104th Auction

2021/5/22

Lot 94

Omega
Speedmaster Broad Arrow First Generation

An extremely rare wristwatch - Speedmaster Broad Arrow First Generation - with chronograph, 30 min. and 12h counter, auxiliary seconds and tachy bezel, produced on December 24, 1958. This is one of the very first Speedmaster models introduced by Omega to the market ! - with later original box and Omega extract from the archives

Sold

estimated
65.000100.000 €
Price realized
94.400 €
specific features
Case
Steel, screw back with engraved Speedmaster logo and "Speedmaster" engraving on the bottom bevelling, anti-magnetic protection cap, "Omega" crown, mushroom-shaped pushers, domed Hesalite crystal etched with the Omega symbol, steel bezel with tachymeter scale base 1000 m, engraved with graduation 300 to 60 km/h, first generation "Omega" steel bracelet ref. 7077 with double expanding links and a short length deployant clasp, endlinks stamped 6, bracelet length 130 mm, total length 175 mm.
Dial
Black, applied metal "Omega" logo, radium luminous indexes, radium luminous "broad arrow" hands.
Movement
Manual.
Ref.CK2915-1
Cal.321
Diam.38,5 mm
Circa1958
Ctry.Swiss
Wt.88 g


The enclosed copy from the Omega archives confirms that this "Speedmaster Broad Arrow" 2915-1 model is original in all parts, which makes it one of the extremely rare timepieces from the very first series.
The radium luminous material in the "broad arrow" hands has acquired a beautiful patina. The black dial is signed "Swiss Made", the radium indexes are gently faded. The very early steel bezel shows signs of wear that are appropriate to its age. The case back has been stamped "HF", as it was created by casemakers "Huguenin Frères".
The watch was produced in 1958 and still possesses the original crystal etched with the Omega symbol, the original steel bezel and the rare reference 7077 early bracelet produced from 1957 and 1961, with short deployant clasp and expanding double links close to the clasp.
Omega launched the Speedmaster in 1957 as one of three so-called "tool watches". Alongside the Seamaster diver’s watch and the Railmaster, which was intended for scientists and engineers, the Speedmaster was designed as a watertight chronograph for sports events such as motor-racing and other occasions where speed needed to be measured. For better and faster measurements, the tachy scale was engraved in the bezel instead of being printed on the dial – hence the name Speedmaster. Eventually the Speedmaster would become the legendary "moon watch".
Reference 2915-1 had a production run of less than three years. The main features of the model are the 38.5 mm watertight case, the steel bezel engraved with "Tachymètre Base 1000" and a velocity scale up to 300 km per hour. The dial has the distinctive broad arrow hands and the applied metal Omega logo at 12 o’clock as well as the delicate "Omega" inscription where the letters "O" and "G" have almost oval shapes. The unostentatious "Swiss Made" designation without "T" label sits below 6 O’clock. The movement is protected by an antimagnetic soft iron cap and holds the legendary 1st generation calibre 321.
References 2915-1 and 2915-2 were more or less identical; reference 2915-3 launched in 1959, however, features a black aluminium bezel and alpha hands (where the hour hand is extra long) instead of the broad arrow hands. Subsequent versions came with a black inserted bezel with a 500 km/h calibration.
The Speedmaster Broad Arrow is illustrated and described in "Omega - A Journey Through Time" by Marco Richon, p. 596-597, in "Omega Saga", p. 372-374; also in "Omega Sportswatches" by John Goldberger, p. 95-107 (also pictured on the cover).