Press Release – BASELWORLD 2004 – OMEGA Speedmaster Ladies in Red

Omega Speedmaster Ladies 3815.79.40

Omega Speedmaster Ladies 3815.79.40

The Speedmaster Ladies is becoming increasingly popular as a larger and sportier type of ladies’ watch. Derived from the legendary Omega Speedmaster Professional, the only watch to be worn on the Moon, it has an excellent pedigree and offers a perfect combination of mechanical watchmaking art and fashionable chic. A highly original new piece with a red alligator leather strap is now added to the existing collection, which is enhanced with an elegant new feminine bracelet.

May 1st 2004 – read more below the gallery

The original gents’ Speedmaster was launched in 1957 to meet the needs of scientists and sportspeople who needed to be able to record time accurately. So well did it fulfil its mission that when NASA devised the most severe tests ever for the chronographs it had (anonymously) purchased for its Apollo lunar landing missions, the Omega Speedmaster was the only timepiece to emerge from all of them unscathed and operational. It was this simple fact that led to the Speedmaster becoming the first and only watch to be worn on the moon. Even today, the Speedmaster is the only chronograph flight-qualified by NASA for manned spaceflight missions and the only watch chosen by the Russian Space Agency for its cosmonauts.

The feminine appeal of the ladies’ Speedmaster is achieved by reducing the case size to 35.5mm and replacing some of the Professional model’s masculine traits with more emotional, feminine touches. Thus the sober matt black dial and trademark tachymeter scale on the bezel of the gents’ model are exchanged for the luxury of mother-of-pearl on the dial of the ladies’ model, with the sparkle of 49 diamonds around the bezel. Coloured Arabic numerals also help to establish a clearly unique identity for the ladies’ Speedmaster models.

The models are available with a black or white mother-of-pearl dial, each with a choice of rectangular hour markers set with 30 diamonds or Arabic numerals in white, grey, blue or red. The hour, minute and chronograph hands are the same luminous baton hands as those found on the original Speedmaster, as is the Hesalite crystal. A new stainless-steel bracelet with a striated central section adds a further distinctive touch to these models, with the undoubted star in the collection being the model with red Arabic numerals on a white mother-of-pearl dial with a matching red alligator leather strap and stainless-steel foldover clasp.

The heart that beats inside these models is the Omega calibre 3220 self-winding chronograph calibre. With 47 synthetic rubies as bearings, it has almost as many jewels inside the movement as there are on the watch’s bezel and its luxurious finish of special waves, circular graining and gold-plated engravings is the perfect inner reflection of the watch’s exterior beauty. The Omega calibre 3220 also has a high-performance winding system that ensures a power reserve of 40 hours.

Regardless of the model they choose, whether it be the cool look of steel or the audacious bright red bracelet, ladies can have the ultimate confidence in this feminine interpretation of a long-standing legend.