Talk:Omega Speedmaster

Calibre vs Caliber

I'm not sure that I feel really strongly about this, but Caliber vs Calibre isn't an issue of US versus British spelling, but rather the correct French spelling of a proper noun. Wikipedia manual of style is clear that this is a case that may diverge from article consistency. At least, I'm pretty sure that Calibre 321, Calibre 1861, etc should be considered proper nouns (as with Calibre 89. If there is no objection, I'd like to change it back. Of course, I think that other, non-proper noun instances of divergent English spellings should retain the consistent US spelling (e.g. Tachymeter vs Tachymetre scale bezel). Shane Lin (talk) 09:45, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

My thinking behind this was just use how Omega states it on their English site. roguegeek (talk·cont) 06:25, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Fair enough! Shane Lin (talk) 22:23, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

I'm not saying it was right or wrong. I'm just stating my rationale. If we can find a reliable primary and secondary source that makes those things proper nouns, I'm all for changing it. roguegeek (talk·cont) 18:57, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Plexiglass vs Hesalite

Previously, the article referenced "Hesalite", Omega's proprietary name for PMMA. I am unsure when this trademark was first used and the mentions in the article are generally references to vintage watches from the 1960s. Richon's A Journey Through Time, which can be considered a definitive reference, refers to these watch crystals as "Plexiglass", so I will use that trademark in my revised article as well. Shane Lin (talk) 13:21, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Rewrite

The current article does not make a distinction between the large Speedmaster brand and the specific Speedmaster Professional series of watches. Further, the article is rather lacking in citations and can be expanded. Some existing information is questionable (the use of the watches bought at Corrigan's for testing and the fact that no one at Omega supposedly knew of the Speedmaster's use until White's EVA). I will integrate all the existing information and sources into an expanded re-write. Since this is the Speedmaster article and not the Speedmaster Professional article, some information about the multitude of watches released under the name is also appropriate. Shane Lin (talk) 11:41, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

I've made my update. Shane Lin (talk) 13:21, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

New Top Image: Real "moon watch"

The actual article is almost entirely about Omega Speedmasters' roles in the US space program. While the current top image is nice, it is a modern production Omega Speedmaster, which uses a different movement, a different style bracelet, and has other minor differences as well. Expressly for use here, I have taken a clean, head-on shot of a reference 145.012 Speedmaster from 1967 that is one of two models that are known to have been worn on the moon by Apollo astronauts. Apollo is the reason this watch is famous and further revisions to the article will almost certainly continue to focus on this aspect of its history. I will move the current image to the article body. Shane Lin (talk) 11:22, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Untitled

This article reads like marketing.

If it reads like an advertisement, it's because the watch truly is legendary. Read the official NASA account if you like. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/omega.html Djma12 04:23, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Plagiarism

Compare [1] and edit ralian 17:29, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Popular misconception

NASA chose a manual-wind because autos don't work in zero-G. This is incorrect on two counts. Firstly at the time there were no automatic chronographs in production - the first automatic movement was the el Primero, which did not go into production until 1969. Secondly a self-winding wristwatch works by inertia, not gravity. So in theory it will work fine in a spacecraft. (In practice though conditions aboard an Apollo spacecraft were so cramped there would probably have been insufficient activity possible to keep an automatic running.) 81.154.183.32 (talk) 00:35, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

Possible Mistake?

It says that "Five different brands of chronographs were purchased and returned to NASA for testing". Yet in the next sentence, it says that "the Rolex, Breitling, Bulova, Longines and Tag Heuer, notably, all failed"

With the addition of Omega, this makes six brands. What gives? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.15.116.131 (talk) 12:56, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Glaring Error

"The Omega Speedmaster is the only part of the NASA astronauts equipment available for purchase by the general public."

Thinkpads? (To say nothing of astronaut ice cream.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.174.131.15 (talk) 06:47, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Hodinkee reference #37 is misspelled as hodnikee. Thanks! Maynorsn (talk) 03:24, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Photos in the gallery

is it safe to assume that every picture of an astronaut is an astronaut wearing an Omega Speedmaster? because even when you cannot see the watch, they are all labeled as such.

For EVA, almost certainly. But what on earth is the point in showing more that a couple of distance shots of astronauts on the moon, when you can't even tell which watch it is?

Aldrin's wrist

It's a trivial thing, but the famous shot of Aldrin on the moon shows him wearing the watch quite far down his right wrist; the other moonwalkers, plus Aldrin himself in the capsule, have it on their left arm, often quite high up. This is the kind of thing that's probably been mentioned somewhere amongst NASA's technical documents, but was there was a reason for this? Did Aldrin have something on his left wrist that prevented him from wearing the watch there? He does appear to be consulting something on his left wrist, perhaps a cheat sheet. While I'm at it, did Buzz get to keep the watch, and if so, does he still have it? -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 18:20, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

Aldrin's watch was lost in 1971 when he sent it to the National Air & Space Museum. For a while Armstrong and Collins were wearing each other's watches after they were returned to them after NASA had finished with their inventory (all equipment was inventoried after a mission, which included the watches), presumably due to a mix-up. I believe Armstrong's watch is on display at the Armstrong Museum in Ohio. NelC (talk) 02:10, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

Bulova Chronograph used on the Moon

There is new information regarding the non-Omega timepieces that David R. Scott,CDR carried on the Apollo 15 mission. In a 2011 interview with me, Dave advised me that he carried two Bulova timepieces to the lunar surface at the request of a senior officer in the Astronaut Office. The two timepieces were manufactured by Bulova. The chronograph watch was a Bulova Chronograph Model #88510/01. Colonel Scott used this watch during EVA-3 after the lose of the crystal on his Omega Speedmaster. The other timepiece was a Bulova Sports Timer stopwatch that was used as a backup to time the Descent Orbit Initiation (DOI) burn and was carried to the lunar surface also. See www.apolloartifactsarchive.com "The Watches of Apollo." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.7.186.12 (talk) 12:53, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Merge proposal: from Omega Speedmaster Reduced

There's not much content at this new article that just showed up as a see-also. It would be better as a brief section here, I think. Dicklyon (talk) 20:34, 9 March 2020 (UTC)

I'll go ahead and do a merge. If anyone objects we can consider undoing it. Dicklyon (talk) 03:14, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Done. Dicklyon (talk) 03:19, 15 March 2020 (UTC)