Moon watch flies at auction

A 1960s wristwatch that has been with the same owner since new has sold at Glasgow auction house McTears for £48,000 following an intense bidding war that spanned the globe.

The rare Omega Speedmaster Professional Pre-Moon chronometer is believed to be one of only 50 watches fitted with prototype parts made by the Swiss watchmaker.  The Speedmaster has a long and illustrious heritage and was chosen by NASA for space travel because of its robust nature.

When the timepiece was listed for sale by McTear’s Auctioneers it immediately drew the attention of international collectors, with the winning telephone bid on the day coming from a collector in Hong Kong.

Unlike other pre-moon editions, this particular Speedmaster stands out as one of the rarest due to its distinctive baton hour markers. The watch, which has a 44mm stainless steel screw back case and 321 manual wind movement, is fitted with a steel strap and was sold complete with original papers.

Although the seller, who wishes to remain anonymous, was aware that it was a high quality watch he didn’t quite appreciate how important the piece was until collectors from as far afield as Switzerland, the USA, Italy and Hong Kong started bidding.

Brian Clements, Managing Director at McTear’s, said, “Although we have sold many fine watches over the years there is no doubt that this Omega is something extra special. The owner knew that he had a rare timepiece but he got quite a surprise when the bids started to rise from collectors across the world. He is absolutely delighted with the incredible price that was finally achieved.”