We covered the launch of the Omega Speedmaster Snoopy 50th Anniversary with our insights and commentary earlier. And the watch made it to our shores recently, and we got up close and personal it for a photo session and hands-on. Here are our photographs.
This is the third in the Snoopy Award series by Omega, all on Speedmasters. The first was in 2003, Ref. 3578.51, as this was pre-Deployant, we do not have an article on it. The second was released in 2015, and we have a full review with our own photographs:
Review of the 2015 Omega Speedmaster Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award Ref. 311.32.42.30.04.003
The 50th Anniversary Snoopy over the page of the Omega book showing the first Snoopy, which was released in 2003.
Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy 50th Anniversary
Omega is the master of re-invention and special editions. They have re-invented their Speedmaster Moonwatch in so many variants, that it takes a dedicated Omega specialist collector to identify and know all the facts of each. and to this list, Omega adds a rather long list of new variants every year. But it is not just remake after remake, or a re-edition for the sake of doing one, but the team in Omega puts in an incredible amount of effort to include fine details and nods to historical issues.
This detail oriented approach and the aesthetic beauty of the watches often have collectors go wild. And coupled with the relatively modest prices of Omega watches, have made them collector darlings. This issue of the Snoopy is no exception. Bucking the trend which began with the first two editions, Omega chose not to do a limited edition for the series, but rather limit the availability by the production capacity. And though Omega’s production capabilities is enormous, especially when compared to almost all of the competition, the demand for this new release has shot up the roof! Every Tom, Dick and Harry seems to have his eye for one. And the list is as long as any from Rolex or Patek Philippe, perhaps even longer!
Aesthetics
The aesthetics of the Snoopy 50th is nothing short of breathtaking. Omega has leveraged on the popularity of the blue and white dial combination to bring forth a very beautiful watch. Dare we say, perhaps the most beautiful Moonwatch yet.
The dial is in silver, and engraved tone on tone “Ag925” right below the Omega logo and the four lines model designation “OMEGA”, “Speedmaster”, “Professional”. The subdials are in blue, and Snoopy makes an appearance on the embossed silver medallion on the blue subdial at 9 o’clock. Here, he is shown wearing his famous spacesuit, in the exact style of the silver pin that NASA astronauts give to award recipients.
The blue ceramic bezel, features the Dot over Ninety design that Omega have selectively used in their speciality watches.
DON – Dot over Ninety. The dot marking for the tachymeter markings on the bezel is over the numeral 90, while for 85, the dot is beside.
The blue selected is a very nice soothing hue and contrasts beautifully with the white dial, and the stainless steel case. The strap is a fabric which is rubber backed, ensuring durability and resistance to moisture but retaining the texture and feel of fabric. It feels nice to the touch and is very supple.
“Complications”
The back features some amazing graphics. From the photo realistic moon surface made by a unique micro-structured metallisation technique over the under side of the sapphire glass. The point of view of the graphics is from one standing on the lunar surface, looking back on Earth, which appears as a blue disc, which spins on its own axis at the rate of 1 revolution every minute.
And when the chronograph is activated, Snoopy appears in his Command and Service Module making his way across from about 4 o’clock to 10 o’clock at the rate of one complete revolution per minute. He disappears behind the moon for the other half of the cycle.
Snoopy, going round the moon in his CSM. The overall effect is one which brings delight. Superb for something which is this simple, but very clever and effective.
As we discussed in our Editorial on the release article, both “complications” are actually very simple implementations. No additional wheels are introduced. The Earth disc is attached to the other end of the pivot of the continuous second hand, while Snoopy’s CSM is attached to a hand which is fixed on the other end of the pivot of the chronograph seconds hand. This is confirmed when we were shown Omega’s drawings detailing the mechanism for this animation. We did request for a copy of the drawing to publish, but as we go live, we have not heard back from Omega.
As noted, Omega chose to use the Caliber 3861, a new caliber first used in the Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 11 in 2019, with its advanced specifications rather than the more classic 361, which they recently restarted to manufacture. The C.3861 is very capable. It is equipped with a co-axial escapement, a silicon balance spring, is fully anti-magnetic, is chronometer rated, and comes with the vaunted METAS certification.
Concluding thoughts and price considerations
On the wrist, the watch sits very comfortably. And frankly, it looks amazingly beautiful. This is an amazing package, well though out.
The negatives? We think the price is perhaps set at a high premium over the standard Moonwatch. The Snoopy 50th Anniversary carries a retail tag of S$14,100. But we may well be wrong to judge that the premium is high, as there are no lack of admirers and collectors keen to buy one. We saw one the very next day after the release information being advertised for S$50,000 in Carousell (a Singapore online sales site). Our initial reaction is that this is either a prank or a market test, as at that time, no deliveries have been made. But a quick search on Chrono24 shows that indeed that the market may be able to bear that price. S$50k is close to the advertised pricing for the second generation of the Speedmaster Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy (we review that here!) hovering around S$50k to S$60k, massively up from circa S$30k before this 2020 launch. We also note that the first generation 2004 Snoopy’s secondary pricing have not moved much from about S$16,000 since before this surge.
Is this a very clever marketing ploy by Omega to sell you yet another Moonwatch? Perhaps it is, but the pull of the Snoopy on the dial, the beauty of the aesthetics, and the perceived “complications”, all supremely clever makes this a MUST HAVE, for collectors. We are besotted. If you are as well, fall in line and put your name on the list. If you are not, good for you too, but you will not be missed, as the queue is long enough, thank you.
