How the famous watch brand played a pivotal role in space exploration - and was rewarded with a cartoon beagle
Let me start by admitting that the moon landing in 1969 is the most significant human feat for me. I have always been fascinated by the success of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon. And this only eight years after President Kennedy announced the US's goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.
However, being born in 1970, I am even more fascinated by what happened on Apollo 13, the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space programme and the third meant for a moon landing. What few people know, however, is that the disastrous mission - albeit one that was ultimately salvaged in incredible, dramatic fashion - is forever linked with a beloved cartoon dog and one of the world's most famous watch brands.
Astronaut James A. Lovell Jr., commander for NASA's Apollo 13 mission. Photo: Courtesy of NASA
Apollo 13 set off to the moon from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission. As events unfolded and a risky rescue plan was formulated, the Omega Speedmaster - which had already become the first watch on the moon the previous year - came into play. Its vital functions as a great mechanical timepiece helped save the lives of the three astronauts on board the Apollo 13 space shuttle: commander Jim Lovell, lunar module pilot Fred Haise, and command module pilot Jack Swigert.
How? Timing was absolutely critical to the success of returning the crew to earth. The system breakdown in the shuttle meant that the watch had to be used to measure the 14-second firing of the rocket engine that ultimately helped put the rocket onto a homeward trajectory. The precision of that operation meant everything.
Once the dust had begun to settle on the crew's miraculous return and NASA was assessing the mission, Omega was specifically thanked by the American space organisation for its key contribution. So what does Snoopy have to do with all this?
Apollo 13 crew recovery after splashdown. Photo: Courtesy of NASA
The Silver Snoopy Award was introduced by NASA in 1968, as they wanted to acknowledge technicians, suppliers and support staff whose work was of high value. It is awarded by astronauts themselves, "in appreciation for professionalism, dedication, and outstanding support that greatly enhanced space flight safety and mission success.”
This explains why the Omega Speedmaster received the Silver Snoopy Award when the crew of Apollo 13 returned safely to earth. And that all-important 14 seconds explains why the second iteration of the Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award in 2015 had “What Could You Do In 14 Seconds” written on the first 14 second markers of the crisp white dial. “A bit gimmicky,” according to Robert-Jan Broer, founder of Fratello Watches and avid Omega collector for many years. “I like the most recent version of the Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary much better,” he says. “The silver dial with blue sub-dials makes it a bit less comic, less cartoonish on the front than the 2015 version. Business on the front, party on the back."
The Omega Speedmaster. Photo: Omega
Indeed, the most recent iteration of the Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award is a very different watch, but still marks the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. The watch offers a diameter of 42 millimetres, but more importantly, it shares the same case shape as the fourth generation of the Speedmaster.
“The shape of the Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary has the same dimensions and shape as the two references that made it to the Moon in 1969,” Robert-Jan says. “Armstrong and Aldrin wore the reference 105.012 and Collins wore the 145.012. These two references use the same case, which is now again used for the Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award. I think that is a great detail that not many realise.”
However, it is not just the beautiful silver dial with the embossed silver Snoopy medallion on the blue sub-dial at 9 o’clock or the importance of the case that impresses on the Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award. It is the case back. Or instead, what goes on on the back: the case back offers a vision of the far side of the Moon that has been decorated on sapphire crystal.
Elsewhere, an animated Snoopy in his Command and Service Module sits on a hand that rotates when the chronograph function is activated. Behind, an earth disc rotates once per minute in sync with the watch’s small seconds hand.
Photo: Omega
“I am impressed with this surprising function on the back," says Robert-Jan. "I am especially impressed with the needle that carries the space shuttle as it is transparent and makes the Command and Service Module magically fly.”
Along with black engravings on the case back in tribute to Apollo 13 and Omega's Silver Snoopy Award, there is also a blue ceramic zirconia bezel ring with a white enamel tachymeter scale.
Using the Co-Axial METAS certified manual wind movement, calibre 3861, the Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary is not a limited model like its predecessors. However, it is in high demand, which has driven the price on the secondary market to triple the original retail price of €10,400. Perhaps appropriately given the history behind it, the watch has become a true star.