SOVIET SPEEDMASTER: The Omega Watches Worn by Cosmonauts

For many, the Omega Speedmaster is the iconic space watch worn by NASA's astronauts. However, as the 1970s rolled in, it wasn't America which was using Omega's most advanced Speedmasters - it was the Soviet Union. In today's video and as a world first for KZbin, I give you a history of Omega watches used by Soviet Cosmonauts from the first automatic Speedmaster to the elusive Omega Alaska Project designed for NASA in secret in the 1960s.
#omega #speedytuesday #manonthemoon #speedmaster #watchchronicler
Models Featured:
- Omega Speedmaster Professional
- Omega Flightmaster
- Omega Speedmaster Mark III
- Omega Speedmaster 125
- Omega Alaska Project I
Read full articles and listen to podcasts at www.watchchronicler.com
For any questions or business enquiries, please email me at: [e-mail]
Music:
Blue Danube (by Strauss) by Strauss
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported- CC BY 3.0
creativecommon....
Music provided by FreeMusic109 / freemusic109
&
www.purple-planet.com

[@TimHunold]

I am glued to the screen watching this over and over

[@saymyname218]

I think that the biggest mistake that Omega made was not pricing their watches at the same level as Rolex. In 1987, when i was 21, i purchased a Rolex Submariner, and in my ignorance i believed that because my Rolex was almost twice the cost of an Omega, I thought that it was a much better watch. Now, 33 years later, i now realize that Omega have always been in a different league to Rolex when it comes to complications and history. Rolex are masters at marketing and inculcation. their watches are (high quality Simple movements) Omega have finally raised their prices, and amazingly , "even their quality!" This combination i believe will elevate the resale value of their watches and finally get them closer to where they always should have been. (IN THE TRINITY!!!)

[@stevefox8605]

Superb video, thanks 👍🏻👍🏻

[@knightwhite99]

An incredible amount of research here, as in all your videos. Bravo! You never cease to pique my interest as to the history of so many watches.

[@ArmandTheWatchGuy]

ANNOTATIONS & CORRECTIONS: With the extremely kind help of Philip of Moon Watch Universe and the Royal Astronomical Society, a few errors have been corrected below. These may increase in number as I become aware of more details. - The watches worn during Soyuz 25 and 26 were the Omega Alaska II rather than the Alaska I as shown in the above video. - The photograph of Soyuz 15 is, in fact, a photograph of Soyuz 14.

[@neelsengupta662]

Excellent video, Armand!

[@stevenschiff808]

Wow! Excellent, very interesting. It gives everyone a better appreciation of what Omega has done.

[@TheStefmcd]

Interesting as ever and the standard superb accompanying images.

[@jimbegin6554]

Thanks Armand, even with the added corrections, a nice bit of history.

[@phmwu7368]

July 1975 to April 1981... No NASA spaceflights but Soviet-Russians launched 21 space missions, wristwatch-wise extremely interesting with the use of the Omega Alaska II project by the Soyuz 25 & 26 crews on their way to the Salyut-6 space station, and a series of "Interkosmos" missions with guest cosmonauts from the Warsaw Pact nations, wearing watches like the Ekvar quartz and even a few Omega wristwatches... as these got behind the Iron Curtain. However, most worn wristwatch was the Russian made grey dial Poljot 3133 pilot chronograph #MoonwatchUniverse

[@Valera_Scotland]

Beautiful Thank You So Much. Молодец!

[@phmwu7368]

6:24 Photo actually shows the Soyuz 14 crew of cosmonauts Pavel Popovich and Yuri Artyukhin ( June 1974 )

[@phmwu7368]

8:22 In fact not Alaska I Project but Alaska Project II Speedmaster with distinctive red outer case were used by the Soyuz 25 & 26 crews. #MoonwatchUniverse Read our article "" Time Peace, How Omega Watches got behind the Iron Curtain and into the Soviet-Russian manned space program ""

[@LesterLovesWatches]

With the word Poljot, the problem here is Germany 😊. At the point where Полёт and other Soviet brands were trying to break into international markets they needed to transliterate their name. Probably because of the fairly strong economic ties with Germany they decided to transliterate according to how a German speaker would pronounce the word, hence the use of ‘j’ to reproduce the “ё” or “yo” sound. This has so far caused about 60 years of confusion among speakers of almost every other language apart from German and a few others.

[@brunonjezic6208]

Exelent video really!

[@andrewd7586]

Terrific!👍🏼😎

[@flyingphoenix113]

Armand/Watch Chronicler, have you considered doing a historical series on all of the Russian space watches and their respective missions/wearers? At this point, the Speedmaster/Acutron trend is fairly played-out. It would be exhilarating to hunt for a vintage Poljot, Vostok, etc., but I (and I suspect many others) have no idea where to even begin.

[@ArmandTheWatchGuy]

+ flyingphoenix113: That's a superb idea! Certainly, researching the use of the Speedmaster is easier due to the ability to recognise cases even in blurry and poorly preserved photos. I'd love to undertake an examination of the watches (particularly Russian watches) worn by the most prominent Russian cosmonauts during and after the USSR. Regarding the subject of Speedmasters, I think that the story of the Speedmaster Professional is undeniably overplayed although the rarer and more bizarre versions still strike me as interesting.

[@berislavpavisic3121]

Excellent suggestion! All the names that flyingphoenix113 mentioned, deserve to be presented. Especially Strela Chronograph that was worn by Aleksey Leonov in the first ever space walk.

[@phmwu7368]

The Space watches Facebook group worked on a full list of every wristwatch flown on every space mission, be it Russian, American or Chinese #MoonwatchUniverse

[@morgan97475]

How about a video of watches worn by astronauts/ cosmonauts of various countries? A Polish cosmonaut wore a digital watch - Gerlach; not sure what the Saudi astronaut wore during a shuttle mission. I know G-Shocks have made it into space, but what else and worn by whom...? Might make for an interesting video.

[@phmwu7368]

@@morgan97475 On STS-51-G Salman Al Saud wore two Omega Speedmaster Alaska III radial dial Speedmaster chronographs

[@brunonjezic6208]

I would love to see same quality video about 3017 strela/sekonda space watch and its development in 3133 and seagull variant sold today

[@RubyMarkLindMilly]

I'll own one one day my dream watch

[@pdmotors5027]

A nice review, and great that you have just introduced me to a fantastic watch I knew nothing about.....

[@FFL3001]

8:08 Those red watch cases are not that enormous. Pretty sure those are Alaska 2, not Alaska 1. Nice find though.

[@ArmandTheWatchGuy]

+ FFL: That's a very good point. I'm uncertain about these as they have a similar bezel to the Alaska II, but you can make out the larger pushers of the Alaska I. I'd love to find more photos to decide either way.

[@FFL3001]

@@ArmandTheWatchGuy Hmmmppppffff.... hard to say, tbh. Found this footage from the Soyuz 25 mission. Can't seem to see the watches mutch better though. Might be a custom made watch for the soviets. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5-8kn6imL6MmaM

[@phmwu7368]

MoonwatchUniverse pointed this out to Hodinkee & Omega ... and after discussion with Omega heritage team, we agreed upon Speedmaster Alaska II watches ( read : Time Peace, How Omega waches got into the Soviet Russian space programme )

[@contaygious]

I got a new mark ii. Best 3k ever spent. Want a mark iii but seems bigger and too similar..

[@japd7897]

The same week Alexei Navalny has been poisoned you make a video on Cosmonauts, Does anyone else see the connection?.

[@antoinev9733]

Thx I forgot the golden flightmaster was a 910 :) I hesitated beetween speedmaster mark3 and flightmaster. I choose ... Leonov :)

[@throwingdartsandbreakinghearts]

What do you think of the new Marks?

[@japd7897]

You MUST watch SALYUT-7.

[@kobexu]

Why don't brands cater to enthusiasts? Because they make up about 1% of the customer base.

[@simonwood1461]

I would enjoy your videos a whole lot more if they weren't constantly interrupted by those bloody annoying advertisements.