Wow. How long did it take you to amass all the pieces?

 

nice set up! ....and where are the rest of the watches?

 

Just short of 4 years for what I have now and still a few more in the pipeline which will add new astronauts to the collection.

 

To the OP, this may sound stupid or noobish, but please explain what you've done. Did you take the time to individually purchase the exact watch/case reference/year as each of the watches belonging to the individual astronauts, hunted them down and had them sign the casebacks? Cuz...that would be just incredible! But then, where are the watches? Or are these stock replacement casebacks?

 

No, I have not purchased complete watches. The majority of the pieces are 145.0012 replacement case backs. I wanted them to all be pre-moon style case backs like the ones that were used during the Gemini/Apollo era. There are a number of original 68/69 case backs in the collection that I was able to locate for use.

On the period correct 68/69 pieces the astronauts required that they be engraved so they could never be represented as flown hardware. The pieces were laser engraved on the interior of the case back which is not really visible to the naked eye. Once engraved the astronauts signed over the engraving. If for any reason the engraving is tampered with the signature will be destroyed.

I may sound like a bit much but with the value of flown hardware it was a reasonable accommodation to alleviate any concerns they had.

 

Amazing dedication of time and effort...... Congratulations

 

OP, thank you for the explanation. Who's next on your list? Any luck with Buzz?

 

I say this is the more impressive set than what inspired it. Very nicely done, Sir!

 

What fun would it be if I told you. I currently have 3 more in the works. One repeat astronaut with a different mission and two new additional astronauts. I passed on Aldrin last year. Somethings are worth the money and some are not.

Thank you very much and lot less expensive than the original.

 

Aldrin won't sign for free? Did you have to pay other astronauts? Not sure what to think of personalities charging for their autograph...

 

Before Armstrong died Aldrin's signing fee was right around $300. After he died Aldrin raised his base fee to $600. If you want a date and time add more. I think a completion fee, him signing a piece with Armstrong and Collins already signed, was right around $1000 for his name and mission only.

 

Wow, just wow.

 

You know, if you start a gofundme campaign, I'm sure many of us here would chip in to get you the autographs you need. [emoji6]

 

Can't blame them because they know many people are profiting from autographs for resale especially on specialty items. Have you had this appraised u an auction house?

 

My first thought on seeing the photo for the first time was : INSURANCE! You've gotta get that stuff insured!

I know that in reality, your collection is priceless, but someone at some auction house should be able to appraise your collection for insurance purposes. The uniqueness of this collection is off-the-chart awesome.

 

It just feels like this collection needs something a little more modern in terms of NASA Speedmasters.

Did you all know the first X-33 flew in 1998.

 

Git R Dun

 

That is an amazing collection and very well displayed and presented.

Wow...not much more I can say.

 

Yep and became the official watch for the ESA - European Space Agency astronauts

 

That's quite a bump!
But I'm so glad to find this amazing thread. Wondering what the OP's been up to now