WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU OMEGA CHAPS DONE TO ME? TWO YEARS AGO I WAS FINE!

I'm a 61 year old Grandfather... but for some reason this afternoon I'm acting like a complete 'knobhead'.
Apollo 13 (with Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell) is on the TV, and what am I doing? I AM SITTING HERE, LIKE A BIG KID, CLICKING THE PUSHERS ON MY 105.012-65 ...... TO TIME THE BURN TO GET US BACK ON COURSE FOR RE-ENTRY!

I HOPE YOUR ALL 'FAKKIN' SATISFIED!

 

Admit it.... You're loving it! Come on, say it!

 

I say never forget your inner child

 

Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong wearing the Speedmaster on velcro strap in the Mobile Quarantine Facility trailer on August 10, after the A11 crew left the Lunar Receiving Laboratory and going home...
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Velcro bands are always cool until you go water skiing - ask me how I know

 

The velcro strap, of course, is sized to wrap around the outside of the Apollo A7-L space suit. The type of velcro hooks and fabric is a couple of notches above what most consumers would buy at their local hardware store. Jack Swigert fully suited up prior to leaving for the Apollo 13 launch.


Here is David Scott's Bulova with the NASA issued strap.

 

@QuarkScattering
That's actually an image of Swigert during the preparation for a simulator run... Note he was not wearing the Apollo 13 logo on the A7L spacesuit
Here's an April 11, 1970 suitup photo of Swigert ready for launch !
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Good catch SpeedyPhill. I like the liberal use of duct tape on the suit utility connections.

Each astronaut assigned a mission had three suits custom fitted: the training suit (as shown in my mislabeled photo), a primary flight suit (per your photo) plus a backup. In the Gemini days, a novice astronaut would get their first inkling they were assigned a mission when they were ordered to the David Clark Company for a custom suit fitting.

Here is Ed White in his David Clark suit wearing the velcro band Speedmaster which sorta started the whole thing.

 

Here is the 2015 Christie's and Omega (pre-auction) Event where NASA engineer James Regan talks about how he wound up with the job of testing watches and how Omega found out that the Speedmaster was being used in space (I had always through the story was an urban legend). Video duration 10m 40s.

 

Great posts but may I remark that on Gemini IV, both astronauts Ed White and James McDivitt wore 2 Speedmaster chronographs
JUne 1965, McDivitt one on each wrist and Edward White wore two on his left forearm... so 4 Speedmaster in total
Not counting the flown boxes on Mir space station, the record number Speedmaster worn was on Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 = 11 pieces
I won't repost the photos, but will do a humble reminder in my June 2019 posts on MoonwatchUniverse
Otherwise take a look & scroll down towards the June 2017 contribution on MoonWatchUniverse which has a lot of Gemini IV NASA photos
https://moonwatchuniverse.tumblr.com/archive

 

I love to wear my Speedie with the velcro strap, but that's because I love the space program.

I have the standard Omega one which comes with the regular speedies, and the NASA replica from Kizzi. I really love the ones from Kizzi.

 

In honour of the Apollo II 50th anniversary I’m currently wearing the Velcro strap, it’s surprisingly comfortable

 

I always wear my Apollo 8 with a Kizzi strap. It feels much more comfortable than the included leather strap, and it's the closest I'll ever get to being an astronaut





Peter

 

I've been fighting with the included NASA and it's always too tight. The new one they have on the web has the right materials but is too tacky and Kizzi is out of stock. Anyone has a Kizzi the don't use anymore?

 

Kizzi hand-makes them in small batches, so any given style is out of stock most of the time. Your best bet is to click the "Email when available" button, and jump on it as soon as you're notified. He just made a new batch of one of the white styles, and it was gone in a couple of days.

As an alternative, if you know someone who can sew, he has the NASA specification drawings online too.

Peter

 

Thanks for this info, I did not know that shop; seems great, but currently closed for holidays... Reopened on 08/20.

 

Whelp

Thanks to this thread, I spent more money. I loved the look of the velcro Speedmaster Moonwatch strap (032CWZ011583) that some folks on this post own. Of course it is not on the Omega website anymore (ether out of stock or not sold anymore), My AD could not find anything with that part number on his end. I decided to call Swatch Group directly as you can order straps and spring bars directly from them and I have used them for my Longines watches.

They had one in stock and told me that this item has a back order refill time period of 8-12 weeks (probably why Omega does not have it listed on the site)

I don't have a moon watch (yet) but I think the strap will look nice on my schumacher Speedy

 

I can highly recommend gasgasbones, just wearing it for half a week now and comfy as f**k and incredibly cheap compared to Kizzi and omega.

 

Yeah, I noticed a week or so ago it was no longer on the Omega website. I got one a couple of months ago, good quality, fits well, and it works with the Speedmaster's image as the moonwatch. I normally don't like branded stuff, but I'll make an exception with the moonwatch due to its iconic status.

 

GasGasBones looks interesting for a velcro strap, but I need 21mm for my Co-Axial Speedmaster. Nobody seems to make them in 21mm width.