Movado Was a new one on me and a lovely looking watch ;0)

https://omegaforums.net/threads/no-experts-on-movado-on-of.106442/#post-1443952

 

Well as retirement is upon me, I reflect on my 51 year old Aviation & Spaceflight photo-collection...
Although rarely seen/published photos always get a lot of attention... what was the most amazing conclusion ?
What I take for granted, seems to be of huge importance to other people (e.g. early 1960s astronaut CK2998 photos)
What I deem important, isn't at all for other people (e.g. Research on the ex-Alaska II Project Speedmaster used on Soviet-Russian side)

 

Sometimes information waits a while before it is discovered and valued. Thanks for the amazing resources and hard work spent presenting and preserving for everyone to enjoy.

 

Well it has been appreciated... and published... but the complete story is yet to be told !

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Mentioned the SWFG - Space Watches Facebook Group before, and here's the Database link with HODINKEE article:
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/think-you-can-name-every-single-watch-thats-ever-gone-to-space

 

Exhibition wrist watches & chronographs in art…
Posters and info brochures for our upcoming exhibition, showcasing a dozen examples of wrist watches depicted in artworks, the focus lays at the Omega Speedmaster chronograph, known for its use during both American and (Soviet-) Russian spaceflight missions.
Exactly 45 years ago, Omega’s ex-Alaska Project II chronographs found enthusiastic customers on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Combing through photographs, providing some exceptional counsel on the subject, MoonwatchUniverse clarifies the “mystery” enshrouding the use of these time pieces onboard the Salyut-6 space station in 1977.
Other original artworks depict Gemini & Apollo era astronauts wearing the Speedmaster, so we're looking forward meeting a few artlovers of the forum...
(Photos: MoonwatchUniverse)
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Edit: As title, someone suggested "From ultimate space watch design to bioceramic quartz toy" ... but I passed
The exhibition is simply called " Of Time and Space "

 

Although I'm on an "island hideaway", feedback is positive with shown interest of some collectors to actually buy the paintings.
PM me via MoonwatchUniverse as this will be my final Omega-related "project"...

 

Also: https://omegaforums.net/threads/1969-2019-50-years-alaska-project.70500/page-6

 

3 weeks into 2023 and MoonwatchUniverse has been invited to speak at 3 spaceflight aficionados GTG events...
Then again we aim to please all sorts of history buffs on the subject of aviation time pieces , pilot watches & chronographs
#NASAphotos #MoonwatchUniverse #Spaceflight
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MoonwatchUniverse is 100% on a voluntary basis but are these talks worth visiting ?
There's a Follow-up of my " Time Peace - How Omega got behind the Iron Curtain " article (September 1971 IAF Lucerne in Swiss Press).
50 years ago... May 1973, before heading to the Paris Air show, which had a full-size Apollo-Soyuz docked hardware mockup on display, the first Soviet-Russian cosmonaut delegation visited Omega HQ in Bienne Switzerland.
June 1973, the Omega flightmaster pilot watch sat on the wrists of the Soyuz 19 prime crew training for ASTP - Apollo Soyuz Test Project in the Soyuz simulator of Star City. Leonov & Kubasov used the flightmaster during training up to their Soyuz exam on July 1, 1975 !
More soon (whole story) during our MoonwatchUniverse GTG/talks/lectures !
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. Spacefarers's wrist watches slideshow
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changed the topic title as I was asked to be more specific about my "findings"...
It's easy really as the time-period photos speak for themselves, it's simple photographic research, no need for a PhD.
(although my 10 articles on Omega used in aviation/spaceflight could make a good source for a PhD on the subject )
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Old NASA photos have the specific NASA photonumber, date and info text on the back, but sometimes these texts contain small mistakes.
Printing on the backside of some photos shows publication dates in magazines and newspapers, so we have to deduct a few days to pinpoint the exact event in time. In these photos, I don't only look to the wrist watches, I also look at the obvious details, where was it taken, non-astronaut people in the background (engineers, politicians), which event (Press briefing, training) and last but not least military ranks can point us to a specific period.
(Stafford & Leonov both became Generals)
Russian photos are more difficult because these have no text on the back...

To be more "specific", in the summer of 2016 I visited Omega HQ Bienne to talk on the subject of the Omega Alaska Project (based on feedback given by the NASA astronauts in late 1967 -1968). Since 1994, I have been writing on a 100% voluntary basis and asked about the possibility to share info in their LIFETIME mgazines but was told, this magazine was made by a third party outside Omega. So I stuck to aviation magazines.
Thus shared my Soyuz 25 & 26 photos with spaceflight aficionados in my Spacefarers' Wristwatches talk, where the audience deemed the info important, so I joined the SWFG and shared the info with Hodinkee for maximum exposure.

2018 marked the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Project so I had to publish an article (To Russia With Love), which triggered further research on how these watches got behind the Iron Curtain (Time Peace - How Omega watches got into the Soviet-Russian Space Programme).
Rather fascinating how a Swiss watch united the astronauts & cosmonauts of the Cold War's rival superpowers.
My notes show that May 2023 marks 50 years since a cosmonauts delegation was invited in Bienne, prior to the May 1973 Paris Air Show.
It turned out they had a preference for the pilot line watches (flightmaster and Speedmaster Mark-series) and it looks like that already by June 11, 1973 we see the flightmaster pilot watch on the wrist of the prime Soviet-Russian crew for Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
(Leonov & Kubasov in the Soyuz simulator at Star City - Moscow, note Leonov still wearing the 1965 Voshkod II patch).
Time for a podcast...

 

As we prepare for another podcast, these fastly scribbled notes in an old agenda remind me to trigger yet another "50th anniversary" related to Omega space-flown wrist watches
#MoonwatchUniverse
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...
https://omegaforums.net/threads/hidden-gems-from-the-russian-space-photo-archives.65152/page-10

 

the countdown has started... from Zodiac to Accutron ... and MoonwatchUniverse belongs to the ages ...
This month:
MoonwatchUniverse has been celebrating " 75 years " Yema !
MoonwatchUniverse fête les " 75 ans " de Yema !
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An often asked question: Which are the special reference Speedmaster chronographs flown in space ?
Here they're with the year it flew in space for the first time:

"Special" Omega Speedmaster chronographs flown-in-space:
1977 = Omega Alaska-II Project Speedmaster...
1981 = Omega Alaska-III Project radial dial Speedmaster...
1982 = Omega Speedmaster 125 ...
1997 = Speedmaster automatic triple date...
2005 = Speedmaster "From Moon to Mars" ...
2010 = Speedmaster Moonphase ...
2022 = Speedmaster Silver Snoopy award 50 ...
2023 = Speedmaster Snoopy 3578.51.00 ...
#MoonwatchUniverse

 

My father has spent over 20 years with Omega. I have found in his belongings an old calendar from 1972


and a set of 20 colour photos (only 1000 copies that were only sent to Omega retailers after the moon landing in 1969) in a moon crater design box.

 

Ending the year 2023 with an overview of Rolex wristwatches flown in space since the Rolex GMT-master 1675 Pepsi worn on October 1967 X-15 flight 188 to the current Rolex Yachtmaster onboard the International Space Station.
2024 will mark the 30th anniversary since I bought my "25 years Apollo 11" Speedmaster and since my very first article on "Watches in space" was published. A couple of interesting projects in the 2024 pipeline...
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1972 Apollo 16... March 22
For those aficionados who keep track of wrist watches worn in space: just got an answer from BrigGen Charlie Duke;
Normally crews avoid to wear the mission logo patch before the actual mission, but the Apollo 16 astronauts already wore their mission logo patch on the space suit for the CDDT - Count-Down Demonstration Test on March 22 (Launchday was 16th April 1972). Confirmation from CharlieDuke.com , so no 2nd Speedmaster for Charlie Duke on Apollo 16 spaceflight mission!
(Photos: NASA) #MoonwatchUniverse #NASA #Speedmaster
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