The Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Chronograph 304.33.44.52.03.001 is one of the most attractive takes on Omega’s legendary “moon watches.” Combining a striking exterior with an advanced, anti-magnetically shielded movement, the Master Chronometer tries really hard to be worth every single dollar of the “recommended” price.
2016 Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Chronograph: Overall Impression
When the first Speedmaster was born almost sixty years ago, it didn’t really aspire to become a living legend.
It was yet another sporty chronograph that also happened to be good at keeping time thanks to the Lemania CH 27-based hand-wound Caliber 321.
As sometimes happens, NASA chose the Speedmaster for its space program and the rest is History with a capital ‘H’.
This new version of the Speedmaster may never find its way to the low Earth orbit.
Yet the Swiss watchmaker still invested a lot of time into making the Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Chronograph flightworthy. It is as resistant to magnetic fields as possible without putting it into a Faraday cage. Its self-winding Caliber 9904 is one of the best in the price niche. And it still looks like you could wear it with a hand-tailored tuxedo!
Omega virtually decimated the competition with this watch.
Omega is an expert when it comes to using “solid” colors and this new model is no exception here.
Juicy, albeit a bit dark, blue color of the dial with its rhodium-plated elements matches the blue leather strap with light-grey stitching. The blue ceramic bezel finishes the pucture.
The Ceramic Bezel
The bezel has its standard tachymeter scale not simply engraved, but filled with their signature “Liquid Metal.”
It’s an amorphous non-corrosive metal alloy that looks like glass, but is 1.5 harder than steel.
Often used in applications ranging from kinetic weapons to phone bodies, it was developed by Caltech around 15 years ago. Now it’s distributed by a company conveniently named Liquidmetal Technologies.
The Thick Case
Since the ref. 304.33.44.52.03.001 sports a thick self-winding mechanism, its 44-millimeter body measures almost 17 millimeters top-to-bottom. For a “sporty” chronograph, this is still kind of acceptable.
However, you should bear in mind that the watch may not be particularly comfortable to wear. The size of this thing will get painfully obvious as soon as you wear it with a dress shirt.
Another thing that you should pay attention to is the lug-to-lug size.
Measuring approximately fifty millimeters in length, it looks great on wider wrists. It may not look especially hot though if your wrist is narrower than average. Just don’t forget to try this one on your wrist before ordering one online.
After all, it is you who will have to wear this expensive beauty for at least nine hours per day.
The Strap
Speaking of lugs (and straps). This Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Chronograph features a standard lug size of 21 millimeters.
Even if at some point in time you decide that the original blue alligator leather strap doesn’t satisfy you any more, the choice of replacement straps of all colors and materials may actually overwhelm you, but that’s probably a good thing.
The Crown
Apart from the gadget’s impressive size, I don’t see any serious ergonomic issues here. The crown is massive enough to provide a good grip when you have to set time or manually wind the mechanism.
I can’t say that the rudimentary crown guards offer adequate protection though. Still, it’s a luxury watch, no one will take it on a hike.
The chronograph push-pieces give an impression that they would be convenient to any human being that has at least a thumb and an index finger on their hand.
The Dial
Omega goes to great pain to make the dial look as attractive as technically possible for a timekeeper that was originally designed as a tool watch.
While the dial still looks deceptively simple using nothing more than sun-brushing on the plate itself, the usual “Speedmaster” hour and minute hands, and a set of applied hour markers, it makes a strong impression with the way that all elements of the dial fit together.
To further increase the Speedmaster’s legibility, the hour, minute, and second hands on this chronometer are covered with Superluminova.
Although the luminous strips are thin, my experience with other Speedmasters makes me pretty confident that they will glow brightly enough for the time to be easily read even in a move when your eyes usually need a moment or two to adjust after a brightly lit silver screen to the meager glow of the luminous compound.
Even the pair of sub-dials, each sporting two hands (the one at 9 o’clock features a circular date indicator with the usual bright red moon crescent pointer and a small seconds display, while the other at 3 hours features a combined chronograph counter with 12-hour and 60-minute totalizers) and featuring rhodium-plated rings around them, don’t look too cluttered: they make an impression that they were supposed to be here all the time since the original was first unveiled back in ?1957.
The same goes for the beautifully finished moon phase indicator makes the dial look even more striking.
Yes, the number of indicators makes the time a bit less readable than most sporty three-handers, but, all things considered, I must admit that Omega’s designers did a great job making this new Speedmaster as easily legible in all lighting situations as it is.
The Co-Axial Caliber 9904
The movement is, perhaps, the most interesting thing here. The Caliber 9904 is one of the latest iterations of the Master Co-Axial series that is equipped with a non-magnetic Silicon Si14 balance spring and features a proprietary anti-magnetic alloy for even better protection against magnetic fields. The mechanism features the same anti-magnetic rating as the earlier Seamaster Aqua Terra which was the first in the world to withstand up to 15,000 gausses without any measurable effect on its ability to keep time.
As far as I understand, the mechanism is based on the same Caliber 8508 that powered the aforementioned Aqua Terra but is a lot more complex featuring a chronograph, a simple circular calendar, and a moon phase indicator that only needs to be adjusted every 10 years of continuous operation.
The latter maybe not be heart-stopping now when there are timekeepers with moon-phase complications that can keep in sync with the biggest celestial body in our sky for whole 128 years (actually, even a relatively inexpensive Chr. Ward C9 Moonphase can do this trick,) but it is not the main selling point here, although the moon disk is done with almost frightening attention to even the most minuscule details.
The total number of components was hence increased to 368, while the jewel count was up to 54. With its two spring barrels mounted in series, the caliber features a surprisingly non-impressive power reserve of just 60 hours. Well, it is still enough even if you plan to wear it only on office days.
As usual, the Caliber 9904 features their signature Geneva waves in an Arabesque motif over something that looks like rhodium-plated steel with red inscriptions nicely accented by polished and blackened screw-heads, barrels, and balance wheel.
Since Omega wanted to further stress both the timekeeper’s anti-magnetic properties and its ability to keep time, they decided to form a sort of partnership with METAS (Swiss Federal Office for Metrology and Accreditation) that officially certifies every movement for compliance with the highest possible standard imaginable for the industry. It looks that at this time Omega is the only watchmaker that sells you something more besides attractive exterior design and an expensive logo.
The Pricing & Availability
It is reported that the Speedmaster Moonphase Chronograph Master Chronometer will be offered at a minimum recommended price of 9400 Swiss francs which roughly translates to $9200. If this is indeed the case, the watch will be less expensive than Breitling Transocean Chronograph 1461 which offers perpetual calendar functionality but comes sans ceramic bezel and doesn’t feature magnetic shielding, and generally looks like a less rational choice.
The date of international availability is still to be officially announced.
See also: Omega Speedmaster Mark II 1969 Reissue
Photos: Omega
WWR’s verdict
The Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Chronograph Master Chronometer is a great, but pricey watch. It is visually striking and is powered by a nice in-house caliber. It’s only problem is a chunky case that limits its versatility even as a “sporty” dress watch.
Originality 5/5
Build quality: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Legibility: 5/5
Value for money: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Omega Speedmaster Moonphase Chronograph Master Chronometer 304.33.44.52.03.001 specification
Price: CHF 9400 (MSRP)
Movement: Automatic (winding in both directions), Caliber Omega 9904, in-house, 368 parts, two barrels, anti-magnetic to 15,000 Gauss, certified as a Master Chronometer as tested by METAS (Swiss Federal Office for Metrology and Accreditation), Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 54
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Power reserve: 60 hours
Movement decoration: Geneva Waves in Arabesque, blackened screws, barrels, and balance wheel
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, moon phase, chronograph
Case: Stainless steel
Bezel: Ceramic, Liquid Metal tachymeter scale
Shape: Round
Size: 44.25 mm
Case height: 16.85 mm
Lug width: 21 mm
Front crystal: Sapphire, anti-reflective coating on both sides
Back: Sapphire, anti-reflective coating on the inner side
Dial: Sun-brushed, blue
Hour markers: Luminous, applied, rhodium-plated
Hands: Polished, luminous, rhodium-plated
Water resistance: 100 meters
Strap: Blue leather strap with contrast stitching on steel fold-over clasp