It was July 20, 1969, when Commander Neil Armstrong of the Apollo 11 Mission set the first foot on the Moon. It was a historic moment for all mankind, far beyond the space supremacy that the Russians and Americans had been pursuing for years in a race for the most egregious act in space, just above the skies of Earth.
The celebrated Italian news agency ANSA recounted that event, which has gone down in history, describing it with the following stentorian phrases that said, "Neil Armstrong placed his left foot on the lunar dust at 04:57 Italian time."
Genuine thrills, remembered and celebrated last year on the 50th anniversary of the feat!
But how many really understood the effort that NASA had been producing for years to get to that momentous achievement, to say the least? More importantly, what level of all-around technology was used for the efforts of those years to lead to that first, unforgettable step on lunar soil?
We of the Bonanno Jewelry, specializing since the 1970s in the field of watchmaking and especially in that vintage, we will try to tell you a parallel story, with fascinating features, wanting also sympathetic and intriguing and that refers to the choice of the instrumentation on boardApollo 11 logically connected to the calculation of time, a factor of the utmost importance in the success of the Mission.
OUR story begins when NASA institutes a sophisticated test procedure to carry out its lunar flights. And it realizes that in order to carry out the very important calculations that are the basis of all action to the best of its ability, it must equip itself with the best computational instrumentation in the world at that time in history. This necessity will give very strong impetus to the development of, for example, electronic calculators or, if you prefer, computers...
Therefore, the search also begins for clocks e chronometers for calculating the time factor and beyond, instruments that are extremely reliable for a space program that aims to astonish the world by showing the superiority of American aviation to the entire world.
It's the 1960s when it all begins, and in 1964 , NASA begins its official selection aimed at the clocks-chronometers that could serve the need.
Without going too much into the specifics of these highly demanding tests for the instrumentation to be equipped in Houston and Cape Canaveral, aboard the spacecraft and to be delivered to the astronauts themselves (and on which a kind of logical smokescreen descends), NASA adheres to a rigorous selection with test procedures that are decidedly out of the ordinary.
Eventually only one model will be designated with a single house to produce it, asking as many as ten watch manufacturers to apply as suppliers:
Elgin, Benrus, Hamilton, Mido, Luchin Piccard, Omega, Rolex, Bulova, Longine, Gruen.
In those years, however, the market already influences certain choices. For example, the fame of the Rolex in the United States, earned through the well-known story that We at the Bonanno Jewelry told you about when discussing the GMT Master provided to PanAm flight personnel.
And there is already talk of the iconic future Rolex Daytona, known as all Rolex for its solidity and efficiency, albeit with modest public success because of its price that is not exactly affordable for everyone.
NASA thus decided to test other watches as well, however, with the house of the golden crown still in pole position.
But in the consideration of America's top space entity, the odds are also rising for a bitter competitor: theOmega with its Speedmaster. At that time this watch already has an unusually large housing at 40 mm. and impresses with its clear, clean, no-frills dial design : the three chronograph0 counters are in fact easy to read.
However, beyond the already ascertained preferences of the market at that time, as a government agency from Houston , NASA makes a formal offer to obtain so-called RFPs (Request for Proposals) to the ten manufacturers already mentioned.
The surprise is that of the ten requested manufacturers, including the four American(Elgin, Benrus, Hamilton and Bulova) and the other Swiss, only four respond according to official statements made by Petros Protopapas, director of theOmega Museum in possession of the corresponding NASA documents:
- Omega USA, using importer Norman M. Morris, based in New York City;
- Longines-Wittnauer, through Longines USA;
- Rolex USA;
- Hamilton, at that time still a 100 percent American brand .
At a first analysis of the proposals, the very American house Hamilton is eliminated at once as possessing certified pocket watch models, but without any chronograph wristwatch.
In addition, among the various conditions for accessing the test phases, an accuracy that can vary by 5 seconds to 24 hours is required, preferably, however, no more than +/- 2 seconds over 24 hours. Finally, theclock must have a chronograph-style stop function, be easy to read, and above all, be antimagnetic.
That leaves the following in the mix. Omega, Longines e Rolex Who are invited to the selection.
From Longines you know which model while Omega provides the model Speedmaster from 1964, called ST105.003 and the Rolex so-called Pre-Daytona model, named Cosmograf Reference 6238 with the Valjoux 72 hand-wound movement.
The OmegaSpeedmaster who pass the test, it would be better to say "survived," are afterwards subjected to speed shock : they are made to undergo an acceleration force of as much as 40 G s in six different directions, when only 1 G is the classical or normal gravitational acceleration.
As if that were not enough, the watches must withstand 93 percent humidity, a highly corrosive 100 percent oxygen environment, and a noise of 130 decibels. Finally, the last test is a vibration for 90 minutes, with at least an 8.8 G acceleration pulse acting on them!
Not all watches however, survive these lethal tests! In a letter dated March 1, 1965, the assistant director for crew operations aboard Lem 's Apollo 11 reported the following findings:
A) Rolex - stopped twice during relative humidity test; bad in subsequent high-temperature test when seconds hand bent and other hands stuck on dial. No further tests were conducted on the chronograph. Rolex.
B) Longines Wittnauer - The glass bent and came off during the high temperature test. The same thing happened with the second Longines Wittnauer during the decompression test. No further tests were conducted with the chronograph. Longines-Wittnauer.
C) Omega - Went 21 minutes ahead during the decompression test and lost 15 minutes during the acceleration test. The luminous material on the dial was destroyed during the tests. As a result of all the tests, the chronograph Omega performed satisfactorily.
So NASA tests recommend theOmega Speedmaster for its "greater accuracy, reliability, readability, and ease of use."
Identical choice is made by astronauts Walter Schirra and Leroy Gordon Cooper, who, to be fair, had already used their Omega Speedmaster (privately purchased though), in Mercury space flights in 1962.
Not to mention that the first, real wristwatch in space was a Russian Poljot Strela by cosmonaut Alexei Leonow: on March 18, 1965, the Russian was the first person to float freely in space outside the spacecraft.
However, NASA engineers after testing suggest some improvements for theOmega Speedmaster: outer bezel, or tachymeter scale, is best replaced by a rotating 24-hour ring, a detail already aboard the Rolex GMT. In addition, the counters should have luminous markings.
After the tests, Helmut A. Kuehnel of NASA's flight crew operations division then applies to purchase "immediately" five chronographs Omega: objective to modify their standard models. Request that goes unheeded, time is literally the enemy in this case of the engineer's desire.
In fact, on March 23, 1965, just five days after the aforementioned Russians, the U.S. Gemini-Titan III (GT-3) flight began test missions with astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young, both equipped with a Speedmaster. The only change from the standard model is an armband, which is long and made of Velcro, a detail indispensable for strapping the two astronauts' wrists to the watches over their thick suits.
On the next mission onJune 3, 1965, called "Gemini IV," Ed White goes outside the spacecraft for more than 20 minutes with his Omega Speedmaster wrist again, complete with historic photos to immortalize it all: it's the baptism of fire!
After these tests, Omega logically decides to add on the dial of the Speedmaster the term Professional but not before 1966: well, all that passed, it was the minimum!!!
At the same time, Omega enacts a pure restyling with the crown and pushers on the right side of the case now protected by some lugs: for the first time the Speedmaster appears in its typical asymmetrical housing shape, a shape that still exists today.
Ended here? Not at all!
Waving the protectionist "Buy American Act" argument , American Bulova pressed for NASA to use their watches. But the director of flight crew operations, Donald K. Slayton, clearly rejected the request in a September 26, 1967 memorandum : the chronograph Omega Speedmaster is the only watch "acceptable for manned space flight," and "all tests passed plus what has been demonstrated in previous flights successfully qualifies it."
Slayton then concludes at the end with an eloquent "...If you want to rely on any other brand, expect costs that are nothing short of "unbearable."
Capping off the American patriots for good here is the big breakthrough with theApollo 11 flight: Neil Armstrong is the first person to put his foot on the moon on July 21, 1969, but without his Omega, which he leaves behind him in the Eagle spacecraft. Fifteen minutes after Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin exits the spacecraft and, with it, theOmega Speedmaster thus becomes the first watch on lunar soil.
But the one worn in 1969 by the three of Apollo 11 is a Speedmaster slightly revised, not externally but internally: the Omega caliber 321 from Lemania was replaced by caliber 861, named Lemania 1873, the frequency rising from 18,000 vibrations per hour to 21,600. The movement remains hand-wound, the power reserve however endures for 38 hours.
In addition to the official NASA watch, however, some of the astronauts also wear their own private watches. Astronaut Jack Swigert, for example, who carried his Rolex GMT private Reference 1675 on the Apollo 13 mission in April 1970.
Unfortunately, it was the mission that failed after an on-board explosion during the flight, also recounted by the masterful '95 film starring Tom Hanks. Upon return the Speedmaster was nevertheless used to calculate the timing of the critical phase of reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Omega At the end it even receives a special honor for the task performed!
At the resumption of missions with Apollo 14 resumes with a success on February 5, 1971. One of the astronauts, lunar module pilot Edgar Michtell, according to several sources has on his wrist his own Rolex GMT private Reference 1675 throughout the mission. But NASA rules out that it is an official watch, just like this one Rolex with the hand that calculates the time zone: it does not have a chronograph device anyway and therefore does not qualify as an official NASA watch.
And it didn't end there. Yes, because in 1972, still under pressure from Bulova and due to parliamentary questions in the U.S. Congress, a new stress test was called for NASA watches.
Also included are watches from Breitling , Rolex and Seiko's. Meanwhile, Bulova has put Swiss movements manufactured by the Universal Genève. However, things do not change this time either because the Bulovas fail both the humidity test and the strong acceleration test. L'Omega Speedmaster therefore proves to be the only one to pass all the tests, thus the official NASA space watch.
Today some models Speedmaster reach extremely high values. On December 15, 2016,Christie's Auction put up for auction a Omega Speedmaster in New York that is said to have been aboard Apollo 17 (December 1972). This Speedmaster, signed in the base of the command module Pilot 1 Ron Evans, went for $245,000. For older, original pieces finally, the price trend clearly points upward.
We at Bonanno Jewelry have a large collection of watches Vintage.
