As it marks the 50th year of the Moon landing, Omega introduced a variety of Speedmaster Moonwatches in steel and in gold, but none with the revived cal. 321 movement, until now. The first watch to land the cal. 321 – a second will debut later in the year – is the ultra-luxe Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Platinum that’s a special, as opposed to a limited, edition.

Visually it’s pretty much a typical Speedmaster Professional, save for the use of expensive materials for all the external components. The case is the standard 42mm with twisted, “lyre” lugs, but rendered in a particular platinum alloy, Pt950Au20, that is 95% platinum along with a small amount of gold. The bezel is also platinum, with an insert in black ceramic with white enamel markings.

The “stepped” dial, as it was on vintage Speedmasters, is made of polished black onyx, while the hour, minute and register hands, along with the hour markers, are 18k white gold (the central seconds hand is plated brass, a necessity because the reset function requires it to be lightweight). All the chronograph sub-dials are made of moon meteorite.

The case back reveals the cal. 321, a remake of the Lemania CH27 of the mid 20th century. Found in the early Speedmaster models, where it was named the Omega cal. 321, the movement has been reproduced in great detail. And according to Omega, it is distinct from its distant relative, the modern day Lemania cal. 2310 that has been in continuous production for several decades.

The Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Platinum is not a limited edition, but Omega has indicated only 2000 cal. 321 movements will be produced each year. With the upcoming cal. 321-powered watch that will probably be a more affordable model in steel, the platinum Moonwatch will no doubt account for a minority of the 2000 movements a year.

Key facts

Diameter:42mm
Material: Platinum
Water-resistance: 50m

Movement: Hand-wound cal. 321
Frequency: 18,000bph (2.5Hz)
Power reserve: 45 hours

Strap: Alligator

Price and availability

The Speedmaster Moonwatch 321 Platinum (ref. 311.93.42.30.99.001) is slated to be delivered in fall 2019, but the price has yet to be announced. Expect it to be in the region of 60,000 Swiss francs.