The 20th of July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon, and the Omega Speedmaster was thus the first watch to be worn on the moon. The celebrate the success of the Apollo XI mission, Omega is traditionally realising every five years a Limited Edition of its iconic Speedmaster Moonwatch. Everybody was expecting the steel Speedmaster Moonwatch, but it was a real surprise to see the new Speedmaster Moonwatch full gold, because that is not really in Omega's tradition release gold Speedmaster Professional.

The new full gold Speedamaster is a homage to the limited Edition full gold Speedmaster BA145.022. This watch was also produced between 1969 and 1973 to commemorate edition for the Apollo XI moon landing. 1014 watches were produced, and it is famously known that the number #1 and #2 were offered to the American President Nixon and to the Vice President Spiro Agnew, respectively. Both however declined the watch to comply with the administration rules. The watch was full yellow gold, had a burgundy bezel, square onyx markers and a brushed finish of the gold dial.

At first glance, the new Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Moonshine Gold looks almost identical to the Speedmaster BA145.022: full gold case and bracelet, burgundy bezel, applied square onyx markers and a brushed finish of the gold dial. The cases are satin brushed and have polished finished beveled corners, gorgeous. The bracelet is also satin brushed on top and the links are polished on the side. The Omega logo located at 12 o'clock is applied and not painted, as it usually is for the recent Speedmaster. So no difference between the vintage and new gold Speedmaster until now.

The difference between the vintage and the new gold models is in the details. The new bezel is now made of ceramic (ZrO2) instead of being an aluminum inlay. Otherwise the watch bezels have the famous Dot-Over-Ninety. Collectors will appreciate. Hour and second hands are different. The hands were all black in the original model, whereas they adopt a polished gold aspect with a black inlay in the new model. The counter-second hand remains black in the new model, as it was the original model.

The new watch has a stepped dial and stepped subdials reminiscent of the vintage 321 Speedmaster. The traditional dial arrangement of the Speedmaster is respected, the counter 30-minute sub-dial is located at 3 o'clock, the counter 12-hour sub-dial is located at 6 o'clock, whereas the second dial is located at 9 o'clock.

The vintage Speedmaster BA145.022 had a full gold case back, whereas the new model has a transparent one. It is thus possible to see the new Omega calibre 3861, which is powering the watch. This caliber is still a traditionally manual-winding chronograph movement, but he has now a Co-Axial escapement.

The caliber is certified Master Chronometer and approved by METAS. The big improvement is that the 3861 caliber now has the hacking-second feature! The caliber looks beautiful. It has gold plates bridges, burgundy markings and cote de Genève.

The dial is protected by a sapphire crystal with anti-reflecting coating. I am a bit disappointed by that, I find the Speedmaster dial looks so much better when hesalite glass is used.

The watch comes on a fantastic brushed gold bracelet. This bracelet is almost identical to the vintage one. The five-arches-links-per-row bracelet has links with a satin brushed finish on top and they are polished on the side. It fact the bracelet aspect reminds me of the steel five-row model 1479, that was coming with the early Speedmaster 3590.50 references. The second and fourth rows had a lower height in comparison with the external (first and fifth rows) and the central row (third), and all had a brushed surface. That was and remains the pretiest Speedmaster bracelet to my opinion, so I am glad to see the design on the Speedmaster Moonshine Gold.

The bracelet clasp also looks fantastic, so retro style. The aspect of the Speedmaster BA145.022 clasp has been conserved. It is a clasp with a striped-texture and supporting the 3D Omega logo at one end.

The Speedmaster BA145.022 has a full gold case back with some engraving. The new Speedmaster Moonshine Gold has a transparent with some decoration. The black circle around the transparent sapphire glass is decorated with a blue ocean and a world map, that have been drawn on the side using laser ablation and PVD color treatment.

At the opposite side of these drawings has been placed a lunar meteorite. "APOLLO 11 - 50th ANNIVERSARY" and "THE FIRST WATCH WORN ON THE MOON" have also be printed on the circle. On the solif gold part of the case back is written in burgundy color the watch number, "X /1014", and "1969 - 2019" on the opposite side.

I will get straight to the point: I LOVE THIS WATCH. I loved it on the first sight, and this is not happening to me very often. I was already hunting for few years to put my hands on an Omega Speedmaster Gold BA145.0220, but the task was unfruitful, not so many watches available and usually in quite bad state. So when I heard Omega was releasing a new Speedmater nearly identical to the BA145.0220, I ran to my AD to see it. And I haven't been disappointed. The watch is magnificent. It is not a true Moonwatch, but it is a sporty, elegant watch celebrating the moon-landing adventure. I was surprised by the aspect of the watch. Knowing it was a gold watch, I was worrying and expecting something quite flashy. It is not the case at all, thanks to the brushed finish and Moonshine color. The watch has a beautiful light gold tone. The clasp and bracelet are awesome. I am glad the bracelet links are fully brushed on top, that is how the watch looks the best in the vintage steel version and it also works perfectly with gold. I am aware that the original Speedmaster had a filled case back, but I am quite glad to see the new Omega caliber through the transparent case back. The watch is powered by the latest Omega manual caliber featuring for the first time the hacking function. As a Moonwatch collector I also appreciate the re-edition of the watch step-dial, the elongated tail on the "r" letter in the Speedmaster dial inscription, and the dot placed on top of the "90" in the bezel.

The decorations on the case back are nice, but to be honest I find them a bit anecdotic in comparison with the main characteristics of the watch. Would I have change something to the watch? Yes, one thing, the crystal. Omega selected a sapphire crystal. I know sapphire is more resistant, but I love so much how the Moonwatch looks with the domed hesalite glass, I love the distortions produced by the hesalite. For me, that where most of the charm of the Moonwatch is coming from. But I have to be franc with you, the watch looks so great that for once I will not hold it against the watch (but Omega, don't do it again). The selling price of the watch was 32'000 euro. It is not cheap, but it is the same price as a full gold Rolex Daytona. To be franc with you, I would not hesitate between the two models. Only 1014 pieces of the Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Moonshine Gold have been released, and I believe you will need a lot of luck to now find this magnificent model in your AD. In any case the Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Moonshine Gold is the prettiest and charming watch I saw in 2019; a must-have for every watch enthusisast.