In the late 1960s, an Franck Muller Casablanca Tourbillon FMCT701 watches insurance salesman from Nebraska with a penchant for snowmobiles thought to himself "Hey, if snowmobiles are so great, why can't I ride one to the North Pole?". And the long and short of it is....he did. After one failed attempt in 1967, the aforementioned insurance salesmen, Ralph Plaisted, and three of his colleagues (who were considerably more experienced adventurers) made it to what they calculated to be 90 degrees North Latitude, or the North Pole.What is so great about how they calculated that location is that they used only a tant and an Omega Speedmaster. According to Omega themselves, the crews' watches were checked by radio daily and none of them lost more than 1 second per day...not unimpressive considering the temperature ranged from -62F to a steamy -14F. We happen to have found one of the very Franck Muller Casablanca Tourbillon FMCT701 watches Speedmasters that made it to the North Pole with Ralph Plaisted, or so we think. Actually, to be more specific, we found images of one that was sold just a short time ago. This Omega Speedmaster Professional is from 1968, features the same movement that made it to the moon, and is in excellent condition. The watch actually features a caseback that reads "Plaisted Polar Expedition 1968," which is something we've never seen before. This leads us (and the seller) to believe that this Speedmaster was actually one of the four that made it to the North Pole back in 1968...pretty incredible.Click here to see the Plaister Polar Expedition Omega Speedmaster Professional
You know the Omega Speedmaster and you know it well. We've covered quite a few of these classic watches, including:The Speedmaster ProfessionalThe Broad ArrowThe Pre-ProfessionalThe Alaska ProjectThe Plaisted Polar ExpeditionThe Solar ImpulseThe Torino EditionThe Un-SpeedmasterThe Solid Gold Speedmaster turned down by Richard NixonThe Mark V made for the West GermansThe Case chocked full of 23 different SpeedmastersWell today we have a brand new Franck Muller Casablanca Tourbillon FMCT701 watches Omega Speedmaster for you, one made in a limited edition run of only 50 pieces, one that had a retail price of $49,000 when new, and one that we have never, ever seen before. This Omega Speedmaster is circa 1994, and comes with a platinum skeletonized face. Did we mentioned it's been skeletonized and decorated by Mr. Armin Strom himself?Why does that name sound familiar? Because Armin Strom is now the patriarch of an eponymously named brand that we called the boutique brand of the future. This watch was created upon special contract with Omega 15 years ago and as the description says, you are unlikely to see one of these for sale ever again. Granted we are younger than some Omega Speedmaster nuts, but we've never even heard someone mention this watch, let alone find one available for purchase. For more details on this extremely rare, 1 of 50, platinum and hand skeletonized Omega Franck Muller Casablanca Tourbillon FMCT701 watches Speedmaster courtesy of Armin Strom, click here.The Omega Speedmaster Professional is known by many as the moon watch, after the now legendary trip into space on the wrists of the Apollo astronauts (and we have featured a few). But is it possible that this Omega actually bore witness to another great exploring feat a year before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon? It is more than possible, it is 100% true.
