There are watches with more advanced movements, more complex dials and more expensive cases, but you’d be hard pressed to find one with a better story than the Omega Speedmaster.
At around $14,000 AUD new for the standard Moonwatch Professional, it’s hard to argue it doesn’t give you great value for money, given what it’s actually done.
So is it a must-have for your collection?
Where it Started
Omega launched the Speedmaster in 1957 as a racing chronograph, the first watch to put a tachymeter scale on the bezel rather than inside the dial. It was built for timing laps, not for space and what happened next wasn’t the result of a marketing deal or a sponsorship. In 1964, NASA’s Flight Crew Operations Director issued an internal memo requesting a durable and accurate chronograph for Gemini and Apollo crews. Four brands submitted watches for testing, Hamilton, Longines, Rolex and Omega. Hamilton sent a pocket watch and was knocked out immediately for not meeting the brief. The other three went through 11 rounds of testing across extreme heat, cold, vacuum conditions, shock, vibration and magnetic exposure. Rolex and Longines didn’t make it through, with Omega being the eventual winner.
On 1 March 1965, NASA officially certified the Speedmaster as flight-qualified for all manned space missions, and three weeks later it launched into space on Gemini 3.
Apollo 11 and Apollo 13
On 20 July 1969, Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface wearing his Speedmaster on the outside of his spacesuit. Armstrong had left his in the Eagle lunar module as a backup timer in case the onboard clock failed, which made Aldrin’s the first watch worn on the moon. Every one of the 12 men who walked on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972 wore a Speedmaster. No other watch brand has ever been part of a moon landing.
The more important moment came in April 1970, when Apollo 13 suffered an oxygen tank explosion 56 hours into the mission, crippling the spacecraft and leaving the crew on the wrong trajectory to re-enter the atmosphere safely. They needed a precise 14-second engine burn to correct it and the onboard digital timers weren’t working. Astronaut Jack Swigert used his Speedmaster to time the burn manually. It was exact, the spacecraft re-entered correctly, and the crew splashed down safely on April 17. NASA gave Omega its Silver Snoopy Award for the Speedmaster’s role in bringing them home.
The Watch Itself
The Moonwatch Professional is a manually-wound chronograph in a 42mm stainless steel case, black step dial, three subdials, an aluminium bezel with tachymeter scale and a hesalite crystal rather than sapphire. The hesalite is a deliberate call carried over from the original NASA spec, where its flexibility under impact was seen as an advantage over glass. It scratches more easily, which bothers some people and doesn’t bother others. The movement is the Calibre 1861, a manual-wind chronograph that’s been inside the watch since 1968 and is still used today largely unchanged.
In 2021 Omega brought back the original Calibre 321, the column-wheel movement from the Apollo-era watches, in a new Moonwatch reference. It costs more and is the one serious collectors tend to want. For most people though, the standard reference at around $14,000 AUD is the one to get.
Does it Belong in Your Collection?
Most watches justify their price through craftsmanship, brand heritage or exclusivity. The Speedmaster does all of that, and also has a documented role in one of the most significant moments in human history and a proven part in saving three lives. You won’t find that combination in any other watch at any price.
It wears well on medium to large-sized wrists, sitting at 42mm, the bracelet is solid, the dial is easy to read, and winding it each morning is the kind of connection with a watch that a quartz movement or an automatic rotor can’t replicate.
It’s not the most refined watch you can own. But that was never really the point of the speedmaster.
