Simply Abu Dhabi XXX

1 7 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I O mega’s Dark Side collection sees a new arrival in 2018 that gives fans much more than just a new dial. Don’t panic mega lovers, the key ingredient of the original Dark Side is still there: the sleek brushed black ceramic case measuring in at a substantial 4.25mm. But there is a new engine—the calibre 1869—which is a blackened and decorated version of the calibre 1861, and called 1869 as a tribute to the first moon landing. The major difference here is that it is manually wound. By replacing the automatic movement, Omega has managed to reduce the thickness of the watch by 2.5mm, making it just 13.8mm thick. The dial also changes in line with the new movement as there is now no date function, which many watch lovers much prefer. Whereas previous Dark Side watches have two sub-registers—one on the left showing running seconds and one on the right showing both elapsed hours and minutes for the chronograph—the new Dark Side Of The Moon Apollo 8 has a traditional three-register display without the date at 6 o’clock. More strikingly still, the dial of this timepiece has been masterfully skeletonised. Inside, laser ablation has been used to precisely decorate the bridges and main plate of the blackened movement, producing realistic imagery of the lunar surface. And like the moon, it reveals two unique sides: the dial-side is a light shade to represent our view of the moon’s surface from Earth, while the back of the watch delves into the dark side that only astronauts get to see. The brand says, ‘In this new creation, Omega has again embraced its popular “Dark Side of the Moon” innovation, producing the entire watch in black zirconium oxide ceramic. To contrast this dark tone, the brand has chosen a yellow colour coding. Omega first used colour coding in its Speedmaster collection in 1968 for a Speedmaster Racing model. Today, because yellow is often most closely associated with speed, it was seen as the ideal choice for this new watch.’ O m e g a S p e e d m a s t e r Dark Side Of TheMoon Apollo 8