Few watch brands are as iconic as Omega SA, founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds as La Generale Watch Co. in 1848. From the very beginning, the marque has been synonymous with ‘action watches’, from WWI military watches, Olympic timekeeping devices, and of course, the preferred choice for space travelers since 1962. The late 1970’s saw a massive crisis in the watchmaking industry, which led Omega to gradually merge with GWC, owner of Longines and Hamilton among others. The alliance eventually became The Swatch Group (1998), and went on to streamline production and encourage inter-brand collaboration, like the successful MoonSwatch model range.

The Omega Speedmaster was originally conceived in 1957 as a racing watch, and eventually evolved into precision chronometers for sports and space travel. Astronaut Walter Schirra wore one in the Mercury-Atlas mission of 1962, and Buzz Aldrin —devote watch guy— wore it on the surface of the moon in 1969. A smaller (39mm) variant of the Speedmaster, the Speedmaster Automatic (dubbed ‘Reduced’) was offered from 1988 onwards.

The Speedmaster ‘Marui’ variant was a special run of less than 2000 units made for the Marui Department Store in Japan. The creamy panda dial, along with its black tachymetre bezel and classic 39mm diameter, make it a fitting tribute to other iconic panda dials of the past, from the UG ‘Nina Rindt’ to the Rolex Daytona Paul Newman. A second generation was made in the 2000’s with a revised 3220 movement, sapphire crystal, raised indices, water resistance up to 100m, and a fluted bracelet unique to this model —it is speculated that the production numbers were even lower than the first generation ‘Marui’.

This particular watch is a genuine 3539.31 second-generation ‘Marui’; it comes with its box, manual, matching warranty card, and leather pouch.