Your Shopping Cart
Qty
Price
When you think of the Omega Speedmaster, the first thing that comes to mind is likely the brand’s golden child, the Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional. It’s a modern grail with its NASA connection, and its intertwined history with the Moon landing and space exploration is its calling card. But today, we’re looking at a different Speedmaster that has been eschewed from Omega’s current lineup. One that’s a little more playful, a little more unconventional, than the brand’s well-established Moonwatch Professional formula: the Speedmaster Mk40. Down below, I’ll be breaking down the history, context, and all the aesthetic oddities of the watch, all of which work together to create one of the most compelling non-Moonwatch Speedmasters of all time, in my humble opinion.
[toc-section heading="Some Speedmaster Context"]
Image: S.Song
From first glance, the Speedmaster Mk40 that made its debut in the ‘90s defies all the utilitarian, tool-watch-oriented austerity that is the key DNA of the Moonwatch Professional, from its functionality to its experimentation with color, shapes, and typography. But the Mk40 is part of a short-lived and often forgotten legacy of Omega’s experimentation with the Speedmaster formula, before things were so rigidly codified as they are today. It is also important to note that the moniker “Mk40” itself is a completely enthusiast-driven nickname, which Omega itself has never officially used (the brand denotes the different models with reference numbers, the most iconic being the 3520.53.00).
Instead, Mk40 connects this wonderfully quirky, triple calendar take on the Speedmaster to the collection’s most experimental era, with the Mark Series that was launched between the late 1960s to mid 1970s. Starting with the Mark II in 1969 (funnily enough, there was never a Mark I model ever launched), this branch of the Speedmaster family is the most outrageously architectural. Combining elements of the Speedmaster dial that were beginning to become canonized with the reference ST105.012 (the Moonwatch), with a bold, tonneau-shaped case, the Mark Series was a direct expression of the Space Age design craze that was all the rage at the time.
Image: Bonhams
Ultimately, the Speedmaster Mk40, like the original Mark series from which it gets its nickname, is a product of its era. Debuting in 1996, as the panic of the quartz crisis abated and a renewed interest in mechanical movements began to surge, Omega was free to get a little funky. Departing from the rugged, utilitarian tool watch codes that inform the Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional, the Mk40 was instead designed to be a playful take on an everyday carry. In addition to the expected chronograph functionality, the Mk40 added a triple date, and day and night indication into the mix, all communicated with bright, primary colors that are a hallmark of the bold and colorful 90s era. It’s important to note that this specific dial design of the Mk40 is also referred to as the “Schumacher Dial,” as Omega leaned on the stardom of Michael Schumacher in many of its marketing and promotional materials.
The shelf life of one of the most vibrant Speedmasters ever made would turn out to be quite short-lived. Produced only from 1996-2000 before being shelved, the Mk40 was abandoned as Omega ushered in a defining new era for itself with the launch of its Co-Axial escapement-packed movements. The colorful 90s were over, consumer tastes were changing, and to complement its new movement technology, Omega doubled down on the heritage aspect of the Moonwatch Professional. The Mk40 Speedmaster has yet to get the heritage reissue spin from Omega itself. The closest would be the Hodinkee Speedmaster 10th Anniversary limited edition, which is heavily inspired by the Mk40, but not an exact, 1:1 reissue, and had a production run of just 500 pieces. As it stands, the Speedmaster Pilot strikes me as the most spiritually similar to the Mk40 with its use of color.
[toc-section heading="Omega Speedmaster MK40 Reviewed"]
Omega Speedmaster MK40 Case
Image: S.Song
The Speedmaster Mk40 often gets lumped in with the Speedmaster reduced for their similarities in dimensions, but the cases on the two are sisters, not twins, and do have some variation. The proportions of the Speedmaster Mk40 also strike as impressively contemporary and modern, despite being relegated to the brand’s heritage design vault. Measuring 39mm in diameter, the case profile is slightly thicker than its Speedmaster Moonwatch sibling at 14mm, but you have to have somewhere to jam in the triple calendar functionality. The 18mm lugs are classic Omega – lyre shaped, curved, faceted, and polished, which adds an elegant dimension to an otherwise sporty watch. The Mk40 Speedmaster is also markedly shorter than you’d typically see on the Moonwatch Professional at 45mm, and it wears surprisingly well on even smaller wrists.
While this watch was also offered on a leather strap, the most classic pairing with the Mk40 was the three-link 1563/850 bracelet in stainless steel. The caseback is closed with an engraved medallion depicting Omega’s hippocampus emblem at the center. It's important to note that the Mk40 is in the sport chronograph realm, and doesn’t feature screw down pushers or crowns. If you get your hands on one, I would not recommend swimming of any kind, though it is water resistant 50 meters.
Omega Speedmaster MK40 Dial
Image: Bonhams
The design of the Speedmaster Mk40 is undoubtedly the source of its charm. Against a dark grey backdrop, you’ll find three subdials placed at twelve, six, and nine o’clock. As a rule of thumb, the splashes of red on the hands are indicative of the Mk40’s chronograph functions. The central, red hand details the chronograph seconds (0-60); the twelve o’clock subdial is for the chronograph minutes (0-30), and also features the day of the week and month apertures; the subdial at six o’clock tells the chronograph hours (0-12). The day/night indication is positioned in the nine o’clock counter, utilizing light blue to indicate daytime hours and black for nighttime, all told with a small, white hand with a pointer tip. The use of color creates an easy key or mental map that easily decodes the differing functions with a little practice.
Image: Vintage Portfolio
Not to be confused with a GMT, the black hand with the yellow airplane tip is the pointer date function. The days of the month are printed around the dial’s perimeter, just outside of the hours, so you follow the path of that little yellow plane to jog your memory about what the date is. The regular timekeeping hours are told by large Arabic numerals, some of which are carved out by the trio of subdials. The hours and sword-shaped hands are all luminous and filled with tritium lume. If you are looking at models, you’ll notice that many examples circulating today have begun to show the browning of age– this is no work of fauxtina Super-LumiNova, but the real vintage tritium deal. The classic Speedy tachymeter bezel is at play, and the dial is protected by flat sapphire crystal.
Omega Speedmaster MK40 Movement
Image: Vintage Portfolio
A product of the pre-Co-Axial Master Chronometer era, the Mk40 is powered by the Omega 1151 caliber. Using the ETA/Valjoux 7751 automatic chronograph as its base, this caliber was modified by Omega and remixed to display the subdials at six, nine, and twelve o’clock rather than the typical three, six, and nine o’clock tricompax layout. Beating at a vph of 28,800 (4 Hz), this caliber runs on 25 jewels and has a power reserve of 44 hours.
[toc-section heading="Final Thoughts"]
Image: Bonhams
A design lost to time, the Speedmaster Mk40 fell victim to Omega’s Moonwatch Professional favoritism, locked away in the brand’s vault as its attention shifted to the mechanical prowess of its Co-Axial escapement movements. Though the brand has debuted a menagerie of more quirky takes within the Speedmaster extended universe, it has yet to fully resuscitate the Mk40 in all its glory from the dusty shelves on which it has been relegated. Its playful use of color and aesthetic oddity is the key to the Mk40's lasting charm, the likes of which have not been seen since its phasing out of the Omega catalog. Lucky for us, there are plenty of vintage references circulating on the secondary market, and its cult classic quirkiness has also prevented prices from becoming completely bonkers.
0 Comments