Feature: Here’s why the Omega Speedmaster is better than the Rolex Daytona
Recently, I’ve made some pretty bold statements about the Omega Speedmaster. Best watch ever made in the world ever, I called it. The best thing since The Beatles. So on and so forth, and I stand by that. But really, all it needs to be is better than the Rolex Daytona, a watch that is probably the most famous in the world today. Hang on to your hats, because this is gonna get ugly.
The Omega Speedmaster Was Created To Spite Rolex
Let’s start at the start. Why does the Omega Speedmaster exist at all? You might think it was created to give Neil Armstrong some bling to flash off to the moon men, but no. The Speedmaster’s creation in 1957 was four years before the first American manned mission into space. The space age literally began the same year with the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik.
So, if Omega didn’t make the Speedmaster for NASA, why did it make it at all? There’s a clue in the title: “Professional”. In 1957, Omega released not one, not two, but three watches under the new moniker of Professional. These were big, solid, chunky watches built to be used by industry, from the Seamaster 300 dive watch to the antimagnetic Railmaster—and of course the chronograph Speedmaster.
Prior to that, Omega watches were built as a demonstration of the brand’s precision engineering and artistry, slim, delicate devices that were the furthest thing from a bulky sports watch. Omega was on top of the world, a leader in its field—and then Rolex came along with the Submariner, GMT-Master and Milgauss. It hadn’t even occurred to Omega that people might need watches as part of their job, and so Rolex really caught them napping.
Except, there was one thing Rolex couldn’t quite get right: the chronograph. Its other watches were all based around the same architecture, and the chronograph was too far removed at that point to fit the mould. As such, its chronograph selection was severely outdated, leaving Omega clear to strike. It was a three-pronged attack on Rolex, with the Seamaster 300 and Railmaster taking on the Submariner and the Milgauss—and the Speedmaster something altogether new, built just to spite Rolex.
The Rolex Daytona Is A Copy Of The Speedmaster
The Speedmaster really set a new trend for what a chronograph could be. Previous chronograph watches were not only smaller, but prioritised elements like the tachymeter scale with much less importance. For a chronograph designed for sports, it needed to be big, clear and easy to use. The tachymeter moved outside the crystal, the dial gained clarity and contrast and the whole thing was inflated to a whopping—for then at least—38mm.
You see, Omega had a crowning jewel Rolex didn’t. Sure, Rolex had a watch people could splash about in the sea with, and sure Rolex had a watch that pilots could wear to save them doing simple arithmetic, but Omega had something much better: the Olympics. It had sponsored Olympic Games since 1932, and the Speedmaster chronograph was a delicious way to rub that in Rolex’s face.
What you have to realise is that Rolex didn’t have anything else going for it at the time than the association with industry pros. A Rolex watch wasn’t a pretty thing like an Omega, not refined and well-built. It was solid but ugly in an industrial way. The Olympics was the peak sporting event and Omega not only had that, but the perfect watch for it as well.
So, naturally, just as Omega copied the Submariner, Rolex copied the Speedmaster. It took five years, but finally Rolex updated its chronograph to match the Speedmaster, pushing the tachymeter outside the crystal, adding a contrasting dial and beefing up the case size. Omega responded a year later by expanding the Speedmaster to a still sizable 42mm.
It’s been over a century of tit-for-tat between Rolex and Omega, with battles won and lost on both fronts. In the case of the Speedmaster, it was very much a victory for Omega, with the Daytona a hollow imitation as we’re just about to find out.
The Rolex Wasn’t Good Enough For NASA’s Tests
So the Speedmaster Professional goes by another name, and that’s the Moonwatch, because of course it was chosen by NASA to accompany the Apollo 11 crew on the historical mission to slap a fresh coat on the painted grey disk on the underside of the dome above our flat Earth.
It’s like the old joke: how do you know that Omega’s watch has been to the moon? Omega will tell you via a series of increasingly tenuous limited editions. Omega goes on and on about how it built the Speedmaster to be good enough to go into space, but the reality is the brand bigwigs didn’t even know a Speedmaster had been worn during a space mission until they saw pictures of it on astronaut Ed White’s wrist.
NASA did its initial testing independently of the brands, sourcing directly from local distributors, and I can understand why. Can you imagine how clingy and needy they would’ve been if they’d known? So NASA subjected a bunch of different chronographs to a barrage of tests that replicated the extreme conditions expected on a lunar excursion, and of course, the Omega passed with flying colours.
The Rolex Daytona, however, was not so fortunate. Not to say that it failed the testing. It turns out, it wasn’t even submitted. This was 1964, and despite the Daytona having been out for over a year, the US Rolex distributors sent a pre-Daytona 6238. It used the same Valjoux 72 chronograph as the Daytona, which, during testing, stopped running twice. It also succumbed to condensation during the humidity test and the hands fouled against one another during the temperature test. It's not the first time a Rolex has failed professional scrutiny, a Submariner unable to meet the requirements of the US Navy in 1958.
The Omega’s Movement Is Much Cooler
Whichever way you slice it, the Speedmaster has the Daytona licked, and this is especially true of the movement. Back then, when the Speedmaster had the calibre 321 and the Rolex the Valjoux 72, the difference was striking. Despite both being hand-wound, column wheel movements, it was the 321 that survived the NASA testing, and it was the Valjoux 72 that skipped and stopped and was generally unreliable in the extreme conditions.
But what about today? The Moonwatch is still available with that same calibre 321 if you’ve got Daytona money, or the 3861 if you don’t. Rolex’s latest Daytona has an engine in the form of the calibre 4130, an efficient and technically competent movement that has absolutely none of the coolness of either of Omega’s offerings.
The 4130 will keep itself wound and lasts 72 hours, has a slick vertical clutch and an efficiently minimal parts count. Sounds about as sexy as a refrigerator. Sure, the Omega movements barely scrape 50 hours and need winding by hand, and the horizontal clutches just don’t have the stutter-free start of the Rolex—but who cares.
Just look at the calibre 3861 and you’ll see just in a picture why it’s the movement that we want rather than need. Rolex doesn’t even bother putting its on show, because who wants to see the innards of white goods? Seeing all the intricate parts in the Omega is worth the asking price alone, which for the sapphire-backed version of the 3861-powered Speedmaster, is almost half the price of the Daytona.
The Moonwatch Got Stolen Before It Was Cool
Before we get on to the last reason why the Speedmaster is just so much better than the Daytona, it would be amazing if you could subscribe to the channel. Growth is what keeps it alive, so thank you to everyone who’s stuck with us all these years.
Now, as it happens, the first watch worn on the moon wasn’t on the wrist of the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, because he wasn’t wearing a watch at all. Seems a bit weak for the second man to wear the first watch, but the reason for that actually makes the Speedmaster story even more endearing. The mission timer in the lunar module had failed, and so Neil had left his Speedmaster behind to take over. That’s no marketing stunt. That’s the watch doing what it was built for and doing it exceptionally well.
But that’s not what I want to tell you about. Once the Apollo 11 gang had landed, Buzz’s watch was whisked away to the Smithsonian to become one of the most hallowed exhibits on display. But it never made it. This was in 1969, years before people started stealing Rolex Daytonas off the wrists of unsuspecting victims. Long before stealing watches was a thing, and even before the Daytona was cool, people were stealing Moonwatches.
That’s right. The reason Aldrin’s watch, the original Moonwatch, didn’t make it is because it was stolen. A fleet of vehicles was dispatched to collect this precious cargo, but somehow it never made the trip. NASA acted quickly, seizing the Speedmasters of Armstrong and Collins to replace it, but the real prize has never since materialised.
That’s why I think the Speedmaster beats out the Daytona in a head-to-head battled for supremacy. What do you think? Which would you pick and why?
