First Impression Of The Speedy Panda

I chanced upon this NOS from a fellow watch collector, whom had picked it up from an Omega AD a few months back. According to the watch collector, it has been largely kept aside and its condition was as good as new; with full manufacturer's warranty. I had made many good friends vide watch flips and I believe that this gentleman would be a party that I would be keeping in touch with too.

Otherwise known as the Omega Speedmaster Date Chronometer, it was more commonly known as the Omega Speedy Panda amongst the WIS crowd. The nickname was derived from its white dial with black chrono (rendering it to look like a panda bear); and the series for the first watch on the moon now comes in 38mm (ladies), 40mm (unisex), 41.5mm (gents), and 44.25mm (gents). There has been a general transition of watches towards larger sizes, and the 40-42mm domain which used to be the male's domain, was largely-accepted as being unisex sizes with more and more ladies taking over this dial size.

Case in point was that you could chance upon more and more Rolex Submariner on ladies' wrists these days. Even with its 40mm maxi-dial reiteration, the ladies were slowly but surely coveting the Submariner into a unisex watch these days. I picked up this Submariner example from another fellow collector, and matched mine with the Tudor Nato strap to make it more toolish, as the case of the Submariner was quite shiny for a tool watch.

The Speedy Panda being reviewed had a 40mm dial, and its movement were from the Omega Caliber 3304 (currently powering the 38mm ladies Speedmaster-series). The movement was modified from Swiss' ETA Voljoux 7753; so one could be assured that reliability, dependability and parts would not be an issue unlike many in-house movements. Readers would know that I came from a watchsmith background and I generally have a liking towards such proven and easily-serviced movements. So yeah, I would admit that I was not a movement snob.

As usual, the Speedy Panda came in the normal Omega fanfare. Strip everything aside and we could then gauge that the Speedy Panda was a very handsome watch. The red accents on the dial upped its sportiness value by quite a few notches north.

The Cordura strap was very easy to take off, and it was well-made and soft to the touch. I found it to be a very comfortable strap; although it looked a bit small at 19mm tapering downwards.

Finding straps for it may be a tad cumbersome given its 19mm width. The clasp was a typical Omega clasp- smooth to operate as knife on butter, and you get a sense of its quality. This same clasp type could be seen on some other Omega models including the Seamaster Aqua Terra.

The Speedy Panda at 40mm was rather a good size for my wrist. A tad smaller from my normal preference but I'm sure that I would adjust to its size in due course.

Lume was rather good for a non-diver watch actually. Here it was, trying to take on the Pelagos. You got to give it credit for its guts.

A quick Google on the net revealed that the watch was selling from circa RM13k - RM15k new, mainly from grey retailers. Expect to pay a slight premium of circa 15% (RM15k - RM17k) at Omega ADs, although finding one may be a challenge given that it's discontinued and the Panda has always been high on the collectible list.

Surprisingly, the Speedy Panda matched with Cordura fabric strap had a higher asking price compared to the bracelet version, as the Cordura strap was deemed to be rarer and more collectible. Cordura was a hardy material and was commonly used for military wear.

Overall, I have always wanted to add a Speedy to my collection and have always kind of thought about the vintage Speedy Reduced that was previously offered to me by another collector, but already sold off when I arrived back in Malaysia a week later.

The Speedy Panda has earned a good spot in my winder case, and I shall cherish this piece in my horological journey. Let's all wear our watches in good health, readers!