Both, the 321 and 861 went to the moon! (long)

Posted By: Michael Stein (Cologne-Germany) <tz@moonwatch.de>

Date: 9/22/1 - 20:34:19

There have been a lot of guesses, if the Speedmaster cal. 321 or its successor or maybe both have been used in space missions.

It's not necessary to speculate about it. There is no secret and everything is outlined by Marco Richon in his "Omega Saga". He is referring to that question in several places, but the most detailed passage is the following:

"On peut ici se poser la question de savoir pourquoi les premiËres Speedmasters portÈes sur la Lune seront ÈquipÈes du calibre 321 et non pas de son successoeur. C'est tout simplement parce qu'elles auront dÈjý ÈtÈ dšment testÈes par la NASA, ce qui ne sera pas encore le cas de suivantes. Celles-ci prendront progressivement le relais au dÈbut des annÈes septante."

My French is not the best and even worse than my English, however, I tried it and it gives you at least an idea:
"One could ask for the reason why the first Speedmasters which went to the moon were equipped with the caliber 321 and not with its successor. The answer is quite simple: Because they already had been regularly tested by the NASA, which was not yet the case with the successors. Those were gradually brought in from the early 70's on."

Marco Richon is referring to the to the strong rules set up by NASA's Flight Crew Support. Once tested and certified it was impossible for the supplier and everybody else to replace a watch or even a single part of it.
The "System and Component Historical Record" was virtually a record for everything what happened to/with the watch. He gives an example:

"Homologation et service aprËsvente: La Flight Crew Support Division du Centre des missions spatiales habitÈes Èdite en novembre une reglementation trÈs dÈtailÈe sur le procÈdures ý appliquer lors de l'homologation et de l'entretien des Speedmaster. Il est entre autres prÈvu que chaque piËce doit Ítre soumise ý un examen systÈmatique tous le six moins, que chaque nouvelle montre doit Ítre complËtement dÈmontÈe et nettoyÈe que les manipulations du mouvement ou de la boÓte doiventse faire avec des gants nylon (blancs!) pour Èviter tout contamination corporelle, que les mÍmes lubrifiants d'origine doivent Ítre utilisÈs durant tout la durÈe de vie de la montre, et qu'un "Journal de bord" doit Ítre Ètabli pour chaque chronographe individuel."

I try it again (forgive me):
"Homologation and maintenance: The Flight Crew Support Division of the Space Missions Center had published a very detailed regulation ( in November?) on the applicable procedures for the homologation and maintenance of the Speedmaster. It's inter alia required that
- each part must be subjected to a systematic examination every 6 months,
- that each new watch must be completely dismantled and cleaned,
- that any handling of the movement or the case must be done with (white!) nylon-gloves to avoid any particular contamination,
- that the same original lubricants must be used during the entire lifespan of the watch and
- that a "Log Book" must be drawn up for each chronograph individually."

The way Marco Richon is reporting about the question which version actually was used for the missions, shows IMO, that Omega wasn't too comfortable with the idea that a watch would be part of an important PR-campaign which in fact wasn't available any longer. I'm quite sure they had liked to provide NASA with the more recent version. Maybe this is the reason, why a detailed information is so thin?

But from all that I'm quite sure Omega used the first chance to change or heal that and to replace the moonwatch. And that was the case in year 1972 when the official supplier had to undergo the second test series with regard to the "Buy American Act" of 1933 forced by Bulova. For me the main evidence is that Omega changed to another case manufacturer, the Star Watch Case Co., Michigan, which Omega acquired only some time later. The change to a domestic manufacturer and a local casement was neccessary to comply to the requirements of that Act. (Also the competitor, Bulova, wasn't able to provide a bigger stake of home-made production).
Another point which supports my assumption is that Omega also took the chance to present NASA the new Speedmaster Mark II . They had to draw back this model, but only due to the mineral crystal it had.

Anyway - those huge changes in production have been more than appropriate, IMO, to equippe the Speedmaster with the latest movement, the caliber 861. Now the Moon Watch was in line with the actually produced and offered Omega models. Marco Richon describes that movement inter alia as an improvement which was better, more accurate and cheaper to produce than the older one. (Well - :-)) - I wouldn't agree with him in some places).

After all I'm quite sure the ST 145.022 has been the Moon Watch from 1972 on.

Best regards,
Michael

Messages in This Thread
Back to top of page | Return to Time Zone Home Page
Copyright © 2001-2004 A Bid Of Time, Inc., All Rights Reserved
E-mail: info@TimeZone.com