On a personal note, this 240-page section on all of these cool references flew me back in time to when I was going through my uncle’s car catalogues at a young age, drooling at all the superb vehicles on display… If you like the Omega Speedmaster Professional, you’ll be amazed by some of the rarely (or never before) seen, truly incredible iterations that are on show here. Regardless whether they were production models, special editions or prototypes, they are in there, beautifully illustrated.
In this section, again, explanatory texts discuss the different variations that may have surfaced over time, plus there is also a chart with the same criteria: from production numbers and dates to popularity estimates, movement number range encountered, exact reference numbers and PIC codes, caliber numbers, case, dial, bezel and other part specifications and types – everything is listed with great precision to ensure that one can identify his/her piece from the whopping number of various versions. You do have to be careful not to fall in love with some of the rarer and very cool versions on display – some pieces instantly made it to near the top of my personal “must-have-immediately” list.
Criticisms? At 290 Swiss Francs the price for this massive, hard-cover version may appear to be steep at first – but once you consider the amount of work it must have required to gather information with such detail, take images of such consistency, and wrap it all up into such a complete package, it all starts adding up. More important, if you consider investing in a vintage Omega Speedmaster Professional, with this reference book, you can save yourself much more by ending up getting the right piece at the right price.
We really only have scratched the surface with this review of the Moonwatch Only: The Ultimate Omega Speedmaster Guide book – there is a strong temptation to include more pages and scans from it, but you really do have to see it all to let the sum of wonderful history, a staggering number of stunning details, and all the beautiful images sink in. Hence, we will end with where the book began, with the words of Stephen Urquhart, the President of Omega: “I know you’ll enjoy it.”
Again, price for the Moonwatch Only: The Ultimate Omega Speedmaster Guide book is 290 Swiss Francs and it is available either in English, French, or Italian, from the publisher Watchprint via the book’s website. moonwatchonly.com
