Omega Speedmaster – the watch that went to the Moon

The Omega Speedmaster is a chronograph, a watch with a stopwatch function, launched in 1957 for motor sport. After rigorous tests it was qualified by NASA in 1965 for manned spaceflight, and in 1969 Buzz Aldrin wore his Speedmaster on the Moon during Apollo 11. That is why it is called the Moonwatch.

Facts

A chronograph for motor sport

When Omega launched the Speedmaster in 1957 it was a sports watch for racing drivers and engineers. It had a chronograph with three small subdials for seconds, minutes and hours and a tachymeter scale, used to calculate speed over a known distance.

What was new was that the tachymeter scale sat on the bezel around the crystal instead of on the dial. This made the dial clearer and gave the watch its characteristic look. The movement, calibre 321, was wound by hand. The Speedmaster was one of a trio of tool watches Omega launched the same year, together with the Seamaster 300 for divers and the Railmaster for technicians working near strong magnetic fields.

NASA's tests

As early as 1962 the astronaut Wally Schirra wore a Speedmaster that he had bought himself on his Mercury flight. When NASA a few years later was to choose an official watch for the astronauts, watches from several makers were bought and subjected to extreme tests: heat and cold, vacuum, pressure, shocks, vibration and high humidity.

According to the history told by Omega and NASA, the Speedmaster was the only one to pass every test, and in March 1965 it was qualified for manned spaceflight. The same year Ed White wore a Speedmaster when he made the first American spacewalk during Gemini 4.

Apollo 11 and Apollo 13

On 21 July 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped out onto the Moon. Armstrong left his Speedmaster in the lunar module as a backup, because the module's clock had failed, so it was Aldrin who wore the first watch on the surface of the Moon. Since then the model has been called the Moonwatch.

During Apollo 13 in 1970, after an oxygen tank had exploded, a Speedmaster was used to time a crucial engine burn that sent the crew back towards Earth. For this Omega received the Snoopy Award, an honour from the astronauts.

The models

The first Speedmaster models had straight cases and broad arrow hands. During the 1960s the case acquired an asymmetrical shape with crown guards, the hands became straight and the word Professional was added to the dial. In 1968 calibre 321 was replaced by calibre 861, which was easier to manufacture.

The basic features have been kept for more than sixty years. Modern versions have new movements and materials, and Omega has made many anniversary models and variants with white or coloured dials. The acrylic crystal, hesalite, has been kept on some models for the same reason NASA wanted it: it does not shatter into splinters.

The Speedmaster in design history

The Speedmaster is an example of a tool whose form has been determined by how it is used: legibility, robustness and hand-winding that works without motion or gravity. Compare with the Rolex Submariner, the diving watch of the same period, and read the guide to the Submariner.

Spaceflight turned many technical objects into icons, and the Space Age also left its mark on furniture, lamps and fashion. Read more under the Space Age and see more wristwatches under clocks and watches, from the Cartier Tank to the Casio F-91W.

How to recognise it

Exercise

Who wore the Speedmaster on the surface of the Moon during Apollo 11?