Alright, I’ve been messing around with watches lately, and today I wanna talk about this cool one I copied – the OMEGA Speedmaster 310.92.44.50.01.001, also known as the Apollo 8 “Dark Side of the Moon” – Rocket. It’s a mouthful, I know, but stick with me.
So, first off, I got my hands on the original design docs. This thing is supposed to be a tribute to the Apollo 8 mission, which is pretty awesome. The watch is 44.25 mm, which is a good size – not too big, not too small. I started by recreating the case. They used black ceramic for the original, but I went with a high-quality resin because it’s what I had available, and it’s way cheaper. It still gives that sleek, dark look, so I’m happy with it.
Next up was the dial. This is where things get interesting. The original has a skeletonized dial, which means you can see the inner workings of the watch. I spent a lot of time trying to mimic this. I carefully took apart a cheap watch I had lying around and arranged the parts to look like the photos of the OMEGA movement. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave that same see-through vibe.
- Movement: The original uses the Omega calibre 3869. Since I couldn’t get my hands on that, I just used a standard quartz movement. It keeps time just fine, though it doesn’t have all the fancy features of the real deal.
- Hands: For the hands, I used some thin metal pieces I cut and shaped. The seconds hand on the original is shaped like the Saturn V rocket, made from grade 5 titanium. I did my best to replicate the shape with a tiny piece of aluminum foil, painted it white, and fixed it to the seconds hand of my quartz movement.
Then there’s the strap. OMEGA used a leather strap for this model. I had an old leather belt that I cut up and repurposed. I stitched it by hand – my stitching isn’t the best, but it holds together, and it’s comfortable enough to wear.
Putting it all together was a bit of a challenge. I had to make sure all the parts fit snugly in the resin case. I used some glue to keep everything in place, and voila, my knock-off Speedmaster was ready.
It’s not an exact replica, of course. It doesn’t have the same weight or the prestige, and an expert could spot it’s a fake from a mile away. But it looks pretty cool on my wrist, and it was a fun project. Plus, I learned a lot about how watches are put together. I’m not saying it’s as good as the real thing, but for a DIY project, I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. Maybe next time, I’ll try to tackle a different model. Who knows?
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