Legend of the Moon Watch：omega Speedmaster (i)

When you look up to the sky by chance and see the moon, what will you think of? A bosom friend who you have not met for a long time, or attractive and familiar scenes of hometown? Or maybe you will call to remembrance a childhood dream of being a spaceman? Or maybe you have been a very successful man with a moon phase watch on the wrist where collects your loving moon? Or maybe you will think that it is good to wear a watch which had been to the moon and participated in spacewalk?

Yes! A moon watch!

Omega Speedmaster is the first and only watch ever to have been to the Moon. I believe that most watch lovers have known this, since it is how Omega advertised this edition. However, if you probe the space exploration competition between USA and Russia in 1960’s and 1970’s, more questions, puzzles and discussions will be found behind the legend, making Speedmaster more attractive.

Omega was created in 1848 by Louis Brandt, and it is said that this name was suggested by brothers Btandt’s friend Henry Rikckel, and was made as a name for Omega products for the first time in 1894. At present, Omega watches mainly include Seamaster of 1948, Constellation of 1952, Deville of 1967, Dynamic of 1968 and Speedmaster, which is our subject of today. Speedmaster Omega was created in 1957 as sports chronograph, with the idea of being a strong and persistent watch with clear makers and easy to read. The rigid case made of steel makes the watch to be water resistant to 60m. Since part of the design is from Seamaster, therefore the pattern of hippocampi is also used in Speedmaster. The soft steel protects the movement from the effect of magnetic force, ensuring the stability and persistence of the watch, the hour hand of wide arrow shape and tachymere on the bezel make the time is easy to read.

Speedmaster of first generation was created in 1957, and the Reference code is CK2915. Soon Omega presented the changed edition of Speedmaster in 1959, and it did not use wide narrow shape hour hand but narrow and long arrow shape, the diameter was also changed from 39mm to 40mm because of the O-ring Gasket being added to the timing button. Since then and before 1966, Speedmaster did not change a lot but only to make a few changes on the hands and the dial.

Four years after Speedmaster coming out, the space competition began. On 12th, April of 1961, Russians had their first manned space flight, and spaceman Yuri Gagarin became the first man who entered the orbital of space and earth. It is said that what Yuri Gagarin wore was Sturmanskije Rodina watch made by Russia (Although watches made by Russia were quite stable, persistent and accurate, it is said that Russian spacemen changed to wear Speedmaster later. And in the space station project run by USA and Russia, Speedmaster was appointed as chronograph. Omega used to launch a limited edition of 250 pieces for this, with a sign of Apollo-Soyuz Mission at 12 o’clock position on the dial.)

After that, USA strove with Russia, president John F. Kennedy swore to probe the space and expressed the determination of landing on the moon. The USA space center NASA also started a string of space missions. In the early Project Mercury run by USA, it was not limited that if the spacemen had to wear a watch during the mission or not, so no problems arising from the appointed chronograph. On 24th, May of 1962, USA spaceman Scott Carpenter wore a watch of Breiting Navitimer Cosmonaut and drove spacecraft to enter the outer space orbital. According to the record, this is the first Swiss watch which had been to outer Space. Before Scott Carpenter, there were three Americans who entered the outer space. It is known that John Glenn wore no watch with him, as for Alan Sheppard and Virgil(Gus)Grissom, they had passed away before someone began to probe this thing.

It was in 1962 that NASA started to consider choosing a watch seriously for spacemen in projects Gemini and Apollo. It is pointed that the purchase men went to the watch shop of Corrigan in the downtown of Houston directly and bought six chronographs (not special made but could be bought by everyone) from different companies (Omega, Rolex and Longines) and then back to the space center to have strict tests. The watch was being tested in the vacuum of simulated outer space, including variations in temperature ranging from -18°C to +93°C, accelerated centrifugal force of 12G, furious shaking and bumping tests. Of course water proof, anti magnetic and shockproof tests were also needed. Eventually, Omega Speedmaster stood out.

On 3rd, October of 1962, Wally Schirra first wore Speedmaster and drove spacecraft of Sigma 7 into the earth orbital. On 15th, May of 1963, Gordon Cooper drove Faith 7 into the earth orbital; meanwhile he wore Speedmaster Acutron Astronaut (the first entering outer space American watch) for a test. Later Cooper summarized all the opinions from spacemen in Mercury Project, and chose Speedmaster as the appointed chronograph.

On 21st, Sep of 1964, Director of Flight Crew Operations Donald “Deck” Slayton formally issued a certificate to appoint Omega Speedmaster as the chronograph for USA space flight, and started to distribute Speedmaster to spacemen as a part of standard outfit in Gemini 3 and Apollo after 1965.

On 18th, March of 1965, Russian spaceman Alexei Leonov had the first spacewalk, but he did not wear a watch outside his space suit. It is said that inside his space suit, he should have worn a watch made by Russia just as Yuri Gagarin, but nobody could prove that. But what is interesting is that later Alexei Leonov also participated in Apollo-Soyuz Test Flight, and he wore Speedmaster just as other US spacemen did. On 4th, June of the same year, the US spaceman Edward Higgins White, II took Genini to have USA’s first spacewalk, and he wore a Speedmaster with Vecro watch band on the sleeve of space suit, so Speedmaster was certainly the first watch which exposed in the severe environment of outer space. With the photo of Edward H. White, II’s spacewalk becoming the cover of Life Magzine, Speedmaster suddenly attracted watch lovers from all over the world. What is interesting is that Omega did not know what NASA did about the watch until Edward White’s spacewalk were shown to everybody and got surprised just as others did.

Edward White still wore this Speedmaster(Reference ST 105.003), until when he was on a training for Apollo 1 and unfortunately died in a fire accident together with his colleagues Gus Grisson and Roger Chaffee. But the strong Speedmaster survived from the fire, and was given to Edward White’s wife as memorial, later it was passed on to Edward White’s son Edward H. White, III. After Edward H. White, III wore this watch for many years; it was locked into the steel safe and has been kept until today.

Then the greatest adventure and scientific achievement in human history came, which was Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the moon on 21st, July of 1969. As we all know, when Neil Armstrong stepped out of spacecraft he said “It’s one small step of me but a great step of man.”, which made thousands of TV audience so impressive. But not as everybody imagined, the first one who wore Speedmaster and stepped on the moon and made Speedmaster the first and only watch ever worn on the Moon was not Neil Armstrong, but his fellow Edwin(Buzz)Aldrin who did that just after him. Armstrong had left his inside the lunar module as a precaution after an in-cabin timer had malfunctioned. Aldrin was wearing it more exactly on his forearm, strapped with Velcro around the sleeve of his bulky space suit, so this was the first Speedmaster landed on the moon. But it is a pity that this Speedmaster was stolen on the way to Smithsonian Institue for displaying, and it had never been seen since then.