Flightmaster, suggesting control of the skies, was first put forward by OMEGA in 1956-57 as a possible name for a new model that was to have an unrivaled career as the Speedmaster.
The name Flightmaster was used specifically in 1959 to name a special version of the Railmaster made for the Peruvian air force (Fuerza Aérea del Perú — FAP), which no doubt thought that the Railmaster name failed to match its function. It is therefore likely that OMEGA offered to replace the original model name with Flightmaster on the dial and caseback of the FAP’s watches.
OMEGA Flightmaster Railmaster FAP, ref. 2914.
But it was only in 1967-68 that the Flightmaster name was given to a production model: OMEGA’s first professional watch with functions intended for airline pilots, or as the advertising of the time put it, “for intercontinental travelers”.
It went on sale in the fall of 1969 fitted with the manually wound caliber 910 (reference ST 145.013).
OMEGA Flightmaster, ref. 145.013.
But as will become clear, this watch could have had a much wider purpose, given its functional specifications and the features that were taken to extremes by the key figures in the project’s development stage.
As watchmaking’s equivalent of the Swiss army knife, it was an ambitious undertaking for the brand, and became the most advanced professional watch of a particularly creative era when technical advances overcame new challenges. The Flightmaster subsequently evolved, with some versions better known than the others that never went into production.
One major change was the appearance in 1971 of a running seconds hand in place of the 24-hour subdial. The original caliber 910 was redesignated as 911 and the reference became ST 145.026, and ultimately ST 145.036.
Flightmaster chronographs were also associated with space exploration, having been worn from 1974 by Soviet cosmonauts, notably Alexey Leonov, crew member of the momentous Apollo-Soyuz mission.
Alexey Leonov, commander of the Soviet crew on the Apollo-Soyuz mission.
The Flightmaster features an unusual and imposing case, which was to be baptized Pilot’s Line and adopted by other OMEGA Seamaster models in the early 1970s. It is however equally distinguished by its bright colors, seven hands, three crowns and two pushers.
These attributes, far from being haphazard, were actually designed to make information clear and easy to use:
• the complete chronograph (seconds, minutes, hours) has its own colors on the hands and pushers (yellow or red);
• the simplified chronograph function with an enclosed rotating bezel in black and a setting crown in the same color can be used for calculating the duration of a flight for example;
• the second timezone is shown by a blue airplane-shaped hand and is set by the blue crown;
• the subdial at 9 o’clock of the first reference has two distinct colors to show a.m. and p.m.
Period advert pinpointing the various functions of the Flightmaster, a pilot’swatch offering “far more than a revolving bezel”.
The Flightmaster was on sale for less than 10 years, appearing for the last time in a catalog dated 1977.
The Flightmaster name next appeared on the dial of a Speedmaster X-33 prototype, approved by NASA for Space Shuttle missions and then put on sale from 1998.
Flightmasters have thus been associated with aerospace throughout their development from the first time the name was used in the late 1950s.
It’s a model that has never been copied and looks like none other except for one model that it strongly influenced, the Spacemaster Z-33 that OMEGA presented at the 2012 Baselworld show.
The Flightmaster’s design characteristics as well as its major historical interest make it essential to any collection of OMEGA timepieces.
The solid-gold model was produced in 200 examples in 1971.
One pre-series example (bearing serial number 29.130.xxx) was however delivered in July 1970 in Jordan, probably to King Hussein.
Fitted with the caliber 910 movement (serial range 31.631.000 – 31.632.999) , it has its own features.
CASEBAND
The caseband is in solid gold.
CASEBACK
The caseback is inscribed with: FAB. SUISSE, SWISS MADE, ACIER INOXYDABLE, a triangle with the Ω logo, OMEGA WATCH Co, BREVET + 487449, three hallmarks, references 345.0801 and 145.013, and the diver’s helmet logo of the Ervin Piquerez SA company.
DIAL
The dial is similar to category A dials with a bicolor black/gray subdial at 9 o’clock. It is in solid gold (attested by the inscription OM SWISS MADE OM), with applied gold hour markers, Ω logo and OMEGA.
BEZEL
The bezel is a specific gilt one.
HANDS
The hands are similar to the red configuration of the reference ST 145.013, but with black hours and minutes hands.
CROWNS AND PUSHERS
They have the typical colors and are in gold.
GLASS
The glass is similar to that of reference ST 145.013 and is domed.
BRACELET
The bracelet is similar to type 1162/172 but in solid gold (about 80 watches were delivered on leather straps, reference BA 145.013).
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