The Omega Speedmaster CK2998 was launched in 1959 as the successor to the CK2915, the first Speedmaster, and was produced until 1962 in a series of sub-references such as 2998-3, 2998-4, 2998-5, 2998-6, 2998-61 and 2998-62. It has a stainless steel case with straight lugs, measured by dealers at 39 to 39.5 mm, with a Seahorse caseback, a black tachymeter bezel (later examples carry the “Dot Over 90” version) and a black three-register dial with luminous baton markers. Its movement is the hand-wound calibre 321, a 17-jewel column-wheel chronograph. The CK2998 was the first Speedmaster with alpha hands, which replaced the broad arrow hands of the CK2915; early pieces have a lollipop chronograph seconds hand, later ones a straight hand. It matters because it was the first Omega to travel into space.

On 3 October 1962, astronaut Wally Schirra wore his own CK2998 during the Mercury-Atlas 8 mission aboard Sigma 7. It was his personal watch, bought before the flight, which made it the first Omega worn in space. The CK2998 belongs to the “pre-moon, pre-professional” generation of Speedmasters; the 2998-4, -5, -6, -61 and -62 were the last CK-coded production years before six-digit references began in 1962. Omega has revisited the reference several times, including a CK2998 limited edition of 2,998 pieces with a 39.7 mm case and the hand-wound calibre 1861, and a later “First Omega in Space” model.

Collectors prize the CK2998 as one of the purest early Speedmasters, combining the calibre 321, the straight-lug case and the space history of the Schirra flight. Originality of dial, hands and bezel is decisive, and dealers routinely document examples with Omega archive extracts. Prices are well into five figures: Analog Shift offered a 2998-4 with a November 1961 archive extract at 32,770 US dollars, while a 2998-6 at Christie’s Geneva in 2023, estimated at 15,000 to 25,000, went unsold. Forum members describe the modern reissues as different enough from other Speedmasters to stand out. The original CK2998 is no longer produced; Omega‘s current Speedmaster Moonwatch and its heritage reissues continue the line.