Posted by Lee Sullivan on 20/08/2022
The OMEGA Speedmaster has been the choice of astronauts and space agencies for more than half a century. In fact, it has been associated with some of humankind’s greatest extra-terrestrial adventures and has been one of the most famous chronographs in the world ever since it became the first watch worn on the Moon in July of 1969.
When Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface in 1969, the Speedmaster Professional became the first watch worn on the moon. 53 years later, the astronaut can still reflect on that historic moment, when humankind stepped boldly into a new frontier – and OMEGA’s legendary chronograph recorded its most famous hour.
The Speedmaster was launched in 1957 but its official space legacy started in 1965, when NASA qualified it for use on its piloted missions. Since then, it has been worn on all six lunar landings and earned the nickname “the Moonwatch”.
Wally Schirra wore his own Speedmaster on his Mercury mission on October 3, 1962. It was the fist OMEGA in space.
NASA requested quotes for wrist chronographs. OMEGA was one of four companies that submitted watches for testing.
NASA declared the Speedmaster “flight-qualified for all manned space missions” in 1965, first launching with Gemini 3 on March 23.
Only three months later, Edward White wore his Speedmaster on America’s first spacewalk on his Gemini 4 mission.
On 21 July, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the lunar surface, the Speedmaster became the Moonwatch.
In April, the Apollo 13 astronauts used their Speedmasters to time critical engine burns that led to their safe return.
As part of Apollo 16, Charles Duke left a photo of his family on the moon, while the Commander of Apollo 17, Gene Cernan, left the last lunar footprints in history.
In July, the American Apollo rocket docked with the Soviet Union’s Soyuz in space. All the spacemen wore Speedmasters.
The tests that NASA performed on the chronographs that were submitted to the agency in 1964 were designed to destroy the watches. In the end, only one watch survived: the Speedmaster.
Take your first steps into the latest Moonwatch update, with a design inspired by the famous 4th generation style worn by Apollo 11 astronauts.