Omega Speedmaster Lunar Dust: I fondly remember last year’s Baselworld when Omega announced the new Speedmaster Dark side of the Moon – which sported an entire case and dial (pushers included) made of ceramic and I included, just like everyone else, greeted this new timepiece with great warmth. One year on and Omega have released another fully ceramic timepiece, The Omega Speedmaster Lunar Dust, or as it has already been nicknamed “The Lit Side of The Moon” – however, I’m not too sure if that will catch on?
The new Speedmaster Lunar Dust appears to be something Omega did make too much fuss about and I even remember skirting around the outside of the Omega booth and not even seeing it on display. If I remember correctly the first time we even knew there was a new ceramic Speedmaster is when we bumped into Omega CEO Mr. Urquhart, who as always was donning two Omega timepieces but on his right wrist was the new Speedmaster Lunar Dust. This kind of led us to believe it was a late inclusion for Baselworld 2014.
Like its predecessor, the Dark side of the Moon, the Lunar Dust is practically the same in every shape and form. It uses the same movement and 44.25mm case dimensions – which may sound rather large but in all honesty fits really well on the wrist and doesn’t really have a sense of heaviness to it, this is mainly due to the materials used and curvature of the lugs. It uses the same tried and tested Co-Axial calibre 9300 but I’m sure we will see a move to the new super anti-magnetic “15’000 gauss” Co-Axial movements in the future.
Moreover, what is very interesting about this timepiece is the way the case is made. Both the Dark Side of The Moon and the Lunar Dust start out life as one solid block of white ceramic but then go through a plasma technology treatment, which gives the case its colour (in this case a dark grey). The plasma treatment isn’t just superficial but in fact penetrates the ceramic, so even if you were to slice it in half that same (grey) colour is present. The photo below demonstrates the different stages the ceramic goes through to achieve this crisp and clean metallic look.
Now, I remember what irked some people when the Dark Side of the Moon was released was the engraving of Zr02 (Zirconium Oxide Ceramic) on the dial but we actually thought it looked quite cool. Omega have done the exact same thing with the Lunar Dust, however, this time engraving “Pt950” onto the dial – which if you weren’t aware stands for Platinum. The use of platinum for the dial is quite a cool move by Omega, it adds character and texture – in fact it’s not too dissimilar from the platinum dials on the Yacht Master – so when under lights it has a nice little sparkle. The hands on the Lunar Dust are the same as those that are on the DSotM, with the chronograph seconds hands that has a red tip. The hands are pretty much the same colour as the case, which contrasts well with the dial.
Unlike the Dark Side of the Moon that is fitted with a black textured strap, the Lunar Dust is fitted with a grey leather alligator strap which fits in quite well with the overall look but I think the use of a textured strap would’ve personally been a better fit in my opinion. By and large the Lunar Dust is a welcomed update of the Dark Side of The Moon released last year, it has a dressier look to it making it probably more versatile than the all-black ceramic DSotM.
As mentioned in the beginning, the announcement of this new Omega Speedmaster Lunar Dust came at very short notice. There is currently no information for this timepiece on the Omega website yet but I’m sure it won’t be long. The Omega Speedmaster Lunar Dust list price is 10,500 CHF (Swiss Francs), excluding VAT. This is about 500 Swiss Francs more than the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon list price.
More information on the other Omega 2014 novelties can be found here.
Live images taken by Bert Buijsrogge of Fratellowatches
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