OMEGA | SPEEDMASTER REF 145.022 'PROTOTYPE ALASKA III', A STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH, MADE IN 1978

Omega, eventually solidified as the official watch for space flight by NASA, continually worked on improving the durability and aesthetics of the Speedmaster for use in the field.

The Alaska series were watches developed by the company for testing for active use by the military, exploration and, of course, space travel. The Alaska Project was initiated in 1969 with the Alaska I Prototype.

This prototype had a white dial and came with a separate outer red aluminum case for thermal protection. 1972 introduced the Alaska II, also bearing a white dial with radial indexes on the sundials. In the middle of 1978 Omega sent prototypes to NASA for testing in their developing Shuttle program.

The present lot is an example of an iteration of the Alaska III, which was delivered to NASA in three different variations; the version with the manual caliber 861 was the successful winner for re-qualification of space flight use. The watches all had American made cases and featured a black dial with radial indexes on the subdials.

The example being offered survives in very good, unpolished condition with the original lugs, the design slightly different than production model versions, with crisp definition and a clean and untouched dial.