"Speedmaster Moonwatch": Officially suitable for space travel - Omega looks back on 60 years in the air

"Speedmaster Moonwatch": Officially suitable for space travel - Omega looks back on 60 years in the air

On March 1, 1965, Omega's Speedmaster was declared "flightworthy for all manned space missions" by NASA. This marked the beginning of an extraordinary journey into space for the Swatch Group brand—including every moon landing in history.

What's more, he promised to achieve this goal within the same decade. Thus, the US race to space had begun.

Mechanical wristwatches as backup in space

The nation's first manned space program, the Mercury program, became famous for its courageous pilots, nicknamed the "Mercury Seven." When the program ended in 1963, NASA astronauts asked their mission director, Deke Slayton, to be provided with a reliable wristwatch for future missions.

The watches were intended to serve as a backup. If, for example, the digital timers on board the spacecraft failed, the astronauts would have only the mechanical watches on their wrists.

And so, in 1964, Slayton sent a request for “high-quality chronographs” to various watch manufacturers around the world.

Of all the watch brands that received the letter, only four responded—including Omega. Each company was asked to submit "three wrist chronographs" that would undergo particularly rigorous testing.

One model was immediately rejected as unsuitable because it wasn't a wristwatch. NASA engineer James Ragan tested the remaining three for safety, reliability, and quality, as he did with all devices intended for use in spacecraft.

To receive certification, each watch had to pass all eleven tests. And they were quite demanding. They included temperature, vacuum, humidity, corrosion, shock resistance, acceleration, pressure, vibration, and noise levels.

Two watches failed the high-temperature test. In one of these timepieces, the central seconds hand had bent and interfered with the other hands. In another, the chronograph crystal had deformed and separated from the case.

A series model wins the contract – also from the astronauts

The "Speedmaster ST 105.003" passed all eleven tests flawlessly. And the watch wasn't even specifically designed for NASA use. Almost exactly the same model had been available for purchase in the brand's boutiques since 1957.

And from the very beginning, it was equipped with numerous protective technologies. These included O-ring seals and the so-called Naiad crown. This enabled water resistance to 60 meters. Furthermore, the Hesalit crystal offered advantageous flexibility, making it shatter-resistant even under heavy impacts.

Originally designed for racing drivers, the "Speedmaster" also had a lot to offer in terms of functionality. It was the first watch to feature a tachymeter scale located on the bezel instead of the dial, as well as a particularly legible dial. This was further optimized for NASA by applying tritium luminous material to the baton hands and hour markers.

The timepiece was powered by the 321 chronograph movement with a 30-minute and a 12-hour counter as well as a column wheel mechanism.

NASA engineer James Ragan said after the successful test series: "Even I was surprised that any of the watches passed the tests. The conditions were designed for devices installed in spacecraft. It was quite challenging. These were the toughest tests a device could be subjected to."

But the watch still faced one final test—probably the most important of all. The watches also required the personal approval of the astronauts themselves.

Ragan presented the Speedmaster and other watches to the crews so they could examine and evaluate the timepieces themselves. Without knowing the test results, the astronauts returned unanimously declaring the Speedmaster their preferred model.

"That made my life a lot easier. I could go to the program managers and say, 'This watch has passed all the tests and the astronauts want it,'" Ragan later reported.

The journey into the infinite expanses begins

Just three weeks after certification by NASA on March 23, 1965, the Speedmaster's first space trip began, on the wrists of Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young during their Gemini 3 mission. The only change to the watches was the addition of a long Velcro strap that could be worn over a spacesuit.

Further journeys into the universe of the "Speedmaster" and its reissues followed. Most notably, it was worn by Ed White during the first American spacewalk in 1965 and by the crew of Apollo 8, who saw the far side of the moon for the first time in 1968.

The “Speedmaster” lands on the moon

Meanwhile, NASA was getting closer to the goal of landing on the moon, announced by John F. Kennedy in 1962. On July 20, 1969, the time had come when Apollo 11 landed on the moon for the first time in human history.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent two and a half hours on the lunar surface, and at that moment, Omega's Speedmaster became the first watch on the moon—and thus the legendary "Moonwatch." Incidentally, it was used on every subsequent moon landing.

The “Moonwatch” conquers the Earth

The subsequent “Speedmaster” models for use on our home planet hardly differed at first glance from the version produced 60 years ago.

But that's deceptive. Omega has continually optimized and improved the "Speedmaster Moonwatch" in terms of materials and technology, without neglecting the watch's DNA.