Grégoire Rossier Anthony Marquié l
FLIGHTMASTER ONLY The OMEGA pilot’s watch
watchprint com publications on jewelry and watches
Grégoire Rossier Anthony Marquié l
FLIGHTMASTER ONLY The OMEGA pilot’s watch
watchprint com publications on jewelry and watches
© 2018 Watchprint.com Sàrl, La Croix-sur-Lutry All rights reserved. Any reproduction of this work in whole or in part is forbidden. Any copy or recording by any process including photocopying and photography and on any medium including microfilm, magnetic tape, disks or other storage devices constitutes an infringement of authors’ rights punishable by copyright laws. ISBN 978-2-940506-20-0 Publishing Managers: Fabrice Mugnier and Suzanne Wettstein English Translation: Susan Jacquet, Transcribe Photographs: Luca Garbati Photographs related to space are from the NASA collection. Photographs of advertisements and catalogs are from either the OMEGA archives, or the authors’ personal collections. Printing: Daneels Graphic Group, Belgium See our publications on watches and jewelry on our website, www.watchprint.com 4
CONTENTS Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1
Introduction
1
Flightmaster — what’s in a name? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2
Some key points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4
Ten misconceptions to reconsider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 A Legend’s Genesis and History
1
A world of change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2
Creating a legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3
Famous aviators and the ultimate destiny of a tool-watch:
Russian space adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3 Main Components
1
An original approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
2 Caliber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 3 Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 4 Dial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
105
5 Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 6 Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 7
Crowns and pushers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
8 Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 9 Bracelet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 10 Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
4 Models
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 2
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
3 Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 4 Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Contributions and Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 5
FOREWORD As a life-long OMEGA fan and collector, not only do I regard the Flightmaster as a chronograph designed by a brand that I love, but it also holds a personal place very close to my own heart. In my earliest days as a pilot, the Flightmaster was my watch of choice. Its functionality made it the ideal instrument for my hours in the air and it was the timepiece that I always trusted. It is therefore a privilege and passion to look back on its history. When first released in 1969, the Flightmaster was proclaimed to be well ahead of its time. The radical design was big and bold, in stark contrast to the standard chronographs of the time. Of course, as always with OMEGA, there was a good reason behind the distinctive look. The Flightmaster was in fact specifically designed to meet the needs of aircraft pilots, enabling them to check the time at a glance, while also giving travelers a complete instrument for their journeys. Although it was born from the famous Speedmaster line, you will see in this book that we have now made additional discoveries and found information within the OMEGA archives that sheds new light on the Flightmaster and gives it a truly unique history. OMEGA built the Flightmaster with exquisite detail and thought. Every element, such as the enlarged case, complex dial and color-coded pushers, had an extremely functional logic. It embodied OMEGA engineering at its very best. In this book, you’ll discover all the qualities that have forged the unique legacy of the Flightmaster. Through this close-up view, you will understand why it remains such an important building block within the brand’s heritage. 1969 was a big year for OMEGA. As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface for the first time in history, the Speedmaster became the first watch ever worn on the moon. Nonetheless, this iconic moment should not overshadow the other achievements that were taking place back on Earth. Inside OMEGA, the innovative Flightmaster was on a pioneering mission of its own.
Petros Protopapas, OMEGA, International Brand Heritage Manager 7
Introduction
TEN MISCONCEPTIONS TO RECONSIDER Before this book, there was very little
We have selected 10 of the most common
written about the Flightmaster. Neverthe-
and our reasons for checking and correct-
less inexact or even false statements have
ing these notions are explained in the pages
spread, mainly across the internet, giving
shown in brackets.
rise to a number of misconceptions.
•
The first OMEGA watch with the Flightmaster name was the ST 145.013 (p. 27).
•
Flightmaster models were developed only for aviation (p. 33).
•
There’s no difference in water resistance among Flightmaster models (p. 59).
•
The different Flightmaster references have identical casebands (p. 92).
•
All the Flightmaster casebands have a sunburst surface finish (p. 94).
•
There are only two types of dial for the ST 145.013 (p. 108).
•
The Flightmaster dials were all originally slate gray (p. 117).
•
The bezels of all Flightmaster models are interchangeable (p. 130).
•
Models with yellow hands adapted to map reading in red-lit flight decks, were for sale only to pilots (p. 137).
•
The reference ST 145.013 is the rarest of the steel Flightmasters produced between the end of the 1960s and the 1970s (p. 218).
Right-hand page: Period advert pinpointing the various functions of the Flightmaster, a pilot’s watch offering “far more than a revolving bezel”.
18
1 /4
19
A Legend’s Genesis and History
A World of Change
instrument of the trade or tool-watch: un-
name Flightmaster is synonymous with
rivaled readability and legibility under all
a legendary chronograph that was intro-
possible circumstances! The model’s anti-
duced in 1969 and left a lasting mark on
magnetic properties and the fact that it
watchmaking history. Designed and mar-
was powered by a derivative of OMEGA’s
keted for jet pilots or intercontinental trav-
legendary 30mm caliber add greatly to the
elers, it was a pilots’ watch that had “rather
early Flightmaster’s status, turning it into
more than a revolving bezel”, as it was ad-
one of the few supremely coveted models
vertised at the time. However, as we will
for watch collectors and lovers alike.
see, the Flightmaster was not only an avia-
However, most collectors would agree
tion chronograph, but actually started life
that, regardless of the FAP model, the
as something more than that.
OMEGA brochure for the Peruvian Air Force.
30
2 /1
The New Vertical Dimension
Over the following months, preparations
By the mid to late-1960s, our world was
were made for the first flight, which took
revealing more and more of its secrets.
place on February 9, 1969, with test pi-
The two Polar Regions had been explored,
lots Jack Waddell and Brien Wygle at the
the highest peaks and the lowest depths
controls and Jess Wallick at the flight engi-
conquered, the oceans and atmosphere
neer’s station.
mastered and traveled... The possibili-
A bit later, on March 2, 1969, the phenom-
ties seemed endless and the last frontier
enal Concorde, the world’s first successful
seemed to be the conquest of Outer Space.
supersonic commercial jet, made its maid-
Nonetheless, the aerial element continued
en flight. A typical journey from London
to offer challenges and new opportunities.
to New York would take Concorde about
Helicopters began to take on new jobs all
three-and-a-half hours. This icon of avia-
over the world, delivering supplies to oil
tion was able to cruise at a speed of Mach
rigs, covering sporting events, and acting
2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h) and at al-
as indispensable medical and police stal-
titudes of over 50,000ft! It is worth not-
warts. Interest in fixed-wing vertical take-
ing that OMEGA produced specially
off and landing aircraft also increased. In
commissioned panel clocks that equipped
Great Britain, the Hawker Siddeley Har-
both prototypes, the Concorde 001 and
rier promised great things for the future
002, while the brand ensured its presence
with vectored thrust technology, while the
in the legendary supersonic aircraft’s cock-
United States saw an immense output of
pit by providing similar instruments for
a whole range of new aviation prototype
the majority of the commercial Concorde
designs.
airframes.
Most importantly, in these years two of the
Humanity was finally escaping regular life
most significant commercial jets were an-
confined within two dimensions, hori-
nounced. On September 30, 1968, the first
zontal surface-bound life for all intents
Boeing 747 was rolled out of the Everett
and purposes, and added a new, vertical,
assembly building before the world’s press
dimension. This new dimension embod-
and representatives of 26 airlines.
ied all the new endeavours of the human
31
A Legend’s Genesis and History
Famous Aviators and the Ultimate Destiny of a tool-watch: Russian Space Adventures
Cosmonaut Alexey A. Leonov (center) commander of the Soviet crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in training with a camera at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Cosmonaut Valery N. Kubasov (right), the engineer on Leonov’s crew, is witnessing the operation. A reproduction of the ASTP docking module appears on the left. The interpreter K.S. Samofal is standing behind Kubasov. David Brooks, of the JSC Crew Procedures Division, is in the background. This training phase took place in area 35 of the JSC.
70
2 /3
Six crew members of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project take part in a joint training session in area 35 of the Johnson Space Center. From left to right (wearing spacesuits): astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, commander of the main American crew; astronaut Donald K. Slayton, pilot of the docking module on Stafford’s crew; cosmonaut Valery N. Kubasov, engineer for the Soviet crew; astronaut Vance D. Brand, commander of the command module on Stafford’s crew; cosmonaut Alexey A. Leonov, commander of the main Soviet crew; and cosmonaut Vladimir A. Dzhanibekov, commander of the third Soviet (backup) crew.
71
Main Components
Dial
1969
A1. Dash SWISS MADE
1969
A2. Black SWISS MADE
1969
A3. Wide SWISS MADE
1969/ 1970
A4. 12 Without Dots
1970/ 1971
Pre-production
Category A Dials – Genealogy
A5. 12 With Dots
A-S. 910 Service
110
3 /4
A1. Dash SWISS MADE (1969) Reference ST 145.013
Dial •• Main zone slate gray or pale gray (albino version), with step •• 24-hour subdial green/black •• Tritium markers •• No luminous dots at 12 o’clock •• Luminous dots at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock
Main specific feature Presence of dashes between SWISS MADE and Ts
Typography •• •• •• ••
Sans serif font 24-hour subdial: 4 with long body T SWISS MADE T painted in white T SWISS MADE T with dashes
111
Main Components
Crowns and Pushers
Pushers
•• •• •• ••
150
Reference ST 145.013
Reference ST 145.013
All references in steel
3a. Red (1969-1970)
3b. Yellow (1969-1970)
3c. Red/Yellow (1970-1977)
Diameter: 5.00 mm Length: 3.40 mm Red disk Disk diameter: 1.66 mm
•• •• •• ••
Diameter: 5.00 mm Length: 3.40 mm Yellow disk Disk diameter: 1.66 mm
•• Diameter: 5.00 mm •• Length: 3.40 mm •• 1 yellow half-disk and 1 red half-disk •• Disk diameter: 2.40 mm
Models Overview
Flightmaster ST 145.013 (1969) Yellow / 12 Without Dots
This example was delivered in Mexico and is thus fitted with the rare 3. Mexico bracelet. It has a type A4. 12 Without Dots dial and firstgeneration pushers with yellow dots matching the color of the chronograph hands. In addition, its subdials have a dark chocolate patina. It was produced in November 1969.
190
The highly evocative Flightmaster name was first mentioned by OMEGA in 1956-57, but it was not until the late 1960s that it was used to designate an incomparable watch, initially intended for aircraft pilots. At the time, it was regarded as the watch industry equivalent of the Swiss army knife, meaning the ultimate professional instrument. The aesthetically and technically remarkable OMEGA Flightmaster symbolizes a period rich in technological and design breakthroughs. Produced over a short period and relatively little known until now, it nonetheless enjoyed exceptional development and an outstanding destiny, notably on the wrist of Soviet cosmonauts in the 1970s. The authors of the successful MOONWATCH ONLY book dedicated to the OMEGA Speedmaster provide a comprehensive account of the many variations and evolutions of the different Flightmaster models, based on their original methodology. They reveal for the first time an entirely unknown and remarkably rich story. FLIGHTMASTER ONLY is intended to serve as a reference work for all passionate enthusiasts and collectors of the OMEGA brand.
ISBN 978-2-940506-20-0