Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch 42mm Stainless Steel

Ref. 145.022

The 145.022 is the watch NASA flew on every crewed mission from Apollo 11 through to the Shuttle era, and the reason it held that role had nothing to do with glamour. It had to survive vacuum, thermal extremes, and zero lubricant evaporation — conditions that disqualified almost everything else. What made the 145.022 significant internally was the transition it marked: the celebrated column-wheel Calibre 321 gave way here to the cam-actuated 861, a movement that proved easier to service in quantity and ran for twenty years in this case before Omega retired the reference. On the wrist it is kinder than 42mm sounds. The lyre lugs curve downward to follow the arm, and at 47mm lug to lug the watch sits closer to the wrist than a flat-lugged case of the same diameter would. The matte black dial on earlier examples has a stepped construction, the centre sitting slightly lower than the outer minute track — a detail that gives the dial depth without doing anything dramatic about it. Pre-1974 examples also carry an applied Omega emblem rather than a painted one, which is worth noting when dating a particular piece. Tritium lume on any example this age will have ceased to glow; what remains is the patina — hands and indices that have turned varying shades of cream or amber depending on how the watch was stored. On a well-preserved piece that colour is consistent across all the markers, and it reads as age rather than neglect.

Reference

145.022

Brand

Omega

Collection

Speedmaster

Case size

42mm

Case thickness

13.5mm

Lug width

20mm

Case material

Stainless steel

Case shape

Round

Dial

Black

Crystal

Acrylic

Bezel

Fixed tachymeter

Movement

Manual

Calibre

861

Functions

Chronograph, Small seconds, Tachymeter

Water resistance

30m

Bracelet / strap

Stainless steel bracelet

Strap colour

Silver

Clasp

Folding clasp

Lume

Luminous

Condition

Pre-owned

Retailer

Mappin & Webb