Omega - The Hong Kong Watch Auction: SEVEN Hong Kong Monday, November 26, 2018 | Phillips

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  • Manufacturer: Omega
    Year: 1967
    Reference No: ST 105.012
    Movement No: 25’445’925
    Model Name: Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch
    Material: Stainless steel
    Calibre: Manual, cal. 321, 17 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Stainless steel Omega bracelet, endlinks stamped 516, max length 190 mm
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Omega deployant clasp, stamped 1039, no. 13 and 4.67
    Dimensions: 42 mm. Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, bracelet and movement signed
    Accessories: Accompanied with letter from the original owner Navy pilot Charles L. Sanders, dated July 20, 2017, navy photographs of the original owner wearing the watch in Vietnam, a recent photograph of the original owner wearing the watch and a service invoice. Further delivered with Extract from the Archives confirming production of the present watch on November 29, 1967 and delivered to Taiwan.

  • Catalogue Essay

    A wristwatch is the most intimate device to a man. Like a tangible chronicle of personal history and achievements, a watch is able to remind you of those special occasions and people who are with you during that time. Such is the pure pleasure that only vintage watches could bring – a fuzzy feeling of nostalgia through a glimpse into the gilded past. However, it is rare to have that past thoroughly documented, and even rarer to retain clear photographs of the original owner wearing the watch. The present lot, an awe-inspiring example of Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch, is accompanied with such priceless documentation that brilliantly recollect some of the most important life events of its original possessor.

    The present watch was bought by the original owner when he was a 24-year-old U.S. serviceman. At the time, he was a Naval Aviator – a Co-pilot and one of eight helicopter rescue pilots assigned to Detachment 31, Helicopter Combat Support Squadron One. His Detachment was serving abroad for the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31), an aircraft carrier stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin, in support of combat operations in Vietnam.

    On a typical June morning, the watch, placed inside a glass display cabinet in the tiny ship’s store, caught his attention. He recognized the watch model almost instantaneously, as it was widely known that Astronauts wore Speedmaster chronographs during the first American spacewalking as well as the Apollo 11 mission. Even though the Speedmaster was a little more expensive than the other watches in the cabinet - $ 75.00, he purchased the watch nonetheless, and wore it in two helicopter rescue tours from the “Bonnie Dick” in the Gulf – the second tour as a Helicopter Aircraft Commander. He wore it only sporadically after he was discharged, and the watch was a special memento that reminded the owner of his daring and adventurous youth.

  • Artist Biography

    Omega

    Swiss • 1848

    Omega's rich history begins with its founder, Louis Brandt, who established the firm in 1848 in La Chaux de Fonds. In 1903, the company changed its name to Omega, becoming the only watch brand in history to have been named after one its own movements. A full-fledged manufacturer of highly accurate, affordable and reliable watches, its sterling reputation enabled them to be chosen as the first watch company to time the Olympic Games beginning in 1932. Its continued focus on precision and reliability ultimately led their Speedmaster chronograph wristwatch to be chosen by NASA in 1965 — the first watch worn on the moon.

    Key models sought-after by collectors include their first, oversized water-resistant chronograph — the reference 2077, early Speedmaster models such as the CK 2915 and 2998, military-issued versions of the Seamaster and oversized chronometer models such as those fitted with their prestigious caliber 30T2Rg.

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981

Ref. ST 105.012
A fine and rare stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with tachymeter scale, bracelet, accompanied by letter from the original owner and Navy photographs of the original owner wearing the watch in the late 1960s

1967
42 mm. Diameter
Case, dial, bracelet and movement signed

Estimate
HK$80,000 - 120,000 
€8,800-13,300
$10,300-15,400

Sold for HK$168,750

Contact Specialist

Thomas Perazzi
Head of Watches, Asia
+852 2318 2001
thomasperazzi@phillips.com

Ziyong Ho
Specialist
+852 9386 2032
ziyongho@phillips.com

Jill Chen
Specialist
+852 2318 2033
jillchen@phillips.com

The Hong Kong Watch Auction: SEVEN

Hong Kong Auction 27 November 2018