For the first time ever, Neil Armstrong's commemorative gold Omega Speedmaster is coming to auction, offering a rare chance to own a watch that belonged to (and was often worn by) the first man ever to walk on the moon. With a whopping $2,000,000+ estimate, the watch will be sold by RR Auctions live at the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at 6 PM ET on April 17, 2025. Omega has confirmed the watch's authenticity, and its specific provenance is bolstered by several images of Armstrong wearing the watch over the years.
Omega originally made 28 commemorative 18k gold Speedmasters, the ref. BA145.022. The first two were meant to be gifted to President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (though they had to decline), with the next twenty-six to be presented to NASA astronauts at a gala dinner on November 25, 1969, at the Hotel Warwick in Houston.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong – you know, the first man to walk on the moon – was given watch number 17, with a caseback that reads "to mark man's conquest of space with time, through time, on time" and "Gemini 8 – Apollo 11." More watches were eventually made for the general public (numbers 33 to 1000) and came with a caseback commemorating Apollo 11 and the Speedmaster's history as "the first watch worn on the moon."
I'm quite familiar with this watch. In 2022 – before joining Hodinkee – I connected with the now-consignor while looking at some vintage pocket watches. The consignor asked me for my advice on where to take the watch or who might be the best potential buyers.
I made a few introductions, but my understanding is that the sale never went through despite receiving a few offers. Unfortunately, the market for these watches – and vintage Omegas in general – went through a lot of upheaval around the same time. Eventually, I lost touch with the owner until recently, when he reached out to tell me he'd be selling the watch publicly.
The chance to own a Speedmaster owned by Neil Armstrong—or, more specifically, an incredible commemorative piece of history not just with his name on it but frequently worn by him—is a compelling opportunity for collectors, some of whom I talked to on background. However, the current state of the market and how this watch will perform against its estimate remain unknown.
In November 2021, Speedmaster reference 2915-1 set a record as the most expensive Omega ever sold. Later, it became a central piece in allegations of wide-ranging fraud perpetrated (again, allegedly) by the former head of the Omega Museum and Brand Heritage. Phillips and Omega have claimed they were both victims of the scheme, and the related court cases are ongoing.
Less than a year later, in June 2022 – before the news about the alleged fraud – a private collector was the winning bidder for the first notable post-COVID sale of one of the 26 solid gold Speedmasters, this one worn by Astronaut Michael Collins, who piloted the Apollo 11 command module Columbia while Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the surface of the moon. The achieved price of $765,000 was a record for the reference.
In November 2022, the gold Speedmaster gifted to Astronaut Walter "Wally" Schirra was sold at RR Auction in New Hampshire for $1,906,954, including the buyer's premium. Whoever bought it (it isn't clear if this was the Omega museum or a private collector) was probably keen to own a watch tied to the Mercury 8, Gemini 6, and Apollo 7 astronaut and the first person to wear an Omega Speedmaster in space.
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