by Brooke Kennedy
Three watches owned and worn by NASA astronauts are going up for auction in Boston.
During a special gala dinner on November 25, 1969 at the Hotel Warwick in Houston, Omega presented 26 gold commemorative watches to NASA astronauts alive and dead. Each watch was specially engraved with a quote (“To mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time”), the name and missions of the astronaut (“Astronaut David R. Scott, Gemini 8 – Apollo 9,” Apollo 15 was added later), and a unique number (“No. 16”) relative to when the astronaut flew into space.
According to RR Auction’s description, “Of the 1014 examples of these watches produced, Omega famously reserved #1 and #2 for President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew; numbers 3-28 were then presented to the astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs at a famous gala dinner on November 25, 1969…Those astronauts who flew later—the crews of Apollo 14 through 17—were presented with numbers 1001-1008 in 1972-73.”
Scott’s gold Speedmaster will be the seventh one to go up for bidding at RR Auction, joining the ranks alongside ones we’ve sold from Wally Schirra, Gus Grissom, and Ron Evans.
Omega’s Speedmaster Professional is NASA’s designated ‘Moonwatch.’ As the space program was beginning to take off, NASA invited several watch companies to submit possible timepieces for NASA certification. Of all the watches tested, the Omega Speedmaster was the only one to pass every test, making their choice an easy one. Once Buzz Aldrin wore his own Speedmaster when he became the second set of steps on the lunar surface.
However, its significance with the space program is much more than an elegant piece of craftsmanship. Just two days after the launch of Apollo 14, an oxygen tank exploded, seriously damaging the lunar module. Luckily, the crew had their Omega watches. Astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise used their wrist watches to time a 14-second maneuver to help the crew return safely to Earth.
Two other timepieces from astronaut Edgar Mitchell will also go under the hammer. Eagle-eyed viewers might’ve caught one of them in footage from the Apollo 14 mission.
While the Omega may have been NASA’s watch of choice, some astronauts stuck with their Rolexes including Stuart Roosa for Apollo 14, Jack Swigert on Apollo 13 and Ron Evans on Apollo 17. All NASA-issued Omegas were returned to the U.S. government, but Apollo-flown watches have still found their way to the hands of collectors. Apollo 17 CMP Ron Evans’s ‘Pepsi’ GMT-Master sold at auction in 2009. And in 2015, Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott’s lunar surface-worn chronograph achieved over $1.5 million at RR Auction.
The other one, is his custom-made and engraved Bulova Accutron Astronaut Mark I watch. According to Mitchell’s family, General Omar Bradley, Bulova’s Chairman of the Board from 1958 to 1973. This example was fitted with the word “Houston” in orange text on the world timer dial (as opposed to the standard issue’s “Chicago” in black text to indicate the central time zone). Houston is significant, as it’s home to NASA’s Mission Control Center.
Both men shared a mutual respect for one another. In 2008, Mitchell gave an interview where he stated that he carried Bradley’s five-star collar insignia from World War II to the moon on Apollo 14.
Other items from Mitchell’s collection will also go under the hammer, including items from the Apollo 14 mission: a surface-flown cloth American flag and crew-signed presentation, a flown heatshield desk set, and a surface-flown Lunar Module altitude controller assembly. All items (Aside from the Scoot watch) originate directly from the Mitchell family. Bidding is now open and closes on October 24, 2024.
