Review: Omega’s Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon ‘Darth Vader’ Might Be the Ultimate Blackout Watch

If we’re being honest, there’s not much left to say about the Speedmaster that hasn’t already been said. It’s the first watch worn on the Moon, the tool that helped bring Apollo 13 home, and quite possibly the most storied chronograph ever made. In our book, it’s the GOAT.

But in 2013, Omega did something genuinely radical with its most sacred nameplate: it carved the entire watch, case and dial included, out of black zirconium oxide ceramic and called it the Dark Side of the Moon. It was the first Speedmaster ever rendered in a full ceramic case, and over the past twelve years, that single experiment has grown into an entire subfamily of “Side of the Moon” watches.

Which brings us to 2025, and the most significant overhaul in the collection’s history. Omega dropped four new models at once: the Dark-White, the murdered-out Black-Black, the Apollo 8-inspired Grey Side of the Moon, and our personal favorite of the collection – the watch we have here, the Dark-Red.

Of course, nobody calls it that. With a lightsaber-red chronograph hand sweeping across a sea of sandblasted black ceramic, the community wasted no time crowning this one the “Darth Vader.”

At $16,100, it’s also a watch that sparked some very heated comment sections.

And after spending a few months with the watch, we decided it was due time to take a closer look at the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Darth Vader.” Let’s get into it.

At A Glance

First Impressions

First thing first, we have to say, photos really undersell this watch. On a screen, it reads as yet another blacked-out chronograph. In person, however, the laser-sandblasted dial has a fine, granular texture that looks almost like volcanic dust, and it plays beautifully against the polished bezel and the brushed flanks of the case.

Then that red hand starts sweeping across the dial and the whole design really snaps into focus. Against all that matte black, the varnished red chronograph hand almost appears to float above the dial, and yes, it’s impossible not to think of a certain Sith Lord.

We’ll also address the community sentiment right up front, because there’s plenty of it. The comments on this release have centered on three things. The first and most obvious is the price, which is up meaningfully from the previous generation. There’s also the 44.25mm case that plenty of folks wish was 40mm to 42mm, and lastly, the legibility of a black-on-black dial.

All three are certainly fair critiques, and we’ll get into each of them. But the headline improvement that seems to have flown under the radar is the movement swap. This is now a hand-wound Speedmaster, and that single decision really transforms how the watch wears more than we expected.

The Case

So shifting into that sizing for a second. On paper, the numbers are intimidating. The case measures 44.25mm across, with a 50mm lug-to-lug and a 13.02mm thickness. That footprint is unapologetically large, and if you have a smaller wrist, this is probably never going to be your watch. Omega considers the sizing a signature of the line, and after twelve years, we doubt that’s going to change.

Here’s the thing, though: the wearing experience is far friendlier than the dimensions imply. Zirconium oxide ceramic is roughly 25% less dense than stainless steel, and the whole watch comes in at approximately 102 grams on the rubber strap. Compare that to the automatic Dark Side models in this same 2025 collection, which stand 15.09mm tall, and the manual-wind Vader’s 13.02mm profile is a full 2mm slimmer.

It even undercuts the 42mm Moonwatch Professional in height. On our wearer’s 6.75″ wrist shown here, it’s a big watch, no question, but it sits low, hugs flat, and it never really feels top-heavy the way the old automatic Dark Sides could.

The case itself is stunning, and it’s a masterclass in ceramic finishing, with polished and brushed surfaces meeting at crisp beveled edges. It’s all the result of what Omega says was four years of development on its new ceramic processes.

The polished black bezel gets a tachymeter scale in Liquidmetal, Omega’s amorphous alloy that’s bonded directly into the ceramic. The crown and pushers are ceramic as well, and while the crown doesn’t screw down, water resistance is still a respectable 50 meters, a figure METAS independently verifies on the complete watch as part of certification.

Flip it over and you’ll find a sapphire display window framed in ceramic, with “DARK SIDE OF THE MOON” engraved around the perimeter.

The Dial

Alright, so the dial is where the Darth Vader earns its nickname. The black ceramic surface has been sandblasted by laser, giving it that fine-grain, matte texture we mentioned earlier, and the upper plate sits slightly raised in the new two-level architecture that runs across the 2025 collection.

It’s a subtle bit of depth you only catch when the light rakes across it, but it’s a welcome evolution from the flatter, glossier dials of the previous generation.

The beveled, applied indexes and the baton-style hour and minute hands are all blackened and filled with black Super-LumiNova that emits green in the dark. It’s really cool to see in person as the stealth dial suddenly lights up at night.

The layout is a clean two-register affair: small seconds at 9 o’clock, with the chronograph’s 60-minute and 12-hour counters cleverly stacked into a single subdial at 3 o’clock. There’s also no date wheel to be found anywhere on the dial.

Red accents are found on both the “Speedmaster” script and that central chronograph hand, and from a purely design perspective, it feels like the perfect amount of contrast.

Now, the part that most of you would probably expect here – legibility is absolutely this watch’s biggest compromise. In good lighting, the polished edges of the hands and indexes catch enough light to read the time without too much fuss. But in flat or dim lighting, you’ll definitely be spending some time hunting.

Several owners have noted they could only track the red hand. And while we certainly understand the frustration, our personal take is that this was never designed to be a legibility-first tool watch.

It’s a design object built around a monochrome concept, and you either buy into that premise or you buy the Moonwatch. With all of that being said, we’d still have loved just a touch more contrast on the handset.

The Movement

Under that smoked sapphire caseback beats the reason this watch can exist in its current form: the Omega Caliber 9908 Black Edition. It’s a hand-wound, column-wheel chronograph with the brand’s Co-Axial escapement.

If the name rings a bell, it should. The 9908 is the rotor-less derivative of Omega’s automatic 9900 architecture, and it made its debut in the Speedmaster Chronoscope back in 2021. Deleting the automatic winding system is what buys the Vader its 2mm-slimmer case, and as a bonus, nothing obstructs your view of the movement, which has been given a matte-blackened treatment across the main plate and bridges, decorated with Geneva waves in arabesque radiating from the balance. It’s truly a gorgeous thing to stare at and admire.

Of course, the specs also back up the looks. The 9908 is a certified Master Chronometer, which means the movement first passes ISO 3159 chronometer testing, then the fully cased watch endures eight additional tests from the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology, holding 0/+5 seconds per day of precision while shrugging off magnetic fields up to 15,000 gauss thanks in part to its silicon balance spring.

Two barrels mounted in series deliver a 60-hour power reserve at a modern 4Hz beat rate. And, our favorite everyday feature: a time zone function that lets you jump the hour hand independently without stopping the movement, which makes travel and daylight savings adjustments painless.

This certification is worth highlighting here because the mainline Dark Side models had run the non-METAS Caliber 9300 since 2013. The Apollo 8 crossed over to Master Chronometer status in 2024, and the 2025 overhaul finally brings the rest of the lineup along.

The Strap

The Darth Vader ships on a black rubber strap that’s actually a bit more interesting than it appears at first glance. The top surface carries a brushed texture that echoes the case finishing, while the underside is embossed with a lunar crater pattern, a hidden detail we can’t help but love.

It’s secured by a black ceramic foldover clasp with ceramised titanium framework, keeping the all-ceramic theme intact right down to the hardware. And if the rubber isn’t your thing, there’s also a coated nylon fabric option at the same price.

Our one gripe would have to be the 21mm lug width. It’s an odd size that makes aftermarket strap experimentation more annoying than it needs to be. Although we do suspect most owners will keep this one exactly as delivered.

Final Thoughts

So, the question we always ask ourselves: is the Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon Darth Vader worth it?

Ok, at $16,100, this one is a bit more complicated and the honest answer requires some context.

Within Omega’s own catalog, a Moonwatch Professional runs $7,800 in hesalite or $9,000 with the sapphire sandwich, which means the Vader costs nearly two Moonwatches. IWC’s Pilot’s Chronograph 41 Top Gun delivers a black ceramic chronograph experience for around $9,700.

And at the top of the food chain, the steel Rolex Daytona sits in the same rough retail territory, just under $17,000, though good luck ever buying one at that price.

Against that landscape, the Vader does feel pretty expensive but not irrational. You’re paying for full ceramic construction inside and out, a METAS-certified manual-wind caliber with a black edition finish, and frankly, a level of finishing the old Dark Sides never really had.

Of course, this isn’t the sensible Speedmaster. It’s not even the sensible Dark Side. This is a watch for the Omega faithful who love the murdered-out aesthetic, and for that buyer, it’s about as good as the category gets. Add the floating red hand and that Black Edition caliber, and the watch really starts to make a case for itself. For the collector who already owns a Moonwatch, this might be the most exciting Dark Side yet.

Recap

Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon “Darth Vader”

A full ceramic, hand-wound Speedmaster chronograph that pairs a laser-sandblasted black dial and lightsaber-red chrono hand with Omega’s METAS-certified Calibre 9908 Black Edition.

Pros

• Slimmest Dark Side of the Moon yet at 13.02mm
• Blackened Calibre 9908 is stunning through the caseback
• Full ceramic construction inside and out
• Laser-sandblasted dial texture is gorgeous in person
• Independent hour hand adjustment for travel
• Lunar crater pattern on the strap underside

Cons

• Black-on-black dial compromises legibility
• $16,100 is a steep ask
• 44.25mm sizing rules out smaller wrists
• Odd 21mm lug width limits strap options

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