![]() ![]() Furthermore, it adds a sporty element that works really well against both the track of the tacyhmeter scale as well as the long, arrow-like, polished, applied hour indices. The double-tier seconds track pulls the entire dial closer together, making the 44.25mm watch look smaller and more balanced to the eye. This, I think, is one of the coolest and most beautifully balanced dials Omega has done, thanks to a clever dosing of colors and a yet more ingenious choice in textures for the dial and hands. This, controversially, doesn’t mean that I don’t like it. ![]() I am ready to admit that it could be just a bad wiring in my brain, and if I really wanted to, I guess I could tell where each section ends and begins (at the longer marks) but, for some reason, the minute track just did not add up for me when I tried to read it at a glance. The problem that I have with the racing dial is that the funky minute/seconds track on the periphery of the main dial has its subsequent indices share the first and the last mark, so my eyes (or brain, rather) cannot tell where one minute ends and the other begins. This is the first racing dial Speedmaster that I got to wear for an extended period and so the first time when I could realize how difficult it is, for me at least, to read not only the chronograph seconds, but also the running time minutes with great accuracy in between the applied markers. The racing dial has been around since 1968 and while I think it looks cool, I cannot agree with Omega when they say “it is generally accepted that this ‘Racing’ style was added to make the chronograph easier to read.” I mean, it may have been added with that goal in mind, but it didn’t quite work for me that way. You just have to get it right once and then it will open and close just fine. The comfortable strap is attached to a single-folding buckle that closes with a reassuring click if you attach the strap correctly – if the pin doesn’t go all the way through, the strap will keep it from closing. In the middle of the strap is an orange rubber padding that peeks through these perforations and works nicely with the dial’s orange details. The strap never stuck to my skin and I didn’t sweat much underneath it. You’ll be surprised how much of a difference these small perforations can make: not even in heat exceeding 40☌ (104☏) did I ever find this watch uncomfortable. There are machined perforations on the strap – based on original images I thought these were just in the upper, black layer, but in reality they go all the way through the strap. ![]() It has held up against water, sweat, heat, and other elements so far. On this note, I know some people can destroy a leather strap in a year, but for me they always last several years, so how this rubbery strap holds up will also depend on how you handle it. ![]() It works fine in our age when car interiors are plastic and yet are somehow desirable (think of alcantara, for example) – but I do prefer the durability and patina of real leather. Having had this watch for about two months and on the wrist very often, I don’t have great concerns about the durability of this material, but I do wish it was genuine leather. Therefore, even if it was genuine leather, it must have received some strong surface treatment that changed its feel. It is soft to the touch, but more like very supple and lightly textured rubber than any type of real leather. The strap is not marked as “Genuine Leather” and although because of its color and texture I presume most (including myself) would call it a leather strap after first sight and touch, upon closer inspection it actually has a strange, rubbery feel that makes me think it’s not leather. The Omega Speedmaster Racing Master Chronometer reference 329.32.44.51.01.001 comes on a black strap the material of which, at the time of writing, Omega does not publicly say anything about – not in the Baselworld launch document, nor on their site. Since we’re talking wearability, we should also talk basic, but essential stuff, like wearing comfort. ![]()
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