Watches have accompanied the world’s adventurers on all kinds of exciting and sometimes perilous missions. For instance, the Rolex Deepsea accompanied James Cameron on his mission to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (the deepest point in the oceans) back in 2012. Cameron reported that the watch was just as effective 11,000 feet underwater as it was on land.
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary would become the first man to summit Mount Everest. At 29,000 feet above sea level, Everest is the world’s tallest mountain. Hillary arrived at its peak wearing a Rolex Oyster Perpetual. Just one year earlier, in 1952, a group of British scientists wore Tudor watches on a novel mission to the Arctic, where the watches survived two years of temperatures below negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
But one of the most incredible missions a watch has ever embarked is NASA’s 1969 moon landing, when the OMEGA Speedmaster became known as the “Moonwatch.”
The Brand Behind the Moonwatch: OMEGA’s History
The true beginnings of this story date back to 1848, in a little Swiss village called La Chaux-de-Fonds. There, a young watchmaker named Louis Brandt opened a small workshop, where he dedicated his time to creating beautiful, precise timepieces that he sold to locals. It took him only a few years to establish a reputation for himself throughout Europe.
In 1879, Louis died and left the business to his two sons, Louis-Paul, and César. They changed the name of the company to Louis Brandt & Fils (which translates to Louis Brandt & Sons) and moved it to a larger city in Switzerland.
Just 15 years later, the Brandt brothers created a watch movement that would change the world forever. Dubbed the “Omega,” this movement set the tone for horological innovation over the next century, and features of the movement continue to be used in modern-day watchmaking. The brothers’ “Omega” movement was so successful that they renamed the entire company in its honor… and this is the OMEGA brand that we know today.
At the turn of the century, OMEGA began building its reputation as an exceptionally precise timekeeping watch in the sports world. This status was cemented as OMEGA became the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games at the 1932 events held in Los Angeles, California. Since 1932, OMEGA watches have grown only more accurate and can now time down to the 1/1000th of a second!
OMEGA’s world-renowned precision and unparalleled craftsmanship remained desirable through the watchmaking dark ages of WWII. The brand was commissioned to be the official supplier of watches for Britain and its allies. These timepieces had to withstand the unforgiving conditions on the front lines, and as such, the brand made leaps and bounds in creating shockproof, water-resistant, and anti-magnetic watches in record time.
In 1957, the brand introduced the OMEGA Speedmaster, which would soon become one of the most iconic watches of all time…
OMEGA Watches Blast Off to Space
With the incredible reputation that OMEGA had built for himself, it is really no surprise that astronauts were choosing the brand even before it was officially sanctioned by NASA. In 1962, two and a half years before NASA had deemed OMEGA its top choice of space-worthy watches, astronaut Wally Schirra wore his own OMEGA Speedmaster chronograph into space aboard the Mercury Sigma 7 mission.
Come 1965, when NASA’s space exploration program continued to grow, NASA invited four brands to submit bids to be officially certified. These watches were tested virtually to destruction in order to find out if they could face the obstacles and dangers astronauts might have to deal with in space. The only watch to survive? The OMEGA Speedmaster.
Fun Fact: Even now, nearly 60 years later, the OMEGA Speedmaster remains the only watch certified for all manned space missions and Extravehicular Activity. The Speedmaster is also the watch of choice for many other international space programs.
Then came 1969, the year the OMEGA Speedmaster was cemented in history as the first watch on the moon.
All three astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission, which departed from Cape Kennedy, Florida on July 16, 1969, wore the OMEGA Speedmaster. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would walk on the lunar surface while astronaut Michael Collins remained on board the ship.
At 2:56 a.m. GMT on July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong took mankind’s first steps on the moon. Aldrin would join him shortly thereafter. The first moonwalk lasted about 2.5 hours, and the men used that time to gather lunar samples and conduct planned experiments. Their OMEGA Speedmaster watches were with them every step of the way.
“A Successful Failure:” OMEGA and the Apollo 13 Mission
While Apollo 11 might have been the lunar mission heard around the world, NASA space exploration efforts were far from over – and the same goes for OMEGA watches. While the 1970 Apollo 13 mission was not as successful as its predecessor, the OMEGA Speedmaster once again played a crucial role in the safety of the astronauts on board.
On April 11 of that year, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. They were headed for the moon – but two days into the mission, an oxygen tank in the service module exploded, leaving the crew in danger and operating with minimal power.
The astronauts on board had to deal with a number of challenges as mission control worked to get them back home safely, including a shortage of potable water, a freezing cold and wet cabin, and limited electric power. Still, they had to work together to get back to Earth safely. Their OMEGA Speedmaster watches helped them time the manual firing of an engine to perfectly align the damaged spacecraft for landing. On April 17, the crew landed in the South Pacific Ocean – nobody was hurt.
NASA’s last mission to the moon occurred in 1972, and the OMEGA Speedmaster remained part of the kit given to astronauts who took flight. Interestingly, the mission’s command module pilot, Ronald Evans, also brought his own personal Speedmaster to space. When he returned, he engraved the back of the watch to commemorate his time orbiting the moon.
While the Apollo 17 mission may have marked the United States’ final moon landing, it was not the end of OMEGA’s time in space. In 1975, amid thawing Cold War tensions, American and Russian spacecrafts met and docked at the International Space Station. All of the astronauts wore OMEGA Speedmaster watches, as did the commanders of both missions, who shook hands and embraced in outer space.
Recent Developments in OMEGA’s Galactic Adventures
Although the United States government has significantly reduced NASA’s funding since the golden age of space exploration in the 1960s and early 1970s, the organization and many individuals within are still invested in learning more about what awaits outside the bounds of Earth’s atmosphere.
In 1993, OMEGA watches were subjected to another test: Could the watch survive a full year in space? An OMEGA Speedmaster lived on Russia’s Mir space station for 365 days to find out if it could withstand prolonged exposure to a zero-gravity environment. Space station researchers discovered that the watch remained in perfect condition even after orbiting Earth over 5,000 times!
These days, OMEGA continues to partner with groundbreaking organizations like ClearSpace and Privateer to work on projects like mapping space objects and clearing dangerous debris from the area surrounding Earth. On a 2022 Privateer mission, the three-man crew all wore OMEGA Speedmaster watches, evidencing the continuing importance of the brand to space exploration as a whole.
Astronauts today continue to rely on OMEGA watches to complete their missions, whether they are flying with NASA or a private organization. In addition to its major strides in space research, OMEGA watches have also been instrumental in deep-sea diving, Arctic exploration, and other expeditions meant to further the knowledge and reach of the human race.
Shop OMEGA Watches at Avi & Co.
When you purchase an OMEGA watch, you are celebrating a time-honored tradition of innovation, exploration, and adventure. Getting your OMEGA Speedmaster from a trusted secondary market retailer like Avi & Co. can also help you get your hands on special edition timepieces or unique models that you may not be able to acquire directly from the manufacturer.
Ready to blast your watch collection out of this universe? Visit Avi & Co. at any one of our three locations, conveniently situated in New York City, Miami, and Aspen, Colorado. In addition to the OMEGA moon watches, we also have robust collections of other luxury timepieces from brands like Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Richard Mille.
Make an appointment to visit us in person today!
