Latest Vintage Piece

1966 Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch 42mm 105.012 tropical dial $9,000.00 CAD. 510-00173

In the 1960s the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was charged with the task to land a man on the surface of the moon before the end of the decade by John F. Kennedy. While many of the systems on the heavy lift Saturn rockets were electronic NASA also required analogue and mechanical devices incase the electronic systems failed. For many timing procedures and old fashion hand wind wristwatch made the most sense. A NASA employee purchased a variety of high end chronograph equipped watches from Dallas jewellers to test it they were suitable for NASA’s requirements. The watches were subjected to rigorous testing to their failure points under extreme conditions to determine suitability for “manned space fight”. Even the Rolex Cosmograph eventually succumbed to the testing leaving Omega Speedmaster that would go on the be “Officially Certified for all Manned Space Flight Missions” by NASA. Our latest watch is an early example with the word PROFESSIONAL proudly printed on the dial and dates from 1966. Beating away inside the 42mm stainless case is the famous Omega calibre 321. This slow beat (18,000 cycles per hour) movement is what every Moonwatch collector is looking for. The 321 is the movement that was used by the moon landing astronauts. By 1969 the 321 had been retired and replaced by the 861 that was used up until only a few years ago. This example displays a beautiful stepped dial that has colour shifted to a very dark tropical brown colour from black. The tritium pigment has mostly fallen out of the hands over the last 58 years but are typical for their age. The bezel is in great shape for an older replacement showing a lovely faded black patina and maintaining a mostly ding free thick edge. The 19 link stainless steel bracelet is a genuine Omega replacement style that clearly displays the part number 1171/1 on the buckle. It remains in very good condition despite the sag, these bracelet were never tight even when new. The watch is in good overall condition given the age and the fact it was regularly used for most of its life. The curved lugs are a beautiful as even and still nice and thick. Our watchmaker has just performed a full service the the vintage 321 movement and it is running flawlessly with all features operating as designed. The October 2024 Vibrograph shows a accuracy rate well withing Omega’s tolerances and a practically perfect beat error of just 0.1 milliseconds. We are confident and please to provide the next owned with a 1-year warranty (prorated 4 additional years). This is quite a rare watch. We see Omega Speedmaster moonwatches pass through our estate department several times a year, but this is the first 321 equipped example I can even remember. The brown tropical dial is an added bonus. Estate priced at $9,000.00 CAD. Stock #510-00173.

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