually, there’s never been one exactly like it before.

White-dialed Speedies exist of course—special Snoopy-themed models, limited editions, etc. But not a white, NASA-sanctioned space chronograph in steel. Back in 1957, when the Speedmaster was launched as a racing watch, it was given a black dial with luminescent hands and indices for maximum legibility. It stayed this way for years, and was approved for use by NASA in the 1960s. Now, Omega has flipped the script, ditching black white glossy lacquer and adding applied black indices and black hands, plus red dial text for the word “Speedmaster”—a nod to the “Alaska” project of 1969 that resulted in a white-dialed model never officially adopted for space use. (That unique timepiece had a red thermal shroud.)

Watch enthusiasts, as previously noted, lose their minds over tiny details—the red lettering in “Red” Submariners, for example, which are otherwise identical to ref. 1680s from the same production period; or the “Ultraman” Speedmaster, which is (largely) just a Speedmaster with an orange seconds hand. People pay big money for these slight differences and tweaks, and this new Moonwatch is designed with plenty of quirks that will make it highly desirable among collectors.

For now, the new white-dialed beauty—it’s quite good-looking, we must say—comes on the aforementioned five-link steel bracelet; or on a black, micro-perforated leather strap with red-and-white stitching; or, interestingly, on an anti-bacterial rubber strap with a moon surface pattern in positive relief on the underside. Otherwise, this is largely the current-gen Moonwatch we all know and love: hand-wound Omega Caliber 3861 movement; “Dot Over 90” tachymeter scale on a black, anodized aluminum bezel; 42mm diameter. Handsome and understated, it provides a welcome alternative to the standard Moonwatch without driving too far off the rails.

Which is exactly what watch nerds love.

Originally Appeared on GQ

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