94th Auction

2016/11/12

Lot 261

Omega "Speedmaster Broad Arrow", Movement No. 15996570, Ref. 2915-3, Cal. 321, 39 mm, circa 1958

A gentleman's important wristwatch with chronograph, produced August 28th, 1958 and sold to Austria. This is the first Speedmaster model introduced by Omega to the market. This watch was produced under license by "Lemania Watch Orient" who was a subsidiary of Omega at that time. With Omega extract from the archives
Case: steel, srew back with Speedmaster logo, anti-magnetic soft iron cup, folded "Omega" steel bracelet. Dial: black, luminous "broad arrow" hands. Movm.: 2/3 plate movement, Glucydur screw balance.
Speedmaster Broad Arrow
This watch is one of the very few original "Speedmaster Broad Arrow" models ref. 2915 that have come on the market in recent years. The period Omega bracelet with which it is fitted makes the piece even more desirable than its contemporaries !
The famous Omega Speedmaster was launched in 1957; it was the result of a creative cooperation between Pierre Moinat, then head of Omega's "creative" department, Claude Baillod, who designed the case, and George Hartmann, who built the prototype of the watch. It was supposed to be "for men who reckon time in seconds", for example race drivers, athletes, engineers and scientists; the tachymetre scale is engraved on the bezel and allows for extremely fast calculation of speed - which gave the watch its "Speedmaster" name. Only later did the course of events turn the Speedmaster into the "Moon Watch".
The watch at hand is an original Speedmaster Broad Arrow ref. 2915 and has the 39 mm water-resistant case with black tachy bezel. It is graduated to 300 km/h and its most prominent characteristics are of course the "Broad Arrow" hands and the calibre 321 movement, which is protected by an anti-magnetic soft iron cap. The dial features the applied metal "Omega" logo as opposed to the usual printed version and the slimmer "Omega" signature in a different fond where "O" and "G" are almost oval in shape. Another distinctive feature is the simple "Swiss Made" below 6 o'clock, without "T" designation.
The "Broad Arrow" hands were replaced with "Alpha" hands in 1959; the steel bezel gave way to the black insert graduated to 500 km/h. Mercury 7 astronaut Walter Schirra wore the updated ref. CK 2998 during his space walk.
The Speedmaster has always been one of the most iconic watches on the market. At the time of its launch in 1957 it was most certainly a cutting-edge design - the original water-resistant sports chronograph watch. The fact that the tachymetre scale is on the bezel as opposed to printed on the dial makes the dial far more legible and simplifies the calculation of speed. This groundbreaking feature was embraced by most other watch manufacturers soon after its introduction; Rolex for example used it in their famous "Daytona" model in the 1960s.
The Speedmaster Broad Arrow is described and illustrated in Marco Richon's "Omega - A Journey Through Time", pp. 596-597, and in "Omega Saga", pp. 372-374; also in "Omega Sportswatches" by John Goldberger, pp. 95-107 (also featuring on the cover).

Sold

estimated
16.00030.000 €
Price realized
39.700 €