They always impressed me and made me think of that evening at the Warwick Hotel when Omega presented them to the astronauts. I’ve seen many of these gold Speedmaster Apollo XI “Tribute to Astronauts” models, including those for President Nixon and some of the NASA astronauts. The bracelet was also slightly different from the regular bracelet in steel, tapering to just 14mm at the clasp. Instead of a standard black dial with white pencil hands, this commemorative watch has a solid gold dial with black onyx hour markers and black pencil hands. It was an 18K gold version of the regular Speedmaster Professional with the hand-wound caliber 861. Unlike today when these watches would sell out in a flash ( and did in 2019), the gold BA145.022-69 was in Omega’s collection for several years. In total, Omega produced 1,014 pieces of this watch from 1969 onwards. Image source: RR Auction Speedmaster Apollo XI “Tribute to Astronauts” These examples carried numbers 1001 through 1008 and the same commemorative text as the first 26 watches for the astronauts. Later, in 19, eight more NASA astronauts received the gold Omega Speedmaster Professional BA145.022-69 watches.
This meant that numbers 3 to 28 were allocated to the astronauts. Omega offered three additional watches to the families of the Apollo 1 astronauts who died in a terrible accident during a launch rehearsal test. Both had to decline due to the value of the gift, but the 23 astronauts at the dinner accepted the burgundy-bezel Speedmaster Professional watches. These watches were all individually numbered, and numbers 1 and 2 were offered to President Nixon and Vice President Agnew.
Wally Schirra wearing his gold Speedmaster Professional BA145.022-69 - Image source: NASA Banquet in Houston, TexasĪt the banquet on November 25th, 1969, Omega offered the astronauts a special commemorative edition of the Omega Speedmaster Professional in yellow gold.
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