I have been collecting watches for almost 20 years now and by the time the Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo-Soyuz was announced in 2010, I was only focused on vintage watches but it became my first modern Speedy to mark an important personal achievement. This LE commemorated the 35th anniversary of the rendezvous of Apollo and Soyuz, an important moment for space explorations and for humankind. But the reason I consider this limited edition so special is not just because of the low number of pieces produced, only 1975, but due to the stunning dial made from a meteorite, so every single dial has a different look due to the rock structure. A meteorite was sliced to create the dial, lightly tinted in anthracite gray except for the subdial that kept the natural metallic color of the 4 billion year old Gibeon meteorite, first discovered in 1836 in Namibia, Africa.

The reverse panda dial is decorated with the Speedmaster text in red and applied hours markers and Omega logo. Just turn the Speedy to find a caseback that more resembles a plaque from a monument, with a bas-relief engraving of the 2 vessels, mission name and the names of the crew members (Leonov, Kubasov, Stafford, Brand and Slayton). A cool touch, the text for Soyuz and the cosmonauts is in Cyrillic. Under the hood, resides the hand wound movement 1861 Rhodium plated. The first time I wore it, I felt it was heavier than a vintage Speedy, due to the added heft of the meteorite dial, the sapphire crystal and the heavily engraved caseback. Of course I had to remove some of the pin secured links of the 1998 bracelet to adjust it to my 6.5 inch (16.5 cm) wrist. Anyway it’s not uncomfortably heavy, after a couple of minutes you wouldn’t notice it. The sea of Speedmaster LE’s never bothers me because I buy what I like. The Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo-Soyuz was a great addition to my personal collection, because it is gorgeous.