Speedy Tuesday OMEGA Speedmaster Professional X-33 | Fratellowatches

November 11, 2020

It is Speedy Tuesday! After a few weeks of recurring vintage Speedmaster topics, it is time for a modern classic. The OMEGA Speedmaster Professional X-33. Introduced in 1998 and also already in use during the Space Shuttle STS-89 mission of that year.Today we have a Speedmaster Professional X-33 reference 3990.50, also known as the 1st Generation X-33. In 2001, OMEGA introduced an updated version (reference 3991.50). This updated version had a different finish on the bezel. Also, because the 1st Generation models could have some issues with their pushers, they did an update with regards to the construction. The 1st Gen X-33 also had a unidirectional bezel where the 2nd Generation X-33 had a bi-directional bezel.Reader and frequent visitor of OmegaForums.net MellyVinelli submitted his Speedmaster Pro X-33 ref. 3990.50 for Speedy Tuesday. He is a Speedmaster aficionado and loves watches in general. This Speedmaster Pro X-33 was his first OMEGA and got it in 1999. One of the first, so to speak.Although it wasn t much of a success back then, I now see that these X-33 watches are becoming harder to get for a decent price. They start at around 2000 Euro in good condition on Chrono24, but also have seen them for higher prices. If you want one, try to buy it on a titanium bracelet (instead of Kevlar strap) as a replacement bracelet is very expensive. Still available from OMEGA, but with a 1285 Euro price tag.These X-33 watches have been in production till 2005/2006. It is therefor one of the non-limited OMEGA Speedmasters with a very short production life. Keep that in mind if you are looking for a watch that might become valuable in the future. It was definitely a watch for professionals, a real tool watch. Functionality was far more important than looks, although I think they did a nice job on a digital quartz watch with so many features.Inside, a quartz movement caliber 1666 was fitted to enable the following functionality:80dB alarmDay, date, chronograph, second time zone, count down timerDaily alarm, additional programmable alarmMission timer (up to 999 days)Mission time alarmThanks to MellyVinelli for submitting photos of his Speedmaster Pro X-33. If you have a Speedmaster you want to see here on Speedy Tuesday, please contact us.We don t want to finish this blog post without showing you the next movie, where astronaut Don Pettit repairs his Speedy X-33 aboard of the International Space Station in 2003. Some of you might have seen it before, but it is no punishment to watch it again.