On the tail end of the 1980s, Omega decided it was about time to put a diminutive variation of their flag bearer, the Speedmaster Professional, into the market. This is the story of the Speedmaster Reduced.
Introduced in 1988, the Speedmaster Reduced ST 175.0032 was a 39mm twisted-lug steel case timepiece. Omega fit the watch with what they designated to be the automatic Caliber 1140. Essentially, Omega’s own assembly of an ETA 2890-2 with a Dubois-Dépraz 2020 chronograph module mounted to the dial-side and was gold plated.
The movement was updated with the 1141 in 1996 using again the ETA 2890-2 and Dubois-Dépraz 2020 but this time the movement assembly was rhodium plated. Again in 1997, the movement was updated to the 1143 which used the newer ETA 2892-A2 with the 2020. The last update made to the Speedmaster Reduced movement was with the calibre 3220 in 2000, again with the ETA 2892-A2 and 2020, although updates this time are said to be mostly cosmetic.
The Speedmaster Reduced from a distance, with its black dial and familiar case silhouette can — and often is — mistaken for its larger sibling, the Speedmaster Professional aka, the Moonwatch. But closer inspection of the Speedmaster will highlight some hallmarks that differentiate it.
Most obvious is the vast amount of space from the central pinion to the sub dials at 9 and 3 o’clock. The dial of the watch also reads “Automatic,” where you would otherwise have “Professional”.
And, of course, if you’ve handled enough Speedmasters, you would be able to tell on first contact that this is a significantly smaller case. Turning the watch to its crown-side, you’ll also notice that the crown and the chronograph pushers don’t line up. This asymmetry is the cause of the stacked movement construction.