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PLANET OMEGA OUR SPACE LEGACY

OMEGA AND THE WORLD OF SPACE EXPLORATION

The OMEGA Speedmaster has been the choice of astronauts and space agencies for more than half a century. In fact, it has been associated with some of humankind's greatest extra-terrestrial adventures and has been one of the most famous chronographs in the world ever since it became the first watch worn on the Moon in July of 1969.

SPEEDMASTER IN SPACE: THE MISSIONS

SPEEDMASTER IN SPACE: THE MISSIONS
“The OMEGA Speedmaster’s legacy was ensured when, on July 21, 1969, it was the first watch worn on the Moon"

THE STORY OF THE MOONWATCH

The Speedmaster was launched in 1957 but its official space legacy started in 1965, when NASA qualified it for use on its piloted missions. Since then, it has been worn on all six lunar landings and earned the nickname “the Moonwatch”.

Timeline of an icon

  • FIRST MISSION

    First mission

    Wally Schirra wore his own Speedmaster on his Mercury mission on October 3, 1962. It was the first OMEGA in space.

  • 1964

    NASA's request

    NASA requested quotes for wrist chronographs. OMEGA was one of four companies that submitted watches for testing.

  • It's official!

    It's official!

    NASA declared the Speedmaster "flight-qualified for all manned space missions" in 1965, first launching with Gemini 3 on March 23.

  • 1965

    A walk in space

    Only three months later, Edward White wore his Speedmaster on America's first spacewalk on his Gemini 4 mission.

  • 1969

    The Moonwatch

    On 21 July, when the steps were taken on the lunar surface, the Speedmaster became the Moonwatch.

  • 1970

    Successful failure

    In April, the Apollo 13 astronauts used their Speedmasters to time critical engine burns that led to their safe return.

  • 1972

    Lasting impressions

    As part of Apollo 16, Charles Duke left a photo of his family on the moon, while the Commander of Apollo 17, Gene Cernan, left the last lunar footprints in history.

  • 1975

    Space handshake

    In July, the American Apollo rocket docked with the Soviet Union’s Soyuz in space. All the spacemen wore Speedmasters.

TESTING THE SPEEDMASTER

The tests that NASA performed on the chronographs that were submitted to the agency in 1964 were designed to destroy the watches. In the end, only one watch survived: the Speedmaster.

THE MOONWATCH FOR A NEW GENERATION

Take your first steps into our latest Moonwatch update, with a design inspired by the famous 4th generation style worn by Apollo 11 astronauts.

Images Courtesy of NASA