![]() It could be that Omega sought to mollify (or head off) Bulova by using its movement in one of the Speedmaster family. ![]() There may be several reasons for Omega deciding to use the tuning fork movement, all conjecture on my part. It was only by including research and development costs that Bulova's own watch met the Act's minimum requirements for an item to be considered as a domestic source end product.) Bulova already had its products on satellites and space craft consoles as timers, but they desperately wanted the publicity that would flow from having the first man on the moon actually wearing a Bulova watch.īulova advertisement aimed at jewellers. They even tried to apply political pressure by invoking the Buy American Act, which in fact nearly rebounded on them. Given the importance Omega placed on the NASA accreditation it had received for the Speedmaster after rigorous testing for space flight, why would it now use a movement produced under licence from its fiercest rival for that accreditation? (Bulova tried everything to get its candidate watch (a mechanical chronograph using a Swiss 17-jewel movement supplied by Universal Genève, Bulova's subsidiary in Switzerland) accepted for the space program, including offering to supply them at no cost to NASA. The incorporation of this movement into the Speedmaster range was a radical departure from the trusty calibre 321 and 861 (manual wind) or 1040 (automatic) mechanical movements hitherto used. Firstly, it has a hybrid electronic/mechanical tuning fork movement based on the Bulova Accutron design. The Speedsonic is interesting for several reasons. And all Speedmasters are considered members of the Seamaster family because they use a case capable of withstanding high pressure, which was originally developed for the Seamaster.) (What's that? You didn't know there were quartz Speedmasters? Yes there were, briefly, starting in 1977. Of course the quartz Speedmasters would have easily gained COSC certification as chronometers had they been submitted for testing, but apparently they weren't and so were not designated as such on their dials. It is one of the few models in the Speedmaster family to bear the title "Chronometer" the others are some limited edition commemoration models, beginning with the 1973 automatic Speedmaster 125 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of Omega in 1848. It's a fifth generation Speedmaster-admittedly not a very familiar one-which was first manufactured in 1973 and continued to be available until 1980. Introduction IF I TOLD YOU there is a watch which is a member of both the Seamaster and Speedmaster families, and which is not a manual wind, an automatic or a quartz, would you believe me? Well, you should, because that's what the Speedsonic f300 Hz Chronometer is. ![]() Review of 1975 Omega Speedsonic Chronograph Chronometer by Les Zetlein THE (ALMOST) UNKNOWN SPEEDMASTERĪ Review of the Omega Speedsonic f300 Hz Chronograph Chronometer By LesZ
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |