Hands-On: the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon: Black Black & Sedna Black

At the 2015 BaselWorld watch fair Omega introduced a set of four variations of the popular Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon (five if you include the diamond-set variation). In November of the same year I had the opportunity to spend some time with two of them: the Dark Side of the Moon 'Sedna Black' and the Dark Side of the Moon 'Black Black'. The pictures in these post are the result. Perhaps I'll post an article with a bit of technical background in the future, but for now I will try and keep the word count low - save for a short (re-)introduction.

Contrary to many, I was rather enthusiastic about Omega releasing these four variations at once. To me, it showed how much the look of a watch can change when altering only a couple of details. The Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon represented a great canvas for this exercise. Each of the four watches presented has its own distinct character; sure, they're part of one big family of ceramic Speedmasters, but they're different enough.

With its Sedna gold bezel, hour markers and hands, the Dark Side of the Moon Sedna Black is obviously inspired by the Speedmaster Professional 45th Anniversary. The matte grey dial is cut-out by laser revealing the rest of the indexes, logo and wording. There are a few more pics below that show how much the look changes with the light, from almost black to a light and vivid grey. Whereas the DSotM Black Black features a number of polished bits, the Sedna Black has a fully brushed case. Its probably this detail that has this watch retain its instrumental character, instead of it becoming the odd -flashy- one out..

The DSotM Black Black is, in short, black. The dial is black. The hands and markers are black. The prints are black. The date wheel is black. Even the SuperLuminova and the lacquer on the ceramic tachymeter bezel are black. The result? The Speedmaster Darth Vader would choose for active duty.

More pics below.