THE MISSING ‘MOONWATCH’

There have been dozens of Speedmaster variants launched over the years, including special and limited series. There’s an entire space series (Apollo-Soyuz, 1975; Mir-90 Days, 1991; Alaska Project, 2008); an Omega commemorative series (40th Anniversary of the Speedmaster, 1997; 50th Anniversary of the Speedmaster “Seahorse”, 2007; 150th Anniversary of Omega, 1998); and a country specific series (Italy Special, 1986; Japan Special “The Golden Panda”, 1997; Japan Special “Mitsukoshi”, 2003). All excite today’s sizeable number of Speedmaster collectors and enthusiasts. Then there are those exceptional pieces, such as a skeleton version of the 25th Anniversary of Apollo 11 (1994), numbered and limited to 50, and a Moonphase skeleton (2003) in a run of 57. But the rarest and most valuable Speedmaster of them all will, of course, remain Buzz Aldrin’s — famously, the first watch on the moon. That one’s been missing ever since he landed back on Earth; it was lost (or “lost”) en route to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.