Another Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 1969 "Tribute to Astronauts" gold commemorative watch is up for auction.
This model belonged to NASA astronaut Richard F. Gordon Jr. (1929-2017).
Gordon's Commemorative Gold Speedmaster Apollo 11
In 1969 and subsequent years, Omega gifted only 34 of these watches to NASA astronauts. Occasionally, these golden Speedmasters, gifted to astronauts, appear at auction. Gordon's watch, number 20 (of 1014 gold Speedmaster Apollo 11 from 1969), will be auctioned later this month at RR Auction.
Richard Gordon was part of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1963 for the Gemini and Apollo programs. With 4,500 hours of flight experience, Gordon was an excellent candidate. His first flight was in 1966 as pilot in the Gemini 11 mission, during which he also completed two spacewalks (EVA) totaling two hours and 41 minutes.
Apollo 12 and Apollo 18
Then, in 1969, NASA astronaut Gordon was the command module pilot for Apollo 12. This also meant he did not land on the Moon or walk on it. Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean (whose Speedmaster sold at auction for $302,000 exactly a year ago) did land in the "Ocean of Storms" and walked on it.
Meanwhile, Gordon orbited the Moon, photographing potential future landing sites. Originally, NASA also planned for Gordon to participate in the Apollo 18 program, which would have allowed him to make a full landing on the Moon and a walk. However, as you probably know, this mission was canceled due to US government budget cuts.
A Belated Gift
Omega gifted these stunning Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 1969 18-karat gold watches to all active NASA astronauts at the time (as well as US President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew, who had to decline due to legal restrictions). The first 25 of these gold Speedmasters were offered to astronauts during a banquet dinner in Houston, Texas, on November 25, 1969.
Interestingly, the Apollo 12 crew members were absent (but were on the guest list) as they were required to be in quarantine until December 10, 1969, after completing their mission. Thus, Bean, Conrad, and Gordon received their gold "Speedys" at an unknown date.
Gordon's Second Watch Also Gifted After Apollo 12
Unfortunately, there are no photos of astronaut Gordon captured wearing the gold Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 1969 model. However, as seen in photos, the watch shows obvious signs of wear. The accompanying letter is undated, so whether these watches subsequently had other owners/wearers remains unclear.
Instead, we find numerous photos of Gordon wearing his steel Speedmaster during missions and work, as well as a later Rolex Day-Date ref. 1803. Rolex gifted him this watch shortly after the Apollo 12 mission. Gordon's Day-Date was auctioned at RR Auction last year for $36,541.
Engraving Error
It is interesting to note that the engraving on the back of the watch contains an error. Each astronaut's name is placed above the quote "to mark man's conquest of space with time, through time, on time," and below it lists the missions he participated in.
However, Gordon's watch mistakenly spells his name as "Astronaut Richard F. Gordon" instead of "Astronaut Richard R. Gordon." This error is mentioned in the accompanying letter signed by Gordon. We have seen other errors in the engraving of these "Tribute to Astronauts" watches, so this is not the first or only case.
Number 20 of 1014
Gordon's Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 "Tribute to Astronauts" watch is number 20, right between Apollo 11 crew members Michael Collins (number 19) and Buzz Aldrin (number 21). To avoid being unfounded, here is the complete list of 34 gold Speedmaster watches gifted to astronauts, including those posthumously gifted to the Apollo 1 crew.
- #3 Al Shepard (Mercury-Redstone 3, Apollo 14)
- #4 Gus Grissom (Mercury-Redstone 4, Gemini 3, Apollo 1)
- #5 John Glenn (Mercury-Atlas 6, STS-95)
- #6 Scott Carpenter (Mercury-Atlas 7)
- #7 Gordon Cooper (Mercury-Atlas 9, Gemini 5)
- #8 Wally Schirra (Mercury-Atlas 8, Gemini 6A, Apollo 7)
- #9 John Young ("Gemini-3", "Gemini-10", "Apollo-10", "Apollo-16", STS-1, STS-9)
- #10 Ed White (Gemini-4, Apollo-1)
- #11 James McDivitt (Gemini-4, Apollo-9)
- #12 Pete Conrad (Gemini-5, Gemini-11, Apollo-12, Skylab-2)
- #13 Thomas Stafford (Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project)
- #14 Jim Lovell (Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, Apollo 13)
- #15 Frank Borman (Gemini 7, Apollo 8)
- #16 David Scott (Gemini 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 15)
- #17 Neil Armstrong (Gemini 8, Apollo 11)
- #18 Gene Cernan (Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, Apollo 17)
- #19 Michael Collins (Gemini 10, Apollo 11)
- #20 Dick Gordon (Gemini 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 18)
- #21 Buzz Aldrin (Gemini 12, Apollo 11)
- #22 Donn Eisele (Apollo-7)
- #23 Walter Cunningham (Apollo-7)
- #24 Bill Anders (Apollo 8)
- #25 Rusty Schweickart (Apollo-9)
- #26 Alan Bean (Apollo 12, Skylab 3)
- #27 Deke Slayton (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project)
- #28 Roger Chaffee (Apollo-1)
- #1001 Stu Roosa (Apollo-14)
- #1002 Ed Mitchell (Apollo-14)
- #1003 Jim Irwin (Apollo-15)
- #1004 Al Worden (Apollo-15)
- #1005 Charlie Duke (Apollo-16)
- #1006 Ken Mattingly (Apollo-16, STS-4, STS-51-C)
- #1007 Ron Evans (Apollo-17)
- #1008 Jack Schmitt (Apollo 17)
As you can see, NASA astronauts who took part in later flights (Apollo 14-Apollo 17) received their watches later. Therefore, numbers were reserved for them. Meanwhile, the market saw the release of the yellow gold Speedmaster Professional BA145.022-69 model (also numbered) with a different engraving on the case back.
Omega Speedmaster Professional ref. BA145.022-69
I believe the Omega Speedmaster Professional "Tribute to Astronauts" needs no further introduction. We have repeatedly covered it when examples were put up for auction, and we wrote an article "Ultimate Guide To The 1969 Speedmaster Apollo 11".
This is a 42mm gold variation of the then-current steel Moonwatch ref. 145.022 with the same caliber 861. The red bezel is made of aluminum, the dial is made of pure gold, and the hour markers are made of onyx. The bracelet (art. 1116) tapers from 20mm at the end links (art. 575) to 14mm at the clasp, and the original crown is gold-plated (oddly enough).
These commemorative watches were supplied to the market in the famous crater box, and astronauts received them in a beautiful rectangular box.
Estimate - Over $100,000
RR Auction has set an estimate of over $100,000, which I believe is the most accurate indicator. In the past, auction results have been quite varied (Wally Schirra's commemorative gold Speedmaster sold for nearly $2 million, while Jack Swigert's went for just $152,000), so there are no guarantees in this case.
The auction for Richard F. Gordon's Speedmaster will be open for initial bids until April 25. After that, those who have made bids will be able to participate in the final round of bidding on the 26th. At the time of publication, the price stands at $51,793.