Search for how to strap a gold-accented watch and you will get the same answer every time: brown. Warm leather, tan, cognac, something with a bit of tobacco in it.
On this Speedmaster that advice is wrong, and for a specific reason. The bezel and the dial furniture here are not yellow gold — they are 18K Moonshine™, an Omega alloy with a noticeably paler hue than traditional yellow gold. Warm browns are calibrated to the richer stuff. Put one against Moonshine and the gold loses its footing: it stops reading as precious metal and starts reading as a slightly tired brass.
Cool it down instead and the opposite happens. Against a grey, a black or a deep colour, that pale gold snaps back into focus.
That is the whole brief for this watch, and it is worth getting right on a limited edition of 6,969.
The fit: 20mm, nothing to select
Your Apollo 11 is the standard 42mm Speedmaster case — asymmetric, lyre lugs, alternating polished and brushed surfaces — so the lug width is 20mm, the same as every other Moonwatch.
Every strap in our Speedmaster collection is cut to 20mm, so there is no width dropdown to get wrong. The only choice is buckle colour, and this is the one Speedmaster where it deserves a thought:
- Silver matches the steel case and is the safe answer.
- Gold picks up the Moonshine bezel — but remember it is a paler alloy than standard yellow gold, so a gold buckle will read slightly warmer than the bezel rather than matching it exactly. Some people like that. Look at it before you decide.
Spring bars are included, and the Omega strap installation tool is the sensible way to swap a watch of this value.
What you own
Omega released this in 2019 for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, limited to 6,969 pieces. A 42mm steel case, about 47mm lug-to-lug and somewhere between 13 and 14mm thick depending on who is measuring, water resistant to 50 metres.
The bezel is polished 18K Moonshine Gold carrying a polished black ceramic ring with a Ceragold tachymeter scale — dot over ninety included. The dial is a varnished grey and black step dial with every index and hand in Moonshine gold, except the central chronograph seconds hand, which is PVD-coated in it. There is a unique hour marker at 11 o'clock, and the subdial at 9 is Moonshine gold with a laser-engraved image of Buzz Aldrin coming down the ladder.
Inside is the Master Chronometer calibre 3861 — this reference was among the first Speedmasters to get it — with about 50 hours of reserve. The NAIAD LOCK caseback carries a medallion of Aldrin's footprint and Armstrong's words in gold-plated lettering.
It came on a steel bracelet, with an additional Velcro strap covered in black-coated cork in the box.
About that cork strap
It is a lovely object and it is not a daily strap. Cork compresses, marks and picks up moisture, and yours is part of a numbered limited edition where a complete set is worth meaningfully more than an incomplete one.
Wear it once for the photograph. Then put it back in the box with the papers and wear something you do not have to think about.
Skip the brown
Worth being blunt, because it is the mistake this watch invites.
Brown and tan straps exist in our range and they are excellent on plenty of watches. On this one they work against you twice over: they warm up a gold that is deliberately cool, and they add a third colour to a dial that is already doing grey, black and gold at once. The result looks busy and slightly cheap, which is not what 6,969 pieces of Moonshine gold should look like.
Everything below is either a neutral the dial already contains, or a deep colour cold enough to leave the gold alone.
1. Grey — the dial's own half
The most literal match available and the best-looking. Your dial is grey and black; a grey strap picks up the lighter half of it directly, and because grey is cool it does nothing to the gold except let it be gold.
There is a second effect worth knowing. Against grey, the Moonshine indexes look paler and more precious rather than more yellow — which is exactly what Omega was going for with the alloy in the first place. If you buy one strap for this watch, this is it. Grey rubber strap →
2. Black — maximum contrast for the gold
The other half of the dial, and the same colour as the ceramic bezel ring. All-black rubber removes everything from the wrist and leaves the gold as the only bright element on the watch.
This is the version that looks most like a serious limited edition rather than a novelty. It is also the collection's best seller, so it is the one you will actually wear. Black rubber strap →
3. Bordeaux — the pairing Omega chose itself
Here is the argument nobody expects. When Omega made the other Apollo 11 anniversary Speedmaster — the full Moonshine gold one, 1,014 pieces — they paired that gold with a burgundy dial.
So deep red against Moonshine is not a guess. It is Omega's own answer to the question of what this alloy sits next to. Bordeaux rubber does the same job from the strap side: dark enough to stay serious, warm enough to have character, and cold enough not to yellow the gold the way brown does. Bordeaux rubber strap →
4. Navy blue — the cool one
The third neutral, and the coldest option here. Deep navy pushes the Moonshine gold as far towards warm as it will go, which on a pale alloy is the point — the colder the ground, the more the gold reads as gold.
It is also the least obviously "gold watch" of the four, which suits anyone who bought this for the Apollo 11 connection rather than the metal. Navy blue rubber strap →
Related Omega guides
- Best straps for the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch 310.30.42.50.01.001 — the standard 3861 Moonwatch, same case and same 20mm
- Omega Speedmaster '57 332.10.41.51.01.001 strap guide
- All Omega strap guides
Ready to change it?
Helvetus is one of the largest names in aftermarket luxury watch straps, and every Omega strap we make is cut to a specific case rather than trimmed from a universal blank — so a Speedmaster strap fits a Speedmaster, with no gap at the lugs and no guesswork at checkout.
All rubber straps carry a lifetime warranty. Shipping is free worldwide, there are no import costs wherever you order from, and more than 50,000 customers have already made the swap.
Browse all Speedmaster straps → See the full Omega strap range →
Helvetus is not affiliated with Omega SA. Model names are used for compatibility reference only.
