Swiss watchmaker Omega is offering, for the very first time, online sales of a new timepiece, the Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Limited Edition. 

Expanding the reach from its global network of boutiques, the brand says it is “excited to connect to its online community in a new way”.

The watch will be showcased on the @Omega Instagram channel and customers will be able to click through to a dedicated page at omegawatches.com where they can reserve the watch. 

There are 2,012 models to reserve and, subject to availability, customers can even specify the limited edition number they want. Once chosen, the watches will be delivered in the summer of 2017.

The Omega Speedmaster Speedy Tuesday Limited Edition has been produced five years after the creation of the #SpeedyTuesday hashtag by Fratello Watches founder Robert-Jan Broer.

For half a decade, an online community of #SpeedyTuesday fans has been steadily growing around the world with Speedmaster pictures and comments being shared every week. In tribute to these chronograph devotees, Omega is proud to introduce the new model that blends some of the Speedmaster’s most popular design features. 

The design is inspired by Omega’s Speedmaster Alaska Project III model, created for the US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) in 1978. At the time, Nasa insisted that the watch had to be both anti-reflective and easy-to-read, or in other words - suitable for use in space. 

The Speedy Tuesday watch has stayed true to these qualities with a brushed matte-finish stainless steel case and large radial numerals on the subdials. In fact, the return of these famous radial subdials is just one of the vintage touches on the watch.

The use of the “reverse panda” dial is also influenced from the past. First used by Omega in 1966, the white opaline-silvery subdials are set against a black dial, encircled with a bezel ring and tachymeter scale in matte black aluminium. There is a rare appearance of the vintage Omega logo and all markings and radial subdials have been coated with bright luminescent ink.

Other classic Speedmaster touches include a domed hesalite crystal with a central Omega logo, as well as a vintage-cut brown leather strap with vintage buckle and stitching. Of course, Omega has also retained the calibre 1861 on the inside, the movement used in the famous Speedmaster Moonwatch.

Turning the watch over reveals a screw-in caseback stamped with the Speedmaster’s iconic Seahorse medallion, encircled by the words Speedy Tuesday Anniversary - A Tribute To Alaska Project Iii as well as the limited edition number. Circling the outer-edge of the caseback is the word Radial.

The watch is delivered in a special leather watch roll containing a spare Nato strap with #SpeedyTuesday engraved on the strap's loop, as well as a strap-changing tool.

Omega points out that not only is this a wonderful timepiece to own, but it also has its own place in Omega’s history as the brand’s first watch sold online. Omega has a strong web presence, but has never before used a social platform as a selling tool. 

Followers of @OMEGA on Instagram are encouraged to look out for the watch and be quick with their reservation if they hope to own one of these Limited Edition pieces. Watches can be reserved by visiting omegawatches.com/SpeedyTuesday.