Speedmaster 50th Anniversary Limited Edition

At first glance, the Speedmaster reference 311.33.42.50.01.001 could pass for an ordinary Speedmaster Professional. It is something rarer: the watch Omega built in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Speedmaster line, produced in a run of 1,957 pieces — a direct nod to 1957, the year the very first Speedmaster, reference 2915, was launched.

The case follows Speedmaster Professional proportions closely, 42mm across with a 20mm lug width and fitted with a sapphire crystal. The dial is black enamel rather than painted lacquer, giving it a slightly deeper, glossier finish. Where the reference truly distinguishes itself is on the reverse: an open sapphire caseback reveals the movement, along with the designation of its limited run. Powering the watch is not the standard Speedmaster Caliber 1861 but Omega's Caliber 3201, a hand-wound, chronometer-certified movement featuring a Co-Axial escapement and a column-wheel chronograph.

Fittingly for a limited anniversary piece, the presentation matched the occasion. Buyers received the watch in a large wooden box inlaid with the Speedmaster logo, along with an additional black leather strap, a steel deployant buckle, and a small tool kit — tweezers, a screwdriver, and a pin-removal tool — for swapping between bracelet and strap. Produced between April 2007 and June 2009, it remains a favorite among Speedmaster collectors because it reads as an everyday Moonwatch on the wrist while concealing a Co-Axial, column-wheel movement that regular-production Speedmasters of the era simply didn't have.