Throwback Thursday: Omega Speedmaster in Space

The Omega Speedmaster’s status as the first watch in space was not the result of any multi-million-dollar product placement deal. It was purely the choice of Astronaut Wally Schirra, who walked into a retail store in Houston shortly before the mission and picked out an Omega to wear in space. The 39.70mm watch had a brushed stainless steel case and was powered by the self-winding caliber 1861. The bezel had a black aluminum ring with a tachymeter scale. The mission, called the Mercury Atlas 8, was the fifth U.S. manned space mission, and took place in October 1962. Schirra orbited the earth six times in the Sigma 7 spacecraft in a nine-hour flight, the longest manned flight at the time for the U.S.