Speedmaster Snoopy-Inspired Chronograph

I built a custom chronograph around a Seiko VK63 movement.

The design was inspired by the Omega Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary: a silver or white dial, blue chronograph details, a blue tachymeter-style bezel, and Snoopy as the centrepiece.

The Snoopy Speedmaster

Omega’s Speedmaster “Silver Snoopy Award” 50th Anniversary watch commemorates the Silver Snoopy Award that NASA astronauts gave Omega in 1970. The watch uses a silver dial, blue accents, blue subdials, and a Snoopy medallion at 9o’clock.

The VK63 Movement

I built the watch around a Seiko Instruments VK63 movement.

The VK63 is a battery-powered meca-quartz chronograph movement. Quartz timekeeping provides accuracy and convenience, while the chronograph uses a mechanical module that gives the pushers and reset action a more mechanical feel than a conventional quartz stopwatch.

Its layout is useful for a Speedmaster-style design:

• 9 o’clock: 60-minute chronograph counter
• 6 o’clock: Running seconds
• 3 o’clock: 24-hour indicator
• Centre hand: Chronograph seconds
• 4:30: Date display

The VK63 does not duplicate the movement inside the actual Omega. The Omega uses a manually wound Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 3861, while the VK63 is an accessible quartz-powered movement.

Assembling the Watch

The project was an assembly build rather than traditional watchmaking from raw components.

I selected a case designed for the VK63, then paired it with a compatible dial, hands, crystal, bezel, crown, pushers, and strap or bracelet. The main work was making sure every part fit the movement and that the hands cleared one another properly.

Hand installation required the most patience. Each hand needed to sit at the correct height, avoid rubbing the dial or another hand, and align correctly when the chronograph reset.