It’s not every day you see an actual astronaut’s Omega Speedmaster. Perhaps the biggest Speedy trophy of all is the gold Apollo XI Omega Speedmaster replica watches for sale: The first 26 were given to astronauts to commemorate the first successful moon landing in 1969. (The first was given to President Nixon and the second to Vice President Agnew, who both had to turn them down.)
I saw one of these Apollo XI Speedmasters in person for the first time last year, when astronaut Michael Collins’ Apollo XI Speedy sold at Heritage Auction in June 2022 for $765,000, and it hit me for a bunch of reasons. A true piece of history.
But after that best Omega fake watches sold, something funny happened. Astronaut Wally Schirra’s gold Apollo XI Speedy showed up in October and sold for $1.9 million. Soon after that, Scott Carpenter’s Apollo XI Speedmaster came to market courtesy of dealer Eric Wind. Then last week, things got really nutty: The same auction house that sold Schirra’s brought three more of these astronaut Speedmasters to auction, from Gus Grissom’s family, Alan Bean, and Ron Evans. And it’s not over. Phillips just announced it’ll have Captain Pete Conrad’s Apollo XI Speedmaster (the commander of Apollo XII) at its Hong Kong sale next month.
That’s seven astronaut Apollo XI Speedies in the span of less than a year. Seven of only 26 (another eight or so were given to astronauts after the Apollo XI mission, meaning that about 34 of the 1,014 Apollo XI perfect UK Omega Speedmaster replica watches have genuine astronaut provenance; but still, seven of 34 is a lot).
It made me think: Is now the best time, or the worst time, to buy a gold Apollo XI Speedmaster?
The question could be answered in one of two ways. First, as a casual observer, and someone who writes about the oddities of our little world for a living, this is amazing! Only 26 of these exist in total, and we’ve seen seven of them, about 25 percent, in less than a year. If you happen to be a potential buyer, you also get the chance to evaluate each example and choose your favorite. Or if you’ve got a favorite astronaut, you can make a run at their Speedy.
On the other hand, does it take the novelty out of these Speedies, even just a little bit? After seeing six more parade to market after Collins’, it made me feel a bit like a fool for having been so moved when trying on Collins’ Swiss movements Omega Speedmaster copy watches last year.
There could even be some truth to this second perspective. Collins’ Speedmaster primed the pump – after selling at auction, I’m told the buyer (a well-known collector himself – think Talking Watches alum) quickly sold it again privately for about $1 million. And word got around. Then in October, Schirra’s Speedy set an auction record for luxury replica Omega Speedmaster Profesional watches when it sold for $1.9 million, the object of an intense bidding war between the Omega Museum and a high-profile collector.
But the trio that sold last week sold for decidedly less money: Bean’s for $302,500, Evans’ for $296,738. Grissom’s failed to meet its reserve at auction and I’m told it sold shortly after the sale via private treaty for about $375,000. It felt like collectors might be getting wholesale super clone Omega Speedmaster watches fatigue, even if these prices were still sky-high, surpassing the low end of the auction’s estimates, not to mention two or three times higher than results from just a few years ago.
To acknowledge the obvious: it’s kind of stupid to put three astronaut 1:1 replica Omega Speedmaster watches in the same auction back-to-back-to-back. It changes the narrative from a singular story about a heroic astronaut into one about how three of these Speedies are for sale at once, and isn’t that kind of odd? At least, that’s how I saw it – when Schirra’s sold last year I wrote about it before the sale, dug into Schirra’s life, and talked to the consignor, who knew Schirra personally. This time around though, the story was different.
First, Schirra’s Speedmaster hadn’t appeared at auction publicly before (nor had Collins’, coming from his estate after he died in 2021). As I’ve written before, a fresh-to-market watch can get even the most cynical of collectors excited. That consignor of Schirra’s was a known collector of space memorabilia and acquired the AAA China Omega fake watches from Schirra’s widow. Not only that, Schirra has long been an important figure in the watch community, known for wearing the “First Omega in Space,” CK 2998 during the Sigma 7 mission in 1962, before the Speedmaster was even NASA certified. All these factors contributed to that bidding war on auction day.
Meanwhile, Bean’s and Evans’ Speedmasters have both appeared at auction before, each selling for $50,000 in 2015 (here and here). Eight years later and the market seemingly primed after a few big results, these buyers were ready to move on and make a few bucks (nothing wrong with that). Big results have a way of pulling Omega replica watches shop out of the woodwork.
Grissom is perhaps the most well-known of these three astronauts – Omega awarded an Apollo XI Speedmaster to his family posthumously after Grissom died in Apollo I along with Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Even still, his watch failed to meet the reserve at auction.
An Astronaut’s Watch Is Still A Special Watch
I managed to find the two dealers/collectors who closed the private sale on Grissom’s watch post-auction. For them, their answer to my question – whether it’s a good or bad time to buy an Apollo XI Speedmaster – was easy: It’s a great time. They’re thrilled about the pickup and think it’ll prove to be a deal in the long run. They also viewed it as a positive that last year’s big results brought out these Swiss made fake Omega watches that might’ve otherwise stayed in private hands for a while longer.
They also said that, because of those results from the last couple Apollo XI Speedmasters, some bidders might’ve been scared away or just not taken the time to bid. The moral of the story? Always place a bid, you might get lucky.
I agree with them. Because even after seeing seven appear at auction in the span of less than a year, the Apollo XI Speedmaster is still objectively rare and cool. It’s my favorite Speedmaster, not only because it’s a big gold Speedmaster and those are always cool, but also because it was a real trophy for the astronauts who helped get us to the Moon.
I’ve heard of a couple more astronaut Apollo XI Speedmasters circulating that could appear at auction soon. But even if we’ve seen seven in the past year, it could be a while before we see any more astronauts’ Apollo XI Speedmasters after this deluge. There are still only 26. This could’ve been one of the last opportunities collectors had at some of the most important best quality replica Omega Speedmaster watches around.
Over the past few years, some market prices became briefly detached from reflecting what was truly rare and special and important and what wasn’t. But commemorative Omega Speedmaster replica watches for men given to astronauts after we successfully landed on the Moon? That’s always special.
