Hands-On: The Omega Speedmaster CK 2998 Limited Edition (For 2018)
By Jack Forster
One of the best known and best loved vintage Speedmaster models is the reference 2998, which set the basic vocabulary for Omega Speedmaster design, right down to the present day. The original ref. 2998, in addition to having been foundational for modern Speedmaster design codes, was also worn by astronaut Wally Schirra in 1962, during the Mercury Sigma 7 mission, and it’s been the basis for a number of modern Speedmaster models, and limited editions. Back in 2012 we had the introduction of the very popular First Omega In Space (or just the FOIS to Speedmaster initiates) about which HODINKEE founder Ben Clymer wrote, at the time, “Let’s get one thing straight … the new Omega First Omega In Space Speedmaster is awesome.”
Since then, we’ve seen other models as well – in 2017 we got a FOIS in Sedna gold, and in 2016 we got a 2998 limited edition in a very winning design, with a blue ceramic bezel (the original FOIS has a metal bezel, for the sake of fidelity to the original) and blue subdials against a silver colored dial, that HODINKEE Managing Editor Stephen Pulvirent found very convincing.
The newest version of the CK 2998 is straight from the same playbook as its predecessors (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it).
It’s a handsome as hell wristwatch. The dial is bead-blasted silver, and we’ve got lume-filled alpha hands, with a contrasting red chronograph seconds hand, and smaller white-on-black alpha hands in the sub-registers for the chronograph minutes and hours, and the running seconds. Overall it’s got the same instant appeal as previous 2998/FOIS models – same great size (39.7mm across and 14.37mm thick) and inside, the same caliber 1861 movement that has been providing reliable service in Speedmasters for many, many years (and which is still being used in space, as part of the standard issue for EVA suits, on the ISS).
As with the previous CK 2998 editions, this is not so much a straight copy-paste of a specific vintage model, as it is designed to capture the clarity, simplicity, and sense of form-follows-function aesthetics found in vintage Speedmasters. Other than the color variations, the biggest change in this particular model is the inclusion of a pulsometric bezel, which can be used …read more
