Short answer

A fake Speedmaster Professional is a copy of the Omega Moonwatch. The Moonwatch is a 42 mm manual-wind chronograph with three subdials and no date. Most fakes fail on one of four points: a date window, a quartz movement, wrong caseback text, or a case that is not 42 mm. The real watch carries a serial number on the movement bridge and on the case.

Real Speedmaster Professional specs

Omega launched the Speedmaster in 1957. NASA flight-qualified the watch for crewed missions in March 1965. Apollo 11 astronauts wore it on the lunar surface in July 1969.

  • Case: 42 mm steel, 20 mm lug width, about 13.2 mm thick. No crown guards.
  • Dial: 30-minute counter at 3, 12-hour counter at 6, running seconds at 9. No date window.
  • Movement: Caliber 1861 from 1997 to 2021. Manual wind, 21,600 vph, 48 hour power reserve. Caliber 3861 from 2021: 50 hour reserve, Co-Axial escapement, Master Chronometer, 0/+5 seconds per day, 15,000 gauss magnetic resistance.
  • Crystal: hesalite or sapphire. Both carry an etched Omega symbol at the center.
  • Bezel: anodized aluminum insert with a printed tachymeter scale.
  • Caseback text: "FLIGHT-QUALIFIED BY NASA FOR ALL MANNED SPACE MISSIONS" and "THE FIRST WATCH WORN ON THE MOON".

Tells on a fake

Date window

The Moonwatch has no date. A window at 3 or 4:30 rules the watch out. Many low-cost copies add one because the base movement is a standard chronograph with a calendar.

Movement

A quartz copy has a seconds hand that jumps once per second. Common movements in mechanical copies: the Seagull ST19, a Chinese column-wheel design at 21,600 vph, and clones of the ETA 7750. The ETA 7750 runs at 28,800 vph and drives a subdial at 12, which the Moonwatch does not have. A watchmaker can read the beat rate in seconds.

Case and bezel

Measure the case. Copies run 40 mm or 44 mm. Check the tachymeter text for the grave accent in TACHYMETRE. Check the bezel insert. The real insert is aluminum, not ceramic. Check the position of the dot at 90 against the reference you compare.

Papers and serial

Omega stamps a serial on the movement bridge and on the case. The 3861 ships with a METAS card and an access card that carries the serial. Ask for a photo of the movement bridge. A seller who refuses one is a problem.

Replica grades and prices

Copies come in three grades.

  1. Quartz: $30 to $80. Subdials are often fixed and the chronograph hands reset in steps.
  2. Mechanical with a Seagull ST19 or a similar Chinese movement: $150 to $400. The subdial layout matches. Case finishing and dial print do not.
  3. Builds that claim a Swiss movement, often an ETA 7750 or a Lemania 1873: $500 to $1,200. The Lemania 1873 is the base of the Omega 861 and 1861, so a few of these watches hold a movement from the same family.

What a copy cannot match

Master Chronometer certification applies to the 3861. The 1861 predates it. Each certified watch passes METAS tests at 15,000 gauss and 0/+5 seconds per day. A copy has no METAS card, no serial that matches Omega records, and no resale value. A used genuine reference 3570.50 sells for $3,000 to $5,000. A new 3861 lists above $6,500 in the US.