The new Omega Speedmaster 38 launch includes a proper Speedy Reduced successor - Time+Tide Watches

It’s back! The Omega Speedmaster 38 range, though full of good options, hasn’t had a real true successor to the beloved Speedmaster Reduced. But it does now.

The Omega Speedmaster Reduced was a very well-loved design for budding collectors, as a watch that carried a Moonwatch aesthetic – but, in a smaller case, with an automatic movement, and a lower retail and secondary market price that made it a go-to for those looking to score their first Omega watch. Before the MoonSwatch, your only proper avenue for Moonwatch cosplay was the Speedy Reduced. But poof, around 2009/2010 the watch was phased out of the Omega catalogue.

Omega would go on to launch the Omega Speedmaster 38 in 2017 and later roll out an expansive update to the range in 2024 that had a more feminine focus, with more rounded, oval counters and apertures on the dial. There was also a fair bit of bling. However, there have been other models, one of which is a black dial model in the collection that was close, but not really Moonwatch-styled, with a sunburst-finished dial and a different style for the bezel. It was not a Speedy Reduced revival. Today, after 17 years or so, all that changes.

We now have a Moonwatch-styled Omega Speedmaster 38mm. Compared to the ‘90s 3550.10 Speedmaster Reduced and its later evolutions up until 2009, it’s about a millimetre smaller in diameter, a few millimetres thicker, and basically the same length lug-to-lug – measuring 38mm in diameter, 14.75mm thick, and 44.96mm lug-to-lug across the wrist. The shape and finish of the Omega Speedmaster 38 is in line with its larger Professional sibling, with mixed finishing on the case and the lyre lug profile.

Looking at the new black dial variant, it does not have automatic dial text, nor does it have every fifth minute delineated under each hour index. Instead, the dial is effectively identical to the current Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch other than the fact that there is no Professional script on the dial or a pie-pan architecture on its smaller surface.

You have a matte black dial, stepped chronograph counters, with your running seconds at 9 o’clock, 12-hour elapsed hours scale at 6 o’clock, and your 30-minute elapsed minutes scale at 3 o’clock. You even have the same styling for the white-coated handset, applied Omega logo, and printed hour indexes.

The black dial that basically revives the Speedmaster Reduced is not the only novelty of the day. But it is the only model of this new bunch that has a black dial and no date window.

We also got hands-on with a new ivory-dialled model with brown counters, a brown bezel insert, and Sedna gold accents on the bezel and case.

There is a white dial model with a warm grey bezel insert and Sedna gold accents.

Next we have a white lacquer dial model with a blue bezel insert.

Last but not least, Omega has debuted an icy blue-dialled variant with a diamond-set bezel. But it is important to note that none of these new models, even the diamond-set variant, have the more rounded-oval style counters or a rounded date aperture. And there are a few more models we did not get to shoot that you can discover on Omega’s website.

All of the watches are affixed to the modern Nixon-style bracelet, with a comfort adjustment system in the clasp to better fine-tune its fit on your wrist, and all of the watches are driven by a 52-hour automatic co-axial movement ticking away beneath their solid, engraved caseback. While the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch will likely continue to be the main attraction of the Speedmaster range, it’s nice to see the Speedmaster 38 get a further expansion – particularly the new Moonwatch-styled black dial variant that really marks the first true successor to the Speedmaster Reduced many of us knew and loved.

The new Omega Speedmaster 38 collection is available now for purchase. Price: starting at US$6,500