posted 05-06-2025 09:25 AM               

Gold Omega Speedmaster Awarded to Apollo 9 Astronaut Russell Schweickart Takes Off in Heritage's Watches & Fine Timepieces Auction

Among the most important factors when determining any item's popularity among collectors are the rarity and provenance. If something is limited in number and availability, or was previously owned by someone important, the demand can soar.

Such is the case with an Omega, Rare And Historically Important Gold Speedmaster Professional Wristwatch, No. 25 that will be go to the highest bidder when it crosses the block in Heritage's Watches & Fine Timepieces Signature® Auction No. 5567 June 3.

It stands on its own merit as an exceptional timepiece, but what really makes it a treasured keepsake is that it was presented by Omega to astronaut Russell L. "Rusty" Schweickart, whose list of out-of-this-world accomplishments includes his time as an aeronautical engineer, research scientist, U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and astronaut, which included his stint as the Lunar Module Pilot on the Apollo 9 mission in 1969. Schweickart was among the astronauts who received their watches at a NASA event in November 1969 at the Warrick Hotel in Houston. Astronauts from several Apollo missions already were wearing silver Omega matches, but the gold model represented a different honor altogether as the watchmaker's tribute to those who first walked on the moon, and to those whose missions and work in the space program made an eventual lunar landing possible.

"The event in which we were given the watches by Omega was in November of 1969," Schweickart says. "It was just after the Apollo 12 mission. We had all been wearing Omega watches, but they were the silver ones. They gave out the watches to those of us who were [at the event], honoring our service, and landing on the moon and everything that led up to it."

In Schweickart's case, this watch did not become a memento tucked away in a glass case for display purposes; he wore it regularly … until he didn't. When he witnessed a fellow pilot get his wedding ring caught while exiting a plane, Schweickart stopped wearing any jewelry. The watch offered in this auction was tucked away in a desk drawer, where it remained for more than half a century.

"At [the time of the other pilot's injury], I stopped wearing jewelry altogether, watches and everything else," says Schweickart. "So mine ended up in a drawer, frankly, just stored, and I lost track of it for a long time.

"Do you have any idea how long it was sitting there untouched? I would say pretty close to 50 years. I thought I'd lost it, and it was only earlier this year, to be honest with you, when I rediscovered [it]. No, I hadn't lost it … That was quite a shock."

The back of the watch is engraved: "Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart … to mark man's quest of space with time, through time, on time."

Schweickart's Omega is but one of the highlights in the auction. Also among the top attractions is a magnificent Rolex, Important and Rare Ref. 6239 "Paul Newman" Cosmograph Daytona, circa 1969. The Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref 6239, in this aesthetic configuration, is the most original and authentic "Paul Newman" Daytona, as it is the variant owned and worn by its namesake. It features a tri-color reverse panda dial, pump pushers and polished steel bezel. This highly attractive and very well-preserved watch is fresh to the market and is being offered for sale for the first time.