Page Dimensions

Approx. 8 3/8" x 11 1/2" (21cm x 29cm)

Story and Details

Omega Speedmaster advertisements have to be among the most-effective of all-time. And imagine how influential Omega's campaign was in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when I'd say the space program was in its heyday.

This ad, from 1970, is like the sun... it's at the center of a solar system of monumental Speedmaster ads. And like the sun, it's a bright spot. Brilliant in color and copy. The writing is genius, with the best lines embedded in the finer print paragraphs. Sentences like, "astronauts have worn Omegas watches on their wrists. Ordinary, everyday jewelry store Omega Speedmaster Chronographs. The kind anyone can buy." That simple message, that you could actually own the same equipment as an astronaut, was likely as powerful a pull to a jeweler as gravity is.

Given the love for the Speedmaster, it's obvious the wordsmith copywriters and master art directors were successful in their mission to create an effective ad for Omega. I think there can be a serious debate if this ad is the best Speedmaster ad ever... It certainly doesn't hurt that there's an incredible, oversized image of what could be a reference 105.012, 145.012 or 145.022-68, showing awesome detail, including lume that's the perfect tone of yellowish green, which Speedmaster collectors love to see.

Speaking of the people responsible for marketing Omega’s connection to NASA, this 1970 Omega watch advertisement was possibly created by LaRoche, McCaffrey & McCall, which is on record as the agency doing Omega’s advertising in the 1970s. They would have been hired by the Norman M. Morris Corporation, the sole distributor of Omega watches in the United States.