Posted by The Quartz Revolution / Swiss Watch Crisis signaled the end of the 1040 for Omega. They abruptly discontinued the family and replaced it with the cal. 1045, based on the Lemania 5100 for cost reasons. The 1045, which was cheaper to manufacture, helped ride out the crisis for Omega and was made throughout most of the 1980s. When Omega stopped making the 1045, they were done with the central minutes chronograph and have used a wide variety of automatic chronograph movements over the past 30 years. Right now in fact there are at least 6 automatic chronograph movements in the Omega family. Though none of these movements use central minutes like the 1040, nor do they lend themselves to quirky asymmetrical dials, there are watches in the current Omega lineup that evoke the 1040s from the 1970s. So without further delay, allow me to answer the question nobody was asking:
What Are The Modern Omega Equivalents Of The Cal. 1040 Watches?
This should be a fun exercise. Omega has moved decidedly away from the barrel and pilot shaped cases, but there’s still plenty of variety and color and several of their modern auto-chrono calibres feature two subdials. I’ll keep the modern equivalents in the same product families as the originals, so no Constellations or DeVilles. If I make an egregious judgement error, call me out in the comments section.
Seamaster 176.001
The 176.001’s defining trait is its lack of a timing bezel. In the modern Seamaster lineup, that’s going to leave us with an Aqua Terra. The AT has had a few chronograph movements over the years, but most recently they offered an in-house GMT movement based on cal. 9300. The cal. 9605 never really caught on and may have been discontinued, as it hasn’t been given the “Master Co-axial” treatment yet. I’m not sure if they’ll update the revamped 9900 series with a GMT variant or not. But the possibility of a quick flame-out for this model makes it the ideal modern version of the short-lived 176.001.
176.001 photo from Instagram user elio5
Speedmaster Mark III 176.002
The Mark III was Omega’s goofiest boldest case design, and there’s nothing even close to the iconic cone -shaped case in the modern lineup. The Mark III was also notable though for being the first widely available Speedmaster with colors other than black available for the dial. I’m tempted to go with the red Speedmaster Racing, but I’ll give the nod to the Speedy 57, powered by cal. 9300. The blue dial is reminiscent of the blue Mark III dial, and although it’s more conservative in shape it is nice and thick like the 176.002.
176.002 photo from Christie’s
Seamaster Big Blue Diver 176.004
There are plenty of ways to go here, but the Planet Ocean makes more sense to me than the Seamaster Pro 300 Diver’s Chrono. The newest version houses the METAS certified cal. 9900. Plus it’s a suitable comp for being a big and, erm, blue, diver. Bonus points for having two subdials.
176.004 photo from Chrono24 seller Meertz WORLDOFTIME.DE
Seamaster 176.005
Omega hasn’t issued many square watches in recent years. So let’s settle for the weirdest-shaped case: the cal. 3113 Bullhead. OK, OK, I realize that the Bullhead is a vintage reissue of a watch that had nothing to do with the 1040 family. But this one has a silver dial and continues the theme of two subdials.
Seamaster 176.007
For this one, I’m going with the cal. 3603 GMT version of the standard “Bond”-style 300 M diver’s chronograph. It evokes the 176.007 thanks to its blue dial and I also gave the nod to the GMT over the standard chronograph thanks to the splash of color on the GMT hand. Plus the GMT complication is the closest the modern lineup has to a 24 hour indicator.
Speedmaster Mark IV 176.009
Well, this somehow feels wrong but I’m going to go with the Mark II reissue. Why? Same case shape, and the reissue uses an automatic chronograph movement with a date. I seem to recall when Omega announced the reissue of the Mark II in 2014, there were a few grumblings that this was more of a Mark IV reissue because of those features anyway.
Seamaster Yachting 176.010
Omega still makes a tool watch specifically designed for timing the start of a regatta, the ETNZ. Like the 300M Diver’s Chrono, it is powered by cal. 3330 but it has a unique chronograph minutes indicator designed to countdown 5 minutes, a more modern standard than the 15 minute countdown from the 1970s.
176.010 photo courtesy of Instagram user elio5
Speedmaster 125 378.0801
Part of what made the Speedmaster 125 special was the fact that it was the first self-winding chronograph chronometer. Times have changed, and all the modern Omegas mentioned thus far are chronometers. So we need to find a watch that is just as special but for other reasons. The Speedmaster was also priced at a premium to the standard Speedmaster Pro so even if it wasn’t actually limited to 2,000 pieces, we’re looking for something with a little more exclusivity. For those reasons, I choose the cal. 9300 Grey Side Of The Moon Meteorite. Like the 125, it is a guaranteed conversation-starter.
Well, that was entertaining. What have we learned? The modern lineup at Omega shares a lot with the past, but in the end there’s nothing quite like the 1040 family. It remains a truly “of its era” family of watches.
Images of modern watches from omegawatches.com
A fun read! The big take-away point, of course, is that the seventies examples are far cooler than their modern equivalents 😉
For the Mark III, I might have gone with the Z-33. Maybe it’s heresy to suggest a quartz watch, but at least it has analogue hands, chronograph functionality, is in the Speedmaster family, and most inportantly has the same pilot’s line case shape.
Ahh, the unloved Z-33. I think Omega tried to appease both the crowd that was looking for a Flightmaster re-issue and the fans hoping for a revival of the X-33 and ended up angering both groups. The X-33 was properly re-launched shortly after, but the Flightmaster crowd – myself included – is still waiting!