Tonight Omega expanded its -by now- vast collection of NATO straps with 24 new variations in celebration of the 2018 Winter Olympics. While most of them are very country-specific, I already spotted a few that I think will also look good beyond the Olympics. In this third installment of our Omega NATO update (part 1, part 2), I’ll fill you in on all the details.
Do you remember? Back at BaselWorld 2014 Omega introduced their own NATO strap collection, and when they put up a dedicated page with all the info [quite] a few months later I wrote a detailed post on them. Today this is still one of the best read pages on SpeedyWatches.com!
Omega Speedmaster Professional on Leather NATO
The Speedmaster is one of the most versatile watches when it comes to straps – this thing looks good on just about anything. So how about a Speedmaster Professional on leather NATO? Pretty sweet right?
Omega’s NATO straps are available through our friends over at Ace Jewelers.
Omega Speedmaster Professional on OEM NATO straps (click for full size)
There is now an updated version of this article available at http://www.speedywatches.com/oem-omega-nato-straps-2018-update/
Frequent readers of the SpeedyWatches blog will know: we’re big fan of NATO straps on our Speedies. Until a while ago we had to go aftermarket to get these, but Omega launched a full collection of exceedingly high-quality NATO straps at BaselWorld 2014. A week or so ago Omega launched a special page dedicated to these straps, allowing us to go through the various options and matches available.
Omega NATO strap 031ZSZ002056
First up is the 031ZSZ002056, a strap in black coated nylon fabric in the same construction as the one used on the Apollo 11 45th Anniversary: a thick and sturdy strap with fabric keepers – no hardware other than the Omega-signed buckle.
Price: contact Ace Jewelers
Omega NATO strap 031CUZ002058
Then there’s the 031CUZ002058, a brown Barenia leather NATO strap. Again, no hardware other than the Omega-signed buckle. We’d care to guess that this one will age very, very well.
Price: contact Ace Jewelers
Omega NATO strap 031ZSZ002044
Next up is the 031ZSZ002044, a NATO strap in grey-bordered black polyamide with traditional stainless steel hardware.
Price: contact Ace Jewelers
Omega NATO strap 031ZSZ002046
Then there’s the 031ZSZ002046, which is essentially the same strap but now with orange borders. This one would look rather smashing on orange-accented Planet Oceans we’d recon.
Price: contact Ace Jewelers
Omega NATO strap 031ZSZ002041
Third in this series is the 031ZSZ002041, again black polyamide but now with red accents.
Price: contact Ace Jewelers
Omega NATO strap 031ZSZ002045
In a more traditional look, there’s the 031ZSZ002045 in a color combination traditionally referred to as ‘James Bond’ – although recent research seems to have changed the consensus on the colors of the actual James Bond strap.
Price: contact Ace Jewelers
Omega NATO strap 031ZSZ002047
A variation on the one posted above is the 031ZSZ002047, in black/orange.
Price: contact Ace Jewelers
Omega NATO strap 031ZSZ002042
Last but not least is the 031ZSZ002042 in black and red. A vibrant combination!
Price? Contact Ace Jewelers
Don’t forget to visit the Omega page on these – especially the configurator is worth a visit!
Interested? Contact our favorite Omega AD Ace Jewelers!
Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 45th Anniversary 311.62.42.30.06.001
In July of 1969, two NASA astronauts became the first human beings ever to set foot on the surface of a celestial body. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the Moon, they had met the challenge delivered only a few years earlier by President John F. Kennedy. The feat has been described as one of mankind’s crowning technological achievements and OMEGA was literally on hand on this historic occasion.
March 27th 2014 – read more below the gallery
Strapped around his spacesuit, Buzz Aldrin had an OMEGA Speedmaster Professional chronograph. Neil Armstrong had left his own Speedmaster aboard the Lunar Landing Module as a reliable backup to the electronic timekeeping system.
The OMEGA Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 45th Anniversary Limited Edition wristwatch commemorates the first lunar landing and celebrates its link to the iconic chronograph that was part of the adventure.
Recalling the colours of the moon and the Apollo 11 lunar and command modules, the Limited Edition timepiece features a grey, completely brushed 42 mm grade-2 titanium case with a touch of gold.
The black PVD dial, with its 30-minute and 12-hour recorders and small seconds sub-dial, has been produced using a special laser which creates the design elements on the watch’s face by removing the material surrounding the name, sub-dial numerals and hour markers. The indexes and hour, minute, seconds and sub-dial hands are crafted from 18K red gold and the central chronograph hand is red gold-plated. Super-LumiNova coating the hour, minute and chronograph seconds hands as well as the hour markers and two dots at 12 o’clock emits a green light. A box-form scratch-resistant sapphire crystal coated with anti-reflective treatment on both sides protects this impressive dial. The 18K OMEGA Sedna™ gold bezel is enhanced by a matt black ceramic ring with a tachymeter scale, a defining design element of the Speedmaster collection.
The screw-in caseback is embossed with the iconic Seahorse emblem and the outer circle is engraved in black with “FLIGHT QUALIFIED BY NASA FOR ALL MANNED SPACE MISSIONS”, “THE FIRST WATCH WORN ON THE MOON” and “APOLLO 11, 45TH ANNIVERSARY, LIMITED EDITION, 0000/1969”.
Another striking feature of the Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 45th Anniversary Limited Edition watch is the NATO-inspired fabric strap. The original NATO straps were created by the British Ministry of Defence in 1973 and OMEGA’s updated version is made from a particularly high-quality material and a new design for additional wearing comfort.
The timepiece has been created in an edition limited to 1,969 pieces. The limited edition number reflects the significant year that the first humans walked on the moon. The Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 45th Anniversary Limited Edition wristwatch is fitted with the calibre 1861, a manual-winding chronograph movement, and offered with a two-year warranty. It is water resistant to 5 bar (50 metres / 167 feet). The watch is delivered in a special presentation box along with its Certificate of Authenticity.
Editors note: find the price at our other posting