The best replica Speedmaster Apollo 13 for most buyers is the hand-wound 42mm steel model that copies the Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary: blue dial, white sub-dials, blue bezel insert with a printed tachymeter scale. The pick rests on four checks you can make without opening the case. Case width and lug shape, sub-dial placement with running seconds at 9 o'clock, movement type, and how much of the Snoopy caseback the maker bothered to finish. Everything else, including price, follows from those four.

What "Apollo 13" refers to on a Speedmaster

NASA astronauts gave Omega the Silver Snoopy Award in 1970. The award recognized the Speedmaster's part in the Apollo 13 recovery, when the crew used the chronograph to time a 14 second engine burn that corrected their return path after the oxygen tank failure. Since then Omega has released several Silver Snoopy Award Speedmasters, and the replica market has followed each one. When a listing says "Apollo 13" it points at that award lineage rather than at the standard Moonwatch.

Two versions dominate what you will find for sale. One copies the 2015 Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award with a white dial and Snoopy printed inside the small seconds. The other copies the 2020 50th Anniversary edition with a blue dial and a medallion on the caseback. They wear the same and share most parts, so the choice comes down to which dial you want on your wrist.

Blue dial, 50th Anniversary style

This is the version most buyers picture when they search for an Apollo 13 replica. The blue dial with silver-white sub-dials reads closer to a dress watch than the black Moonwatch, and the blue bezel insert gives the watch a distinct look in daylight.

  • Pros: strong color match when the maker uses a sunburst or lacquer finish.
  • Pros: white sub-dials hide printing errors better than black ones do, and the bezel insert is easy to judge in photos.
  • Pros: the Snoopy and Earth caseback gives you a talking point even on a budget build.
  • Cons: blue is harder to match than black, so weak examples look purple or flat grey.
  • Cons: the animated caseback is the first feature replica makers drop, and a plain back is obvious once the watch is off your wrist.

White dial, 2015 Apollo 13 style

The white dial version borrows the 2015 Silver Snoopy Award look. It is quieter, it works with a shirt cuff, and it hides everyday marks better than blue.

  • Pros: white dials photograph well and hide dust and micro-scratches.
  • Pros: the Snoopy figure sits inside the small seconds at 9 o'clock, which is simpler to print than a moving caseback.
  • Cons: fewer sellers stock it, so restocks are slower and sizes run out.
  • Cons: legibility on the sub-dials drops when the printing is thick, a common fault on white dial copies.

Movement: the biggest price divider

Manual wind chronograph

This is the layout most faithful to the genuine watch. A hand-wound chronograph movement keeps the case thin and gives the pushers a real click.

  • Pros: correct no-rotor case profile and a running seconds hand at 9 o'clock.
  • Pros: crisp pusher feel when the movement is a column wheel or cam design.
  • Cons: you wind it every day.
  • Cons: timekeeping varies between examples, and service options are limited.

Quartz

  • Pros: low cost, high accuracy, no upkeep.
  • Cons: the seconds hand ticks, which no Speedmaster does.
  • Cons: sub-dials are often decorative or a 24 hour dial, so the pushers do nothing.

Automatic chronograph

  • Pros: no daily winding and a smoother sweep than quartz.
  • Cons: adds height, so the watch sits higher on the wrist than the real thing.
  • Cons: rotor noise, and sometimes a date window that should not be there.

Details that decide quality

  1. Case: 42mm across with the asymmetric lyre lugs. Compare listing photos against a known reference shot.
  2. Bezel: printed or enamel filled tachymeter scale. A glossy sticker insert peels and looks wrong.
  3. Dial: sub-dials at 3, 6 and 9, with running seconds at 9. A date at 3 or 4:30 is incorrect for a Snoopy.
  4. Hands: straight baton hands with a white lume fill. Oversized or skeleton hand sets are a giveaway.
  5. Crystal: domed sapphire or hesalite style. Flat mineral glass flattens the whole look.
  6. Caseback: Snoopy medallion or engraving. A blank steel back tells you where the money went.

Straps and finishing

Most Apollo 13 replicas ship on a steel bracelet or a nylon strap. Steel bracelets on budget copies show gaps at the end links and a clasp that does not sit flush against the wrist. A nylon or leather strap hides that and matches how many owners wear the genuine watch anyway. If the bracelet has solid end links and a signed clasp, treat it as a bonus rather than a reason to pay more. Case finishing is the second thing to judge after the dial: brushed sides, polished edges, and no sharp corners under the lugs.

Which version fits your use

Buy the blue dial hand-wound version if you want the closest match to the 50th Anniversary look and you do not mind winding the watch each morning. Buy the white dial version if you want something that reads clean under a shirt cuff and shrugs off daily wear. Buy a quartz model only as a gift, a display piece, or a first test of the 42mm size on your wrist, because the ticking seconds hand and dead sub-dials are visible to anyone who knows the watch. If a listing shows a date window, a flat crystal, or a plain caseback, skip it and keep looking.

One note on expectations: a replica is a copy, not the watch Omega built for NASA. Genuine Silver Snoopy Award Speedmasters still trade on the secondary market and hold value. A replica gives you the proportions and the look at a fraction of the cost, and nothing beyond that.