Omega has returned to the "dark side" of the moon with an updated version of a chronograph saluting the first astronauts to fly there.
The new Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon enhances the design of Omega's previous commemorative by adding more callbacks to NASA's historic Apollo 8 mission. The 2024 watch, which retails for $14,300, retains and improves upon the function of the time-keeping tool that astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders wore while becoming the first people to orbit the moon and seeing the far side in December 1968.
"At Omega, the first Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Apollo 8 timepiece was released in 2018, marking the 50th anniversary of the mission. This time, the brand has returned to its watchmaking launchpad, elevating the same design with an even finer level of detailing and refinement," the Swiss watchmaker stated in a release issued on Tuesday (Jan. 16).
(To be clear, there is no literal "dark side" of the moon. Although only one side — the "near side" — of the moon faces Earth at all times, the far side receives the same amount of sunlight as its opposite. The dark side, therefore, is whatever part of the lunar surface that is in the shadow of Earth when being observed.)
