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Edgar Mitchell's personally-owned 18K solid yellow gold Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph wristwatch (Ref. BA 145.022), presented to the Apollo 14 LMP by Omega following his success in the third lunar landing mission. One of a special numbered edition of 1014 pieces made to celebrate the success of the Apollo 11 moon landing, this watch is number "1002" and is engraved as such on the caseback. The back is further engraved with the recipient's name and mission, "Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, Apollo 14," with a central quote: "To mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time."
The first gold Speedmaster that Omega created, the watch features an 18K gold case with the same design cues and dimensions as the regular steel Speedmaster Professional. The gold bezel has a burgundy red aluminum inlay, with the famous ‘dot over ninety,’ and a special solid gold dial, indicated by the “OM” next to “Swiss Made,” which means ‘Or Massif’ or ‘solid gold.’ The hour markers are made of onyx, have two facets each, and are set in gold frames. The hands are black with gold centers and give wonderful contrast to the solid gold dial. The gold Omega bracelet (1116/575) features hollow links and a small 14mm gold clasp with striping decoration. Inside the 18k gold 42mm case ticks the Lemania-based copper-colored chronograph caliber 861 with a steel brake; this caliber 861 has a ticking speed of 21,600vph and uses 17 jewels. Complete with its extremely rare three-dimensional cratered Omega Speedmaster box, featuring lunar imagery raised in relief on all four sides of the lid. The watch is in very good to fine cosmetic condition, with light wear from use, including a couple of scratches to the crystal and more significant scuffing to the clasp on the bracelet; the watch's function is untested, and the clasp comes undone easily.
Of the 1014 examples of these watches produced, Omega famously reserved #1 and #2 for President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew; numbers 3-28 were then presented to the astronauts of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs at a famous gala dinner on November 25, 1969. As Mitchell had not yet flown in space, he did not receive a watch at that time. Those astronauts who flew later—the crews of Apollo 14 through 17—were presented with numbers 1001-1008 in 1972-73. The special inscription on the caseback—"To mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time"—was reserved exclusively for the astronauts and select VIPs. The publicly available watches (#33-1000) featured two variants of a caseback commemorating Apollo 11 and the Speedmaster's status as 'the first watch worn on the moon.'
Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Karlyn Mitchell, the daughter of Edgar Mitchell.
