Omega speedmaster 3861 2023 sapphire sandwich or hesalite?

It's on my wish list. I lean toward the hesalite for authenticity's sake. The clear case back is nice but I figure I wouldn't look at the movement much after the novelty of it wears off.

I like sammiches, so I'm going with that one.

This is a ubiquitous question on watch forums and so common it has been addressed here in the last year:

tOT

I didn't look but my bet was my advice was acrylic for a Speedy that will be in rotation and sapphire if it will be a daily wear watch. I do prefer the look of acrylic on a Speedy Pro and the ones I have owned in the past were all acrylic crystals. If you do buy a Hesalite version get to know a product called Polywatch.

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How hard is it to swap?

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No more than most watches.

Modern Omegas don't have near as high tolerance endlinks as Rolex and Tudor (nobody really does) so it is quick work with a spring bar tool, my favorite is a Bergeon 6767 but honestly an Omega and most watches are just as easy with a 1.4mm screwdriver but you have to be a little more cautious because they don't "grab" the spring bar so they are more likely to slip.

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If scratches will bother you, at all, go sapphire.

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You can buff them out. It looks good as new and it will take years to buff the life out of the crystal.

Hesalite is the true Moonwatch/Spredmaster

Id go Hesalite for the same reason why if i bought a Jeep, id get a two door with a manual transmission . . Because while technology may have “improved”- i am a purist .

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If the scratches bother someone, they will be buffing that watch every few days

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Some people are super OCD about them and it is usually magnified when people get their first "nice" watch. People wig out over the micro-scratches watches with AR coatings on the outside of a crystal (like Omega uses) get over time. I can hold them at just the right angle in the light and see them but it bothers me a lot less than the "mirrors" crystals with no AR coating turn into at certain angles... looking at you Rolex.

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I went with the Sapphire Sandwich because the movement is gorgeous.

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Generally, manual wind chronograph movements are some of the most interesting you will find without going more exotic and running up the price. They don't have half the movement covered by a rotor at any one time (not many affordable micro-rotor movements), normally don't have big plates blocking the view, and have a relatively high part count.

The current 3861 is a nice looking movement and decently well finished, my only gripe is it is a cam actuated chronograph where the original 321 was a column wheel chronograph and I love the look of a castle wheel.

Current 3861



Omega makes a limited amount of Speedys with the new version of the 321 (AKA Ed White) my arrow points to the castle wheel. The 321 is IMO the Speedy to own but the new Heritage Speedy in SS with the 321 is $15k.

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at some point, the seconds subdial went from concentric circles (which I love) to flat.

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First, I am NOT remotely a Speedy expert, I am actually not as enamored with them as the general watch community especially when they moved to a cam-actuated movement since I am a column wheel snob. It seems Speedy collectors agree the value drops off precipitously with the introduction of the 861 but that may be because they made more of them because they were cheaper/easier to build which is why the move was made.

It appears ALL black dial Speedy Pros have concentric circles in the sub-dials. This is based on Al (Archer watches) who may have serviced every variation ever made proclaiming that while some require looking at the dial under magnification with the dial out of the watch, and possibly with striking light they all have them. So there is no hard and fast rule as to what models appear to have them and which do not because especially in the older ones dial variations from lot to lot were common. If you want one with clearly visible rings, you have to look at individual examples. IME the ones from the mid 80's were the most prominent, but I haven't looked at 100s of Speedys up close again because they just aren't my favorite watch.