Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Apollo 13 345.0022

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Description

To understand what makes this Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Apollo 13, numbered 05/40, so special, we must first look into its history and clarify a few points.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Speedmaster in 1997, Omega released 40 “Missions” boxes, each box containing 23 watches, with each watch inside commemorating a different NASA space mission.

The boxes were all individually numbered xx/40, and each watch inside the box numbered the same as the box it came in, making this Speedmaster Apollo 13 we present to you one of the watches that was in the 5th “Missions” box.

As a side note, this Apollo 13 should not be confused with the Apollo 13 25th anniversary piece that Omega released in 1995 in a batch of 999 pieces. The two pieces appear similar on first glance, but there are a number of differences in the dial, case and bracelet, and of course this piece is one of only 40 in the world, not 999.

The watches in these “Missions” boxes were never sold individually, which begs the question: why in the world would anyone split one of these boxes up? Surely it makes more sense to keep the entire set together, right? We agree with this statement, and we don’t have a good answer for why somebody might split one of these sets up.

But whatever their reasons were, this has given us an opportunity to acquire an incredibly important and rare watch. It’s worth noting that most Speedmaster special editions were released in batches of thousands, and that there are only a handful of Speedmaster special editions that have been released in such limited quantities.  

According to the Speedmaster Bible “Moonwatch Only”, there are three known “Missions” boxes that have been split up, meaning that unless you’re inclined to buy one of the complete mission boxes (now fetching around half a million AUD, and rising fast), there are perhaps only three of these Speedmaster Apollo 13 watches floating around in the entire world. 

We won’t get into too much detail, but it’s also worth mentioning that this Apollo 13 watch is perhaps the second most historically significant watch in the entire “Missions” box (second to the Apollo 11 piece, the first moon-landing), because of the extraordinary heroics of the astronauts that managed to avert a near catastrophe during the mission.  Then of course the famous 1995 Apollo 13 movie starring Tom Hanks elevated the awareness of this mission to untold levels.

If you’re a serious Speedmaster collector and dream of owning the entire collection someday, this is an opportunity to acquire an extraordinarily rare piece and fill an important gap in your collection. We are certain that there’ll come a time in the near future where these watches will all be locked up in a big-time collector’s safe, and won’t be sold no matter the price.

Accessories

Included in the sale is an original and rare Omega Missions watch box made from white-fabric that imitates the material space suits were made from.

Condition

The watch is in absolutely brand-new condition. In its 23 years of life, the watch has never once been worn. In fact, when viewed in person, one can still see the red ‘fluff’ on the watch that came from the “Missions” box. Clearly, the watch has spent its whole life locked up safely in its box, never having seen the light of day.

Warranty

Our company provides a one-year warranty on the watch.

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