A gloss on Speedmaster Moonwatch dial markings...
Portions written by Chuck Maddox USA on 21 March 2002,
"Swiss Made" section courtesy Gino Balbi , 5 May 2004,
Last Revised: 10 May 2004, 10:45 GMT
Certain Rights Reserved...
Index/Shortcuts:
The Omega Logo:
Applied, Painted
The Omega Text:
2915~Early 2998's, 2998's~Pre-Pro,
Early Pro's, Adolesent Pro's,
Mature Pro's
The Speedmaster Script:
Early Model, Late Pre/Non-Pro's,
Early Pro's, Adolesent_Pro's,
Mature Pro's, Modern/Current_Pro's
The Swiss Made Text:
Early Models, Pre/Non-Pros,
Early Pros, Adolescent/Mature Pros,
Modern Pros, Occasional/Lmtd Ed.
Disclaimer

This document has been hurriedly reconstructed from fragmentary pictures and memory... It also probably has it's share of inaccuracies, please feel free to contact me if you find any... I hope you enjoy this gloss on Speedmaster minutiae.

Addendum: Gino Balbi sent me a nice little addition detailing the Swiss Made Text on the dial, it was so close to my original HTML that I'm just dropping it in. All of the information, and pictures in the "Swiss Made" section are Gino's, although I did the HTML!. THANK YOU Gino!

The Omega Logo:

"Applied Metal Type" Logo:

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From the beginning in 1957 through all c.321 movement models and some early c.861 models, the Omega Logo on the Dial of Speedmasters were of the "Applied Metal" type. Because of the reflectivity of the metal in the logo the mirror-like metal logo will take the appearance of the background it is reflecting. If the background is black, the dial can nearly disappear into the dial. If the backround that's being reflected it may take a gold appearance as in this photo. Since late 1969 only occasional Speedmaster models (125 and '57 Replica among them) have had this logo.

"White Painted (Screened)" Logo:

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Midway through 1969 roughly the same time as the first manned lunar landing on Apollo 11 (but not necessarily on or near that moment) Omega changed the logo from the applied metal logo to the White Painted type. Streamlining of manufacturing operations and their costs are the most likely reasons for the change. Note that after this date the exact shape of the Omega Symbol does change and vary through time slightly. I don't really know the cause for this but don't be shocked if you see a moonwatch with a slightly different look to the Omega Symbol...

The Omega Text:

Early Models:

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The CK2915 (1957 - Broad Arrow) model and early Dauphine hand CK2998 Speedmasters feature this style of Omega text.

The name appears smaller (especially in height) and thinner than the text on later models. The "O" and "G" seem almost oval in shape rather than circular.

Later Pre-Pro's:

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Later CK2998's featured Omega text which had "put on a little weight" and had a height growth spurt... This style lasted throughout the rest of the "Pre-Professional"/"Non-Professional" product run through 1965.

Text appears to be more circular in nature.

Early Professional's:

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In the early Professionals the Omega name in the dial text get's another size bump up. Appearing slightly larger and thicker again... These dials appear from the early Professionals (late ¿1965? or 1966) through the very early 1970's.

Also note how much closer the individual letters are in this example...

Adolesent Professionals:

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In the early 1970's Omega increased teh size and thickness of the Omega text on the dial once again and the result is the biggest and broadest text of all...

Also note how much closer the individual letters are in this example...

Mature Professionals:

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From the late 1980's (roughly) through the current day this has been the style the Omega Text has taken. In this instance the thickness of the text actually shrinks for the first time and because of that there appears to be more space between the individual letters in the Omega name.

The Speedmaster Script:

Early Models:

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Both the first model (Ref.CK2915) and the early CK2998's featured this Speedmaster script style..

Late Pre/Non-Professionals:

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Later CK2998's and the rest of the Pre-Professional/Non-Professional models featured this style of Speedmaster script which featured changes primarily to the "S", "p", and "r".

Early Professionals:

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With the introduction of the "Professional" models the style of the "S", "p", "s", and "r" were changed a little, and the beginning of "m" has also changed too.

Adolesent Professionals:

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Again in the early 1970's the script changed again...As you can see with this script style the "S" and "r" are lengthened... The "S" follows the decender for the "p" down, and the "r" sharply dives down below the baseline of the text.

Mature Professionals:

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At some point in the 1980's Omega changed the script that "Speedmaster" is written in. At this point the script style is most pronounced with the "S" decending to match the "p" and the r goes as far down as well...

Modern Professionals:

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From around 1989 on (this is a picture of the dial on my 20th Anniversary model -1989) switched to the style that current Moonwatches seem to possess. The "S" and "r" are much more constrained in the vertical and as a result more rounded in appearance.

The SWISS MADE Script (Text/Photos from Gino Balbi's Collection except for the Apollo-Soyuz):

Early Models:

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Both the first model (Ref.CK2915) and the CK2998's featured this SWISS MADE script style. (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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Pre/Non-Professionals:

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First ST models (Ref. ST105002 and ST105003) featured the same style of SWISS MADE script with the add of a couple of "T" after and before Swiss made. (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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Early Professionals:

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With the introduction of the "Professional" models the style of the  T SWISS MADE T script style do not change for ST105012 so we can point out that all  ST105xxx models have the same script style, while in ST145012 there is a little change, the entire script was lengthened and now the couple of  "T" is nearer to the minute little bar on minute track. (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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Adolescent/Mature Professionals:

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From 1969 the new ref. ST145022 (c.861) featured the shortened luminous bar (that scovered the 1/5th second markings) and the precedent style of  T SWISS MADE T script. (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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Modern Professionals:

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At some point in the second middle 1990's Omega, with the introduction of c.1861 and superluminova, changed again the script and switched to the style that current Moonwatches seem to possess (SWISS MADE only, without the couple of "T"). (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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Occasional/Limited Edition Professionals:

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From 1969 only occasional Speedmaster models have had different style of SWISS MADE script:

ST145022  1975 (c.861) Apollo-Soyuz Comm. Edition (only 500 units produced), only for this model the luminous hours bar on the face covered the 1/5th second markings and there was a wider separation between the two words. (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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ST3450809 1985 (c.866 MoonPhase) (only 2,000 units produced), only for this model the entire script is shortened and now is similar that one featured on ST105xxx series. (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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ST3760822 1987 (c.1045), this is the only automatic model Moonwatch cased and the script SWISS MADE is different in style and position from any other Moonwatch model. (click on picture to open a enlargement in a new window)

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Disclaimer:

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This document has been hurriedly reconstructed from fragmentary picures and memory (which at times has been prone to being falible)... Please be gentle as this document is not any where near my prefered level of polish and was no were near being polished prior to me losing the data on my hard drive. Fortunately, I had copies on other devices and was able to salvage this, such as it is...

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are my own and knowing me should be taken with a grain or two of salt...

Certain Rights Reserved:

Statement of rights retained and permissions granted...

Permission is granted for Damon, Derek Ziglar and RJ to include within the FAQ's they are writing as long as credit (and a link to this article) is given and proper acknolegement to the contributor's is included. Permission for personal, educational or non-commercial use is granted. The author retains all other rights not specifically mentioned here... For all other use please contact the author.