The Complete Buyer’s Guide to the New Omega Speedmaster

By James Stacey

With the dawn of a new year and the first Speedy Tuesday of 2021, the celestial backdrop over Bienne, Switzerland has opened forth and offered unto us, the unwashed terrestrial masses, a brand new caliber 3861 Co-Axial-equipped Speedmaster Pro.

And while Omega offers what can feel like countless SKUs within the lineage of its famed chronograph, the launch of a true meat-n-potatoes Moonwatch is a massive release. For those collectors with a taste for that classic Speedmaster aesthetic, the caliber 1861 Speedy Pro is out and the new caliber 3861 is in.

If you’re behind on this news, Jack wrote a lovely summary of the new next-gen Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch Master Chronometer (in all of its variations) here. In short, after five decades of toolish lunar-themed iconography, there is a new Speedy in town. The good news is that it’s a lot like the old Speedy – but it’s not identical.

To help the legions of Speedmaster collectors decide which one’s worth the investment, we figured it might be useful to highlight what separates old from new, and even the new from new – as Omega has announced that the new 3861 generation Speedmasters will continue in both sapphire crystal and Hesalite glass versions.

So, What’s Changed For The Hesalite Speedmaster?

Omega has offered Hesalite glass, aka Plexiglas, on the Speedy since it was released back in 1957. While sapphire has since become the de facto option for watches at all levels, continuing to offer the more historically accurate crystal is akin to being able to buy a modern car that has carburetor vs. fuel injection. It’s a charm play – and a welcome one, at that – which has been extensively covered by Cole here.

The Dial

The new dial layout is similar to the outgoing 1861, but the new version gets a vintage-inspired stepped dial – see the “ridge” where the inner dial gives way to the minute track? That’s a stepped dial, and for Speedy nerds, it’s a knowing throwback to a vintage version of the dial.