“Gold is good. That’s especially true when it comes to choosing my favorite Omega Speedmaster reference of all time. This conundrum was made easier by my affection for yellow gold, which took me to an obvious place: the BA145.022.
“This reference is, of course, the Speedmaster created in the wake of the 1969 moon landing and the Apollo missions. Many of the watches were engraved with a message to the recipient—and those lucky owners included some pretty famous Apollo astronauts, like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Scott Carpenter. One was even presented to President Richard Nixon. He famously turned it down due to its high value, but the watch with his name engraved still exists.
“I love this watch because it has such a weird little history. It was limited to just over 1,000 pieces and was given to all manner of folks—with some made available to the public. It’s a Speedmaster, but gold-er, with a gold case, bracelet, and dial. It has these very late-’60s-style black markers, and a dreamy burgundy bezel. This one was re-created by Omega in 2019, but my heart lies with the classic, the OG. This is the Moonwatch for those back on Earth, the Earthwatch. Maybe my adventureless spirit has something to do with my affection for this piece of Speedy lore.”
“During the research for our Moonwatch Only book, we were fortunate enough to purchase and study many, many Speedies. In fact, the vast majority of the watches illustrated in this book were our own. It is very difficult to choose one reference from all those that have contributed to the history of this absolutely iconic watch. Among them, I could mention the first 2998s from the early 1960s, of course, or the solid gold Apollo XI model from 1969.
“But this time, for emotional reasons, I’m going to choose my Speedmaster ‘Holy Grail’ ref. 376.0822, bought years ago from its first owner.”
(This was the first Moonwatch with an automatic movement and Omega produced fewer than 2,000 of this reference over just two years.)
See all of our newsletters, including Box + Papers, here.