Now At: $242,000 (11 bids)
Next Bid: $266,200
The 30 Minute Rule begins April 17 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By April 17 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
Bidding details: this watch will be sold LIVE at the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at 6 PM ET on April 17, 2025; at that time, absentee bidding will close, and the auction will continue live in-person, via telephone, and on the Invaluable live bidding platform. To schedule a live auction phone call, please contact RR Auction at (603) 732-4280.
Half of the hammer price from this historic auction will be donated to charities selected by Neil's son, Mark Armstrong. "This watch, which my father liked to wear on special occasions, symbolizes one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of mankind," said Mark Armstrong, son of the late astronaut. "A substantial portion of the proceeds from the sale of this watch will benefit charitable causes my father believed in, furthering the impact that he and many other Americans made to humanity more than half a century ago."
Neil Armstrong's personally-owned and -worn 18K solid yellow gold Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph wristwatch (Ref. BA 145.022), presented to him at a special gala dinner on November 25, 1969, at the Hotel Warwick in Houston. Omega initially created 26 of these gold commemorative watches—known as the ‘Tribute to Astronauts’ watch—to present to NASA astronauts alive and deceased, with the caseback of each watch specially engraved with a quote, the name and missions of the astronaut, and a unique number relative to when the astronaut flew into space. Issued as “No. 17,” this watch’s caseback is engraved, “Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Gemini 8 - Apollo 11.” The special central quote reads: “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 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.
In very good cosmetic condition, with scuffs to the bezel and scratches to the caseback; the watch does not appear to have ever been polished or modified in any way. Notably, there exist multiple photos of Armstrong during his tenure as a professor at the University of Cincinnati wearing his gold Speedmaster as he folds a paper airplane. Accompanied by an ‘Extract from the Archives’ certificate from Omega, with remarks citing it as a “Special numbered edition to celebrate the ‘Apollo XI’ moon landing.”
After the moon-flown Omega Speedmaster Pros—property of the United States government—these Apollo XI commemorative 18K gold chronographs stand at the forefront of space watch lore. Issued in an extremely limited number to commemorate the Apollo 11 landing, the first twenty-eight watches produced were reserved for President Richard Nixon (#1) and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (#2), followed by the 26 astronauts who paved the way for the moon landings in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. These early watches all feature the special central engraving, "To mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time." The publicly available version of the watch (numbers 33–1000) was issued with a caseback commemorating Apollo 11 and the Speedmaster's status as 'the first watch worn on the moon.' Omega returned to the special engraving for the astronaut watches later issued to the crews of Apollo 14–17.
The elusive gold astronaut chronograph also takes a place as the most expensive Speedmaster Pro ever sold: in October 2022, RR Auction sold Wally Schirra's example of the Apollo 11 commemorative 18K gold Omega Speedmaster Professional chronograph watch (Ref. BA 145.022) for nearly $2 million. Neil Armstrong's gold Speedmaster, in particular, carries special significance as the one presented to mankind's first moonwalker, and the commander of the mission that inspired Omega's creation of the 'Tribute to Astronauts' watch.
