Omega Just Gave the Stealthiest Speedmaster Models a Facelift

In 2013, the world was introduced to a high-tech take on the famed Omega Speedmaster chronograph called the Dark Side of the Moon. Executed entirely in black ceramic and outfitted with an automatic movement, it was one of the many tiny inflection points that helped shoot watch collecting from a niche, nerdy hobby into the mainstream. Suddenly, it seemed, most everyone knew what a Speedmaster was—regardless of whether or not they considered themselves a “watch person.”

Today, Omega just dropped a revamped take on the Dark Side of the Moon. Not with a single watch, mind you, but with no fewer than seven references across four dials. (Some of these use the same dial but swap out the strap—more on that in a moment.) For Speedy devotees more broadly and for DSOTM fans in particular, this sort of news carries tremendous significance: A slimmed-down case! Fresh dials! A red seconds hand! New straps! For the rest of you wondering what the heck a Dark Side of the Moon even is, we should probably rewind the clock back to 2013.

The original Dark Side of the Moon featured a few novel characteristics: Firstly, it was made completely—like, completely completely—from black ceramic, giving it a spooky, vaguely tactical look that collectors loved. Secondly, it was larger (44.25 mm) than the hand-wound Moonwatch, making it perfect for the Big Watch era that remained in full swing back in the early 2010s. Thirdly, it featured an automatic movement, rendering it ideal for any collectors who stuck up their noses at needing to wind their watches. And, of course, it also just looked dope. In fact, the DSOTM became so popular that Omega went on to introduce numerous follow-up versions, which it continues to do to this day.

Which brings us back to the seven new Dark Side watches. The hero reference here is a reworked version of the original black-dial, black-case watch, albeit with slightly slimmer dimensions (44.25 mm x 15.09 mm) and the Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9900 movement with blackened components, a Liquidmetal tachymeter scale, and two-plate dial construction. (TL;DR: The watch is thinner, the movement has been upgraded, and the dial and bezel are made slightly differently, but the aesthetics are largely the same.)

The next DSOTM on offer is an all-black version, likewise featuring the Calibre 9900 but boasting an enamel tachymeter scale and a laser-sandblasted ceramic dial with diamond-beveled, luminous indices. Featuring the same dimensions as the previous watch, it’s even stealthier in looks, but slightly less legible in daylight. A third version, however, combines the best of the aforementioned watches: Manually-wound using the Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 9908, it’s 15.09-mm thick, but offers a bit more of that vintage vibe via the hand-cranking movement. Kitted out with a matte-black dial, it’s got a cool pop of color in the form of a red central chronograph seconds hand and transferred gray and red accents.

A fourth DSOTM offers something truly different: Designed in honor of astronaut Jim Lovell’s observation that “the moon is essentially gray,” its skeletonized gray dial features a laser-ablated representation of the near lunar surface via the front and the far lunar surface via the caseback. (In a cool touch, the movement bridges are actually finished to look like the moon.) Powered by the hand-wound Omega Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 3869, it measures just 12.97mm thick and features the triple-register chronograph layout that we all know and love from the Moonwatch. (The other three watches use a dual-register layout with a combination hour/minute totalizer at 3 o’clock and a running seconds display at 9 o’clock; the all-black and original DSOTM colorway feature a date register at 6 o’clock, while the red-seconds-hand version does not.)

Finally, each of the watches except the red-seconds-hand is available with one of two straps—the first in nylon with rubber lining, and the second in rubber with a representation of the lunar surface on the reverse side. (The red-seconds-hand only ships on the latter type.)

Priced between $15,700 and $16,400, these are Speedmasters for serious, large-wristed, deep-pocketed folks—perhaps serious collectors, or perhaps the type of watch buyer who wants to be noticed. Furthermore, the hero piece (in this writer’s humble opinion) isn’t the reworked, standard DSOTM with black dial and white typography, but rather the Gray Side of the Moon. Though the DSOTM Apollo 8 editions from 2018 and 2024 feature this same lunar theme with a skeletonized dial, the new gray version does a better job, frankly, of honoring the actual look of the lunar surface. Despite perhaps slightly poorer time-telling legibility, it’s a cooler-looking watch.

Though the grouping of different winding types, movements, specs, and colors in a single release is somewhat confusing, the big news here is that the DSOTM collection now well and truly features something for everyone—provided, of course, that “everyone” is someone who prefers a genuinely big watch. For the slimmer-wristed among us, 44.25 mm is probably well beyond our comfort zone, but hey—that’s what the Moonwatch is for!