Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch 3597.04.00
The Omega Speedmaster has perhaps the most exciting heritage of any watch on the market today, being the watch selected by NASA for official space usage. Having been to the moon, helped save Apollo 13 from disaster and been given the prestigious Snoopy award, the Speedmaster’s near half-century of space exploration has sealed the reputation of this watch as the go-to piece for any budding astronaut.
Omega Speedmaster watches first ventured into space in 1965 for the Gemini V mission, and continued right through until the 1973 Skylab SL-4 mission. These and the twenty other missions in between have been commemorated by Omega with a very rare set of Speedmaster Missions watches, of which there are only forty of each. This watch is the Gemini VI Missions watch, with the flight patch printed on the dial at nine o’clock.
The Gemini project was NASA’s second human spaceflight program, and covered ten missions through 1965 and 1966 that advanced NASA’s understanding of space travel. Gemini VI, under Schirra and Stafford, performed sixteen orbits for its twenty-six hour duration and included a rendezvous with Gemini VII as well. Due to complications with the original launch of Gemini VI in October 1965, the launch was delayed until after that of Gemini VII, and so the two craft were able to meet in orbit.
The patch for the mission, also seen on the dial of this Speedmaster, was designed by Command Pilot Walter M. Schirra. The hexagonal shape and the trajectory through the stars both relate to the mission being the sixth in the Gemini program, and the Gemini VI spacecraft is shown between the twin stars Castor and Pollux as per the location of the rendezvous point.
This is a seldom seen opportunity to own a rare and special watch that commemorates the events that made the moon landings possible.
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- Manufacturer: Omega
- Range: Speedmaster Moonwatch
- Model: 3597.04.00
- Age: 1999 (13 years old)
- Gender: Gents
- Case: Steel
- Bracelet: Steel
- Size (MM): 40
- Dial: Black Baton