50 years ago today, on July 16th, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin (pictured above, credit: NASA) and Michael Collins began their ~250,000 mile journey to the moon. It would take nearly 4 days for the Apollo 11 crew to reach the lunar surface and officially make history. We won’t jump the gun on celebrating that momentous event, but we thought it a fitting time to have a look at the watch worn by all three astronauts on their trip, the Omega Speedmaster.
Ironically, the Speedmasters taken to the moon were all “pre-moon” models, from the mid ‘60s. This meant they didn’t have the caseback inscription conferring their status as “The First Watch Worn on the Moon”. The astronauts wore the reference 105.012 Speedmaster with the famous caliber 321 hand wound Lemania movement pulling duty within. By the time Apollo 13 came around the Speedmaster cemented it’s place in history by playing a central role in getting Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise safely back to the earth. Read all about it right here.
Sadly, the caliber 321 has been out of production for 50 years (though it is going back into production this year, according to Omega). But that doesn’t mean you can’t still get a proper (and significant) modern Speedmaster with direct lineage to the OG watches Neil, Buzz and Collins wore 50 years ago today.
Here’s a few of our favorites available right now on StockX.
