I flippin hope so!! (no pun intended)

 

Correction. After further investigation I read that Cernan took two watches on Apollo XVII, his issued 105.012 and his personal 105.003. However, he most likely wore the issued 105.012 while on the surface of the moon.

 

It is supposed to be two-tone

 

Either it's a remake of Buzz Aldrin's ST 105.012 (with the new 3861 movement)
OR
(if Omega get's a little more creative) something else. Two-Tone as mentioned by hundredwaters would be interesting as the 50th anniversary is a golden anniversary.

tension for sure is rising.

 

What about a new Straight Writing caseback ?

 

If it will be fitted with the new 3861 movement I would expect the see-through-saphire-caseback.

 

As I suggested in an early thread on the Apollo 11 anniversary Speedy we could maybe have a double step saphire caseback with the pre-moon sea monster faintly eatched on its surface

 

This is correct, all pictures of Gene Cernan on moon walks during Apollo 17 show the Velcro equipped 105.012 on his spacesuit. I don’t think the JB Champion would have been approved for moonwalks?

This is the fact: The first and last watchs worn on the moon were 105.012’s.

 

Is it possible he could have worn the 105.003 under his spacesuit? I am wondering since there is a photo of Cernan wearing both watches in the Apollo XVII command module. I know that in the 321 announcement Omega referred to the Speedmaster ST 105.003 timepiece that astronaut Eugene “Gene” Cernan wore on the moon during the Apollo 17, but not necessarily on the surface of the moon.

 

What would be the practical reason for doing so? He would not have been able to see it or use it under his spacesuit, it would have been useless. Also, I think safety reasons would have compelled him to remove it because it could become trapped at some point under the suit area near the glove bayonet mount during the walk (or even just uncomfortable) and the only way to fix such an issue would be to return to the LEM, pressurise it (using up precious air), remove the suit (a lengthy undertaking), just to then remove the nuisance watch. Kill a precisely scheduled and choreographed moon walk for a dumb watch? No, far more likely that he would have removed and left it as a spare in the LEM before suiting up.

 

I’m always impressed by just how thorough and detailed hypothetical situations can be evaluated, even if the situation was highly unlikely in the first place.

 

As I've mentioned in the other thread on the LE 50th , I've heard ~7k will be available in SS.

 

Indeed, engineers will always try to run through the possibilities before they happen. Maybe the designers of that aircraft with the software stick pusher to compensate for the aerodynamic changes should have tried out this kind of hypothetical reasonings as well? Less managers and more engineers, sounds good to me...

 

Indeed we don't know this for sure...
However it is possible to wear a wrist watch underneath a space suit... it has been done since 1965. Just check some pre-launch Soyuz photos where several crewmembers often wear a minimum of three wristwatches...
Personally, I have spoken to some astronauts & cosmonauts and even tried on 5 types spacesuit gloves (Apollo, Orlan-D, Orlan-M, Sokol GP7A and Sokol GP7S) , so I know it can be easily done.
However, facts are important and to be complete I have to add that American astronauts aboard the ISS- International Space Station are forbidden to wear any jewellery/watches underneath the space suit during EVA!

This being off-topic, I want to redirect the "discussion" to this topic: https://omegaforums.net/threads/other-watches-used-in-evas.59438/

 

Looking forward to see Apollo 11 LMP - Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin wearing the steel version... soon
Omega instagram screenshot:
.

...

 

Sorry for the digression. I was just trying to establish if the 105.003 could have ever been on the surface of the moon to justify it being used as a basis for the 50th Anniversary watch.

 

I understand the moderate excitement about the 50 years Apollo 11 Gold Speedmaster as it's a high end expensive watch and of course...
de gustibus non est disputandum.
However I hope Omega realises that revealing the steel watch a tad earlier than BaselWorld2019 might trigger a lot of extra buyers to get one

 

If the steel one is good, would it cannabalize sales of the gold one already announced?

 

Unlikely. They're entirely two different product tiers.

 

Most steel buyers aren't also buyers of gold (due to appearance, much higher price). A gold buyer may buy steel if they like it, so there wouldn't be cannibalisation.