The hashtag #SpeedyTuesday was started by Fratello Watches founder Robert-Jan Broer in 2012, and watch people have used it ever since to post their Speedmasters every second day of the week. In 2017, Omega leaned into it and made an actual watch: the Speedy Tuesday limited edition.
The history
Omega released the Speedy Tuesday in 2017 to celebrate the Speedmaster Professional, and made exactly 2012 of them, a nod to the year the hashtag started. What sets this one apart from every other Speedy is the reverse panda dial. As far as I know, if you want a hand-wound Speedmaster with a reverse panda dial, a Speedy Tuesday is the only way to get one. That is not a bad spot to be in, because Omega really did do it right here.
The design
The design borrows from Omega's Speedmaster Alaska Project III, a model built for NASA in 1978. The Alaska Project III did not have a reverse panda dial, but it did use special radial subdials, requested by NASA engineer James Ragan, who felt a radial layout was easier to read.
The case on that project was changed too, bead-blasted to an all-matte finish so it would not throw off light. Sounds like overkill, until you remember that an astronaut, without earth's atmosphere taking the edge off the sun, could find a reflection off a polished case genuinely distracting, or worse.
What you are getting
Other than those touches, you get the familiar 42mm Professional case, powered by the hand-wound calibre 1861. And then there are the extras. Each one comes with a leather watch roll holding a black-and-white NATO strap, with #SpeedyTuesday stamped on the strap's keeper. The roll itself is very supple and soft to the touch, the kind of thing I catch myself petting in moments of stress.
On the wrist
On the wrist you get the tried-and-true ergonomics of the Speedmaster. I always felt the standard Speedy dial was missing something, and the panda treatment gives this one that bit of pop. My one gripe is legibility. The radial subdials are more legible on their own, but the white hands get lost against the white subdials, which makes the watch harder to read at a glance. Nothing beats stark white hands on an all-black dial for that.
Pre-owned prices
Omega sold all 2012 pieces from its website for around $6,500, and they were gone the same day. Pre-owned prices have since climbed to roughly double that, in the $12,000 to $13,000 range. If the legibility does not bother you, I would grab one and watch the prices keep going.
If you are a collector around Washington DC, there is something fitting about a Moonwatch in a city with the Air and Space Museum down the road. Either way, a watch like this is worth handling in person before you buy, where you can judge the dial and the condition for yourself. We buy and sell certified pre-owned Omega, Speedmasters included, so whether you are looking to sell one or find the right example, feel free to reach out. You can see what is in stock in our Omega collection.
