Editor's Picks
Introducing the 2018 Speedmaster Limited Edition 42mm “Ultraman”
Editor's Picks
Introducing the 2018 Speedmaster Limited Edition 42mm “Ultraman”
Take for instance, the reissue of the all gold 1969 Tribute to Apollo 11 in 1980 with the BA 345.0802, the 1997 reissue of the Broad Arrow CK 2915, the 2008 Alaska Project II ref. PIC 311.32.42.30.04.001, the 21st century reinterpretation and reissue of the CK 2998 in 2016 the ref. PIC 311.33.40.30.02.001 and, of course, not forgetting the spec-perfect reissue of the 1957 CK 2915 last year, as part of the Speedmaster’s 60th birthday.
And now, Omega is creating yet another opportunity for the Speedy community to own yet another revered Speedmaster: The Ultraman.
The Backstory
Eventually when the watch was identified (probably by some watchnut) immediately the Speedy community attached the moniker, Ultraman to the watch. But as in most instances of mysterious, obscure watches that no one seems to have known of before, the community has always been doubtful of the watch and the authenticity of the orange chrono hand that was in it. That is, until very recently.
The speculation was that the hand was simply taken off some other Omega watch that is known to have had such a similar hand, just for kicks. What’s more is that not enough instances of the watch had been seen in the wild, to say for sure that this was a factory produced Omega, rather than a creative collector playing around with Omega parts.
Ultimately, it was Omega themselves who came into the picture to verify the Ultraman as a specific production piece that the watchmaker did, in fact, produce in 1968.
The Ultraman’s orange chrono hand is 18.80mm in length, 0.90mm at its widest end and has a satin finish. The table below, with data republished from Moonwatch Only, logs Omega’s comparative findings.
However, no one seems to know how many pieces of the watch were produced. Omega themselves, for the time being, have said that they are unable to say for sure how many genuine instances of the watch still exist. But needless to say, one month’s worth of production in the summer of 1968, does suggest enough for us to know that incredibly few could’ve been produced.
On a personal note, I do have further questions on the 1968 Ultraman. Sure would like to know why some instances of the watch had Pulsometer bezels and others had tachymeter ones or even a 0-100 scale. But that’s, perhaps for another time. For now, on to the reissued Ultraman being announced today.
The 2018 Speedmaster Limited Edition 42mm “Ultraman”
But there’s another quick tidbit for those in the know: The bezel on the new watch, if you’ve not noticed already, is the DON, or Dot Over Nighty that has become a thing of immense desire for many a Speedy collector. Coincidentally the 1968 Ultraman that were fitted with the tachymeter bezel had the DON bezel, too.
Reservations for the watch were received on omegawatches.com, priced at USD 7,100. Unfortunately, they’re all allocated. It took no more than 15-20 minutes.