Rare Speedmaster Watch from Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins Hits the Auction House
Rare Apollo 11 Speedmaster Watch Goes up For Auction
The Apollo 11 speed master from 1969 was a gift given to the astronauts for the Apollo 11 mission. The Omega watches were built as a one of a kind watch to celebrate the mission and only 28 were produced. The look of this speedmaster is done all in gold with a red outline.
Other than the astronauts and select people from the mission, the only other people who were offered the watch were the president and vice president. Both declined to accept the watch and the presidential gifts are on display in the Omega museum. 26 were given away to serving astronauts including Buzz Aldren, Alan Shepard, Neil Armstrong, Deke Slayton, Roeger Caffee and Michael Collins. The watch is numbered based on the order that each serving member joined NASA with Collins watch being number 10.
These are incredibly rare collectors pieces and there has not been one put up for auction previously. The Apollo 11 speedmaster is an amazing piece of history for those interested in space as well as for those that are keen collectors.
The watch comes with a handwritten note from Collins stating the condition of the watch. He says he rarely wore the watch and only once about every decade. He believes it is built in perfect operation. The bidding for the watch will end on June 1 with the estimate to reach in excess of 105,000 where the current bid sits. This is a watch that could easily fetch up to 200,000 for its rarity and its importance to the history of NASA. If you are a collector of Omega watches, this is one of the rarest that you could ever own.
What makes this model so significant is that it was the only one given out to the Apollo astronauts. The watch was worn on the moon and all the astronauts on Collins mission had their own mission watches built in stainless steel. Armstrong would leave his behind as a use for a broken timer for the lunar module and aldrin would be the first to wear his watch on the surface of the moon. The gold version is the one up for auction and not the one worn on the moon. Omega recently released a new version of this watch for 2019 that recreated the look, but this is one of the only of the authentic pieces to hit auction.
Collins was often known as the loneliest man in history as he was the astronaut that would remain orbiting the moon alone while his teammates took the steps on the surface. He has been awarded the presidential medal of honour and died in his 90th year. He retired in 1970 and was the Smithsonian national air and space museums first directors.
Own this historic piece of Omega speedmaster history and get your bid in before its too late. This is sure to be an amazing piece for a lucky collector.
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