The Dark Side of the Moon is the Speedmaster that stopped being a tool watch. One piece of black zirconium oxide ceramic, a co-axial chronograph movement you can see through the back, and a name Omega borrowed from a Pink Floyd record. It divides people, and the people who like it tend to like it a lot.
The basics
Introduced in 2013. The case is a single block of black ceramic, 44.25mm, with a matching ceramic bezel. Inside is the calibre 9300 or, on later pieces, the 9900 — an automatic co-axial chronograph with a column wheel, visible through a sapphire caseback.
Note that this is not the Moonwatch. The manual-wind Speedmaster Professional is a different watch with a different movement and a different purpose. They share a name and very little else.
The family, because the nicknames multiply
Omega built a whole tonal range and collectors shorten all of them:
- Dark Side of the Moon — black ceramic, the original
- Grey Side of the Moon — grey ceramic with a platinum-alloy dial
- White Side of the Moon — white ceramic
- Sedna Black — black ceramic with Omega's rose gold alloy for the hands and markers
- Apollo 8 — skeletonised movement finished to look like the lunar surface, laser-ablated
Within Dark Side alone there are sub-variants — Black Black, Vintage Black, Pitch Black, Racing — and the differences are dial, hands and strap rather than case or movement. When someone says they want a Dark Side, ask which one, because the prices are not the same.
What to check on a pre-owned example
Ceramic chips, not scratches. This is the important reframe. Ceramic will not pick up the hairline scratches steel does, so an honestly worn example can look nearly new. But ceramic is brittle: a knock against a door frame that would dent steel can take a chip out of the case edge or bezel. Run a fingernail around the bezel edge and the case flanks. A chip cannot be polished out — the part gets replaced.
The crystal edge. Same logic. Check where the sapphire meets the case.
Chronograph function, all of it. Start, stop, reset, and watch the hands return to exactly zero. Then run it for a minute and check the sub-dial tracking. A co-axial chronograph service is not cheap and a misbehaving reset is the first sign you will be paying for one.
Service history. These movements want attention on a schedule. Ask when it was last serviced and by whom. A piece with recent Omega or competent independent service paperwork is worth meaningfully more than one with a shrug.
The strap and deployant. Most came on fabric or leather with a ceramic-and-steel deployant clasp. Straps are consumable and fine to replace. The clasp is not — check the engraving is crisp and the mechanism snaps rather than sags.
Size, honestly. 44.25mm of ceramic sits large but wears lighter than it looks, because ceramic is less dense than steel. If you are between sizes, this one surprises people upward — try it before you decide it is too big.
What moves the price
Variant first, then completeness, then service status, then chip-free condition. Full set with the outer box and card matters more on this reference than on a steel Speedmaster, because most of them were bought as considered purchases and kept boxed.
Buying one
Every watch that passes through here is opened, checked, pressure tested and timed before it is listed — the full standard is written out here. On a ceramic case I will also tell you plainly about any edge chip, because photographs hide them and you will find it in daylight on day two.
If you want one, name the variant and I will find it. If you are selling one, send the details. Or see what is in the case now.