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Lot Essay
Until today, less than five Speedsonic Radial Star Case are known to the market.
In 1978, a new NASA spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, called for retesting of all equipment to be used on board and therefore Omega submitted three different watches for qualification. All developments centered on the Space Shuttle qualification were code-named "ALASKA III" by Omega. Proposals included the Speedmaster Professional reference ST 145.022, a prototype Speedmaster reference 11 003 successfully sold at Christie’s “Omega Speedmaster 50” in December 2015 in New York, and the present reference ST 188.0002: the Speedsonic f 300 Hz Chronometer.
All three models were successful and qualified, although the ultimate choice was once again the Speedmaster Professional that in 1978 became qualified for all manned space flights.
This Speedsonic has a calibre 1255: a hybrid movement of quartz and mechanical with a tuning fork that was licensed by Bulova to Omega. As part of the Alaska project series, this model is encased in a specially commissioned American-made watch case. OMEGA commissioned Star Watch Case Company of Michigan to produce cases for the watches destined for the qualification process. This was done to comply with an official part of the procurement rules called "Buy American Act" that called for 50% of the product's value program to be American-made.
In 1978, a new NASA spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, called for retesting of all equipment to be used on board and therefore Omega submitted three different watches for qualification. All developments centered on the Space Shuttle qualification were code-named "ALASKA III" by Omega. Proposals included the Speedmaster Professional reference ST 145.022, a prototype Speedmaster reference 11 003 successfully sold at Christie’s “Omega Speedmaster 50” in December 2015 in New York, and the present reference ST 188.0002: the Speedsonic f 300 Hz Chronometer.
All three models were successful and qualified, although the ultimate choice was once again the Speedmaster Professional that in 1978 became qualified for all manned space flights.
This Speedsonic has a calibre 1255: a hybrid movement of quartz and mechanical with a tuning fork that was licensed by Bulova to Omega. As part of the Alaska project series, this model is encased in a specially commissioned American-made watch case. OMEGA commissioned Star Watch Case Company of Michigan to produce cases for the watches destined for the qualification process. This was done to comply with an official part of the procurement rules called "Buy American Act" that called for 50% of the product's value program to be American-made.