MAGAZINE

Omega Speedmaster: The Watch That Walked on the Moon

It was designed for motor racing circuits, not for space. And yet it was the watch NASA chose—after freezing it, baking it, shaking it and crushing it—to accompany every astronaut. The story of the only watch qualified to walk on the Moon.

In 1957, Omega launched a chronograph in Biel designed for racing drivers: a black dial, hands legible at a glance, and a tachymeter scale—the first of its kind—engraved on the bezel rather than printed on the dial. No one at Omega imagined then that this track watch would end up 384,000 kilometres from the first corner.

Seven years later, in 1964, an anonymous buyer ordered chronographs from several brands at a jewellery shop in Houston. The buyer was NASA. The agency was preparing the Gemini programme and wanted to equip its crews with a watch capable of surviving space. The candidates underwent a series of tests that became famous: 48 hours at 71 °C, then exposure to −18 °C, vacuum, 93% humidity, 40 g shocks, vibrations, and an atmosphere of pure oxygen. At the end, only one watch was still working within tolerance: the Speedmaster. On 1 March 1965, NASA declared it «qualified for all manned space flights». No other wrist chronograph has ever received that qualification in the same terms.

Three months later, on 3 June 1965, Edward White opened the hatch of Gemini IV and became the first American to float in the vacuum of space. On the left sleeve of his suit, over the spacesuit, was a Speedmaster—visible in the mission’s official photographs. The racing watch had become an astronaut’s watch.

On 21 July 1969, Buzz Aldrin descended the lunar module’s ladder with his watch on his wrist. Neil Armstrong, however, had left his aboard: the Eagle module’s timer had failed, and his Speedmaster took its place. So Aldrin’s watch was the first to set foot on the Moon—and from that day on, the Speedmaster has borne its official nickname, «Moonwatch».

Its greatest claim to fame, however, is not a victory but a rescue. In April 1970, an oxygen tank explosion turned Apollo 13 into a space lifeboat. To get home, the crew had to correct its trajectory by firing the engine for exactly 14 seconds—with no onboard computer, which had been switched off to save power. Jack Swigert timed the manoeuvre with his Speedmaster. Fourteen seconds later, the trajectory was right. NASA awarded Omega the «Silver Snoopy Award», the distinction the agency reserves for those who have contributed to the safety of a crew.

More than half a century later, the Speedmaster Professional is still in the catalogue—and still qualified for flight. Its movement is wound by hand, as in 1969: in space, batteries are not trusted. Perhaps that is the true luxury of watchmaking: not gold or complications, but a 1965 test sheet that no one else has ever passed.

← Magazine