Overview of 'The Moon Watch' - OMEGA Speedmaster Professional

The Omega Speedmaster was given then title as ‘The Moon Watch’ as it was the first watch to be worn on the Apollo 11 moon landing mission. Interestingly, while Armstrong was the first to step on the moon, it was Aldrin who wore this Moon Watch on the moon’s surface. It was later found out that Armstrong left his OMEGA on the landing craft as a backup timing device just in case of system failure on board; while Aldrin wore his OMEGA on his wrist during their two-and-half-hour moonwalk.

NASA chose the OMEGA Speedmaster Professional over a selection of 13 other watches which includes Rolex Daytona, Longines Wittnauer, and a Houston Jeweler. It was chosen for its toughness and good timekeeping abilities. During the start of the Apollo program, NASA put the wristwatches through extreme tests that could withstand the extreme environment of the outer-space; such as extreme temperature test (from -160 to 120 degree Celsius), as well as vibrations of space flight. But that’s not all, the watch must also serve as a backup for the astronauts when all other equipment fails, allowing them to calculate thrusters’ burns, speed, and distance.

The OMEGA further proofs its worth during the Apollo 13 mission when the command module had an onboard explosion that caused power lost; the crew was forced to drift around the moon and return to earth. For the 3 long days, their OMEGA was the only functioning instruments on board. 

Here is the full ‘backstory’ behind the iconic watch.