Before the moon, there was Schirra
By Julien Moreau, Geneva ยท
Wally Schirra wore a CK2998 into orbit aboard Sigma 7 in 1962, three years before NASA got round to formally qualifying the Speedmaster, and every CK2998 owner will mention this within ninety seconds of meeting you. I have watched it happen at viewings. It is like a reflex.
The CK2998 was the second generation of the Speedmaster, introduced in 1959, and it is the one with the alpha hands and the black bezel, the moment the watch started to look like the Speedmaster we know. Good originals are hard to find and much harder to find honest, with replaced bezels and service hands everywhere. That is the background to this 2016 edition, which recreates the look in a 39.7 mm case, smaller than the 42 mm Moonwatch and noticeably better proportioned on a modest wrist. It puts a pulsometer scale on the bezel instead of the tachymeter, which is a pleasing oddity, keeps hesalite over the dial and a closed back, and comes on a black fabric strap.
Inside is the hand-wound 1861 with 48 hours. Here is the reissue problem in its purest form: the original had the column-wheel 321, and the 1861 is a perfectly good movement that simply is not that. Collectors will notice. Most wearers will not. It is also 13.9 mm thick, taller than that modest diameter would lead you to expect.
At seven thousand to seventy-five hundred dollars, I think it is the better buy than the standard Moonwatch for anyone who cares about 1950s proportions and doesn't need the moon on the caseback. Being a limited edition, it is also one of those watches whose price gets talked about more than its dial, which I find tiresome.