The watch, and the moondust-stained velcro strap that he used to hold both the Omega and Bulova chronographs to his spacesuited arm, then sat inside a safety deposit box for 40 years. He was also the first and only astronaut in history to wear a personal watch on the surface of the moon. Scott expressed that he is planning to donate a portion of the profits to education of America’s next batch of astronauts. It’s an unbelievable privilege and unsafe task that only several people have ever undertaken.
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Moreover, the Apollo 15 mission began on July 26, 1971, and ended on August 7.
Pieces of equipment worn on Earth’s natural satellite, however, are generally considered government property. On December. 15, Christie’s in New York is auctioning an Omega Speedmaster that flew on board the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The watch in question is a Bulova Chronograph, which Commander Scott had to wear after his officially issued Omega chronograph was damaged while conducting experiments on the Moon. However, on his second lunar walk, the hesalite crystals on the NASA timepiece had loosened. Accompanying the sale is a detailed five-page letter from Scott describing the mission and saying: “Among the decisions I made, the monitoring of time was perhaps the most important”.
Astronaut Dave Scott wore a Bulova Chronograph during his 1971 voyage to the moon.
The Apollo 15 mission was Scott’s last lunar flight where the crew found the 4.5-million-year-old Genesis Rock, one of Apollo program’s most famous rocks.
Dave Scott, the commander of the Apollo 15 mission, wore the watch while he was sent to the Moon on a manned lunar mission in 1971. After an intense bidding war, a Florida businessman secured the space-worn timepiece at the auction.
According to RR Auction, the victor collects “unique, one-of-a-kind items”, which is what attracted him to the watch. In 2001, Astronaut Charles Conrad’s cuff checklist sold for $1.3 million.
As the only American-made watch that was ever worn on the Moon, the whopping price rose to unexpected amounts. The auction house estimated its worth will go just past $750,000, but it managed to surpass all their expectations.
An exceptionally rare watch worn by an American astronaut on the Moon which bears remnants of lunar material has sold for more than $1.6 million, a USA auction house said Friday.
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It’s a true testament of how ordinary objects can become extraordinary given its owner and the point in time when it was used.
