First watch ever to travel in space and eventually walk on the moon!
You’re probably wondering why this is called the “Pre Moon” watch. Apparently this manual winding Speedmaster Professional from Omega was produced before the first man walked on the moon. Consequently it’s the same model worn during the first American spacewalk during Gemini 4 and later on the first watch worn on the moon during Apollo 11! The Omega Speedmaster Professional remains to be one of the watches qualified by NASA for spaceflight. THere are different models and the one we have now is the reference 105.012 with a caliber 321 movement model. All original parts, nothing replaced!
As you would imagine, the Omega Speedmaster Professional watches are subjected to tests under extreme conditions. This includes the following:
- High temperature: 48 hours at 160 °F (71 °C) followed by 30 minutes at 200 °F (93 °C)
- Low temperature: Four hours at 0 °F (?18 °C)
- Temperature cycling in near-vacuum: Fifteen cycles of heating to 160 °F (71 °C) for 45 minutes, followed by cooling to 0 °F (?18 °C) for 45 minutes at 10?6 atm
- Humidity: 250 hours at temperatures between 68 °F (20 °C) and 160 °F (71 °C) at relative humidity of 95%
- Oxygen environment: 100% oxygen at 0.35 atm and 71°C for 48 hours
- Shock: Six 11ms 40 g shocks from different directions
- Linear acceleration: from 1 to 7.25 g within 333 seconds
- Low pressure: 90 minutes at 10?6 atm at 160 °F (71 °C) followed by 30 minutes at 200 °F (93 °C)
- High pressure: 1.6 atm for one hour
- Vibration: three cycles of 30 minutes vibration varying from 5 to 2000 Hz with minimum 8.8 g impulse
- Acoustic noise: 30 minutes at 130 dB from 40 to 10,000 Hz
Rest assured this can go the distance and is something that you can pass on to the next generation (your kids, grandkids, and the generations after).
As for the price… it’s one of those things that if you have to ask then you probably can’t afford it, hehe.
Note from Editor: This article was contributed by our good friend, Hans Roxas-Chua. It’s his watch so don’t go asking me to see it, hehe.