311.33.40.30.02.001, SPEEDMASTER CK2998, BLUE AND WHITE LIMITED EDITION

A ref. 311.33.40.30.02.001, the Speedmaster CK2998 Limited Edition from 2016. The white dial carries three blue subdials, and the bezel matches them in the same blue, so the whole watch reads in two colors. The hands are alpha-shaped, borrowed from the original CK2998, and the chronograph seconds hand ends in a lollipop tip. The 39.7mm case has straight lugs and no crown guards, closer to the Speedmaster's early profile. Inside is the calibre 1861 hand-wound chronograph. It was with us on a steel bracelet.

The CK2998 was the second generation of the Speedmaster, and in 1962 it became the first Omega in space when Wally Schirra wore one on Mercury's Sigma 7. Omega has returned to the reference repeatedly with limited editions, each capped at 2,998 pieces as a nod to its name. The 2016 version was a panda reinterpretation in white and blue. It kept the alpha hands, the straight-lug case and the vintage-sized 39.7mm proportions. The result was a watch that felt like the late fifties in its shape and like something new in its colors. It remains one of the most recognizable of the CK2998 limited editions.

We sourced this watch for the color. Blue on white is rare in the Speedmaster world, and here it is done with full commitment: blue subdials, blue bezel, nothing half-hearted about it. The alpha hands and lollipop seconds pull directly from the original CK2998, so the design has real roots. At 39.7mm, it wears the way early Speedmasters did, light and close to the wrist. Limited to 2,998 pieces, it is a small run of a very specific idea. Nothing else in the Speedmaster family has quite this palette. Curated with intent.