8071
Omega
Ref. PIC 3597.15.00 – ST 345.0022125
Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch “Apollo XI”
A very rare and attractive stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with tachymeter scale, bracelet, warranty and presentation box
Full-Cataloguing
- The watches from the set were not sold individually, with only 50 sets made, they were rarely seen in the market. In the following year, 21 out of the 22 Missions Speedmasters were selected to be produced in an unnumbered limited production, bearing only 100 to 150 units produced for each mission. (The “Apollo XIII” was released prior to the valise set in 1995 so it was not made in the 1998 run)
- The current auctioned “Apollo XI” is the most sought after one amongst the individually sold Missions Speedmasters as it bears the significance of the mission of the first Moon landing.
- Sharing the exterior of the legendary reference 105.012-63, inside the asymmetrical caseband with twisted lugs houses the rhodium-plated calibre 1861 movement, providing more corrosion resistant and replacing the yellow-plated calibre 861.
- The watch features a non-stepped “Black Luminova” dial, with shorter hour markers and no Ts next to the Swiss Made markings. The Apollo 11 mission badge is applied at the subdial at the 9 o’clock position. This lot also comes with a white fabric presentation box, imitating the material used in spacesuits. This set without doubt is one of the best presentations for celebrating an importation page of human history, at the same time owning a really fine chronograph wristwatch.
Omega
Swiss | 1848Omega'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.