Omega’s game of cat and mouse with the present and past continues. The last several sport watches they released seem to have at least one leg (from a design perspective) in the past. This new Speedmaster Broad Arrow Co-Axial watch isn’t that much different. It is like a modern man in a vintage Armani suit that still looks pretty good today. The Broad Arrow Speedmaster watch has been around for a long time. The point of the name? Well compared to your standard Omega Speedmaster Professional watch the Broad Arrow has…. well, it has a broad minute hand and an arrow hour hand. And to think that Broad Arrow just sounded like a cool name for a Speedmaster.
Aside from this new for 2010 look, the “Speedmaster Broad Arrow” name doesn’t get any embellishment. The case size is a generous 44.25mm wide in steel (likely to be gold version as some point) and uses the same case shape that Omega has been using for these watches forever. I like how even in a large size, the case shape still looks quite nice. The bezel has a tachymetre (because it is a Speedmaster – what else would it have?), and the dial is where all the new play is.
The dial is available in black or silver tone, and has vertical stripes meant to look like Cote de Geneve polishing. Omega has been playing a lot lately with vertically striped dials, and this is just the latest experiment. With the applied dial markers and such, I think the dial here actually works better than some of the other experiments they are been doing with such designs (such as with a few Aqua Terra models).
Hour markers are all applied and Arabic in style. this will hopefully make for a very easy to read watch. Chronograph subdials are very peculiar being metal rings with honeycomb patterns on the inside. I mean they do look cool, but this type of design feature for an Omega chronograph subdial was totally unexpected for me. Under the geometric pattern is a substrate with concentric circles. The look is very visually rich, but hopefully not to distracting. Omega was able to integrate the black date window nicely. The watch comes on a metal bracelet or alligator strap. Overall it is a nice (more) modern Speedmaster Broad Arrow watch that takes risks with the design, but will eventually lead to a more rich experience for owners of this collection. I am going to guess that price is somewhere in the $5,000 range. Look for it soon.
See Omega Speedmaster watches on Amazon.com here.
See Omega Speedmaster watches on eBay here.