How Omega’s Speedmaster became the unofficial ‘space watch’ is quite an intriguing tale, and one that has paid dividends for the Swiss watchmaker since 1962. You can read more about the origins of space-going timepiece in this brief history here.
By the time the astronauts of Apollo 11 completed the first successful moon landing, the Speedmaster was synonymous with space exploration. A few months after returning to Earth, at a dinner organised by Omega, the three astronauts were presented with gold editions of their Speedmasters to replace their NASA-issued Speedmasters for the trip to the moon.
Half a century later, Omega recreated a handful of those gold watches – producing just over 1,000 examples – and, of course, Hollywood icon-turned-philanthropist George Clooney owns one of them.
You can see the piece in closer detail below.
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