The Little-Known Story of How the Omega Speedmaster Became the First Watch on the Moon

Given the level of engineering and innovation that went into landing a man on the moon for the first time, it's easy to imagine all sorts of electronic gadgetry for timing being built by NASA specifically for the occasion - namely, an in-house-designed unit aboard Apollo 11 to suit the needs of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin First off, 10 brands were initially contacted and that list was promptly narrowed down to just four- Omega, Rolex, Longines, and Hamilton- and then three when Hamilton foolishly submitted a pocket watch instead of a wrist watch for consideration With the Rolex, the stresses from heat caused its watch hands to curve upwards - thus making contact with one another during rotation.

Not only has the Speedmaster become the first watch on the moon, but it also has played a legitimate role in all international space missions to date As time has gone on, Omega has remained the timing partner of NASA - as well as other space organizations globally The steel-cased watch is subdued in design, with accents in 18k Moonshine gold on its bezel, hands, and indices.

The one surprise is that the watch is not powered by the caliber 321, which is Omega's classic and much loved manually-wound movement that powered the first moonwatch, and was recently reintroduced by Omega with great fanfare. . Source