Minute Markers in Blue, White, and Red

In 1971, Apollo 15 successfully completed the first mission to use a lunar rover. This was the fourth NASA lunar landing mission, and it marked the first extended stay on the Moon (from July 26 to August 7, 1971).

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the success of this important mission, which focused on scientific experiments, OMEGA unveiled the limited edition of the Speedmaster Professional, the “only watch that went to the Moon,” the “Apollo 15 40th Anniversary Edition,” at Basel 2011 this spring.

OMEGA and NASA

In 1965, NASA conducted tests on several wristwatches. These were 11 rigorous tests simulating the expected space environment, including temperature changes from 93°C to -18°C, 95% relative humidity, and exposure to an oxygen atmosphere for over 48 hours, along with tests for shock, acceleration, depressurization, high pressure, vibration, and audible noise. As a result, only OMEGA's Speedmaster, created without any expectation of going to space, withstood all these tests and continued to keep time. For this reason, it was certified as standard NASA equipment and carried on the first human lunar landing in 1969.

Since then, the Speedmaster Professional has been affectionately known as the “Moonwatch.” Although more than half a century has passed since the Speedmaster Professional was born in 1957, the design of this model, which is synonymous with OMEGA, has remained virtually unchanged, and it is still equipped with the same hand-wound movement as it was back then.