Omega

On a beautiful Wednesday evening in Beverly Hills, the PuristSPro Team joined Omega and Vanity Fair to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with astronaut Buzz Aldrin.  The event was held at the Sheats-Goldstein House designed in the 1960's by architect John Lautner. 

 
We arrived early for the event and found the residence was nicely set up for the guests to arrive.  The photo area and walkway to the main courtyard had flooring that was printed with a moon landscape and the reproduction image of footsteps of Buzz Aldrin's walk on the moon.  This was great, it really set the atmosphere and made me feel the excitement and significance of the first manned lunar landing in history. 

On display on one end of the venue was a glass enclosed pieces of moon rock.  Against the wall were photos from the moon landing and the astronauts. 

And on the other side was a presentation by Omega with several historic Speedmaster watches (more on these in part 2).  However the highlight of the event is the Omega Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 45th Anniversary Limited Edition.  This Speedmaster watch is a limited edition of 1969 pieces and features a 42mm diameter case in brushed grey-colored titanium with 18k Sedna gold bezel and accents.  This bezel also has a matte black ceramic tachymeter scale.  The dial is blackened PVD and the overall watch has an interesting tint and has different tones of grey depending on lighting and angles. 

As the evening progressed, Buzz Aldrin made his appearance and toured the displays with the Omega staff.  I noticed that Mr. Aldrin wore a tie printed with the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury space mission patches. Of course on his left wrist he was wearing the new Omega Speedmaster Apollo 11 anniversary watch.

Next up in part 2 are more pictures and video.  Stay tuned!

Regards,
ED-209

 

This message has been edited by Dr No on 2014-07-22 14:30:31

I'm not sure that I would wear it but it is incredible!

Thanks Ed for the report, glad to see Mr Aldrin!

Fx

Thanks foversta.  It was my second time meeting Buzz Aldrin.  First time was back in 2009 when he had a book signing at the Louis Vuitton boutique at South Coast Plaza. 
Regards,
ED-209

It was the summer of '69!  On July 21, 1969 two U.S. astronauts became the first human beings to set foot on the surface of the moon.  And Omega was there to mark this historic occasion.  Buzz Aldrin followed astronaut Neil Armstrong during the space trip and spent over two hours on the moon.  Buzz Aldrin had an Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph strapped to his spacesuit.  To celebrate the 45th anniversary of this historic event, Omega created a limited edition of 1969 pieces for the 2014 Speedmaster Apollo 11 45th Anniversary.  My fellow moderator Kong recently posted nice pics in a separate post that shows the Lunar Module Apollo 11 and Buzz Alrin's Speedmaster strapped to his spacesuit.  Kong also posted some spectacular pics of prototype piece.  During the event there were several historic Omega timepieces on display in a translucent bubble.  I was able to take a few closeup pictures of the new 2014 Speedmaster Apollo 11 watch.
 


The commemorative Omega watch is fitted with a coated nylon NATO strap with a brushed titanium tang buckle.  The overall greyish tint of the titanium case and dark dial did make the watch look somewhat like the colors of the moon rock and I like how the colors changed in different lighting situations.   


I didn't have a chance to see the caseback, but I know that it's a solid caseback with the well known speedmaster seahorse logo engraved in the center and engraved with commemorative script. The movement is the Omega Caliber 1861 manual wind chronograph. 

 






A vintage 1970's Omega Speedmaster Chronograph Mark II with a Caliber 861 movement.

An Omega Speedmaster from 1966 with the Omega Caliber 321 movement.





The Omega Speedmaster 125 automatic chronometer was a limited edition of 2000 pieces.  The movement is the caliber 1041 and according to Omega was the world's first chronograph that was officially certified as a chronometer.

The Omega Speedmaster Professional limited edition created in 1987 moonwatch with a black dial and gilt-colored subdials.  The bezel is made of 14k gold with gold plated pushers and crown.  Another version of this watch was re-released in 1990 in a limited edition of 500 pieces to the Italian market .





The watch display area had a large screen presentation with Omega watches and pictures from Vanity fair showing many of the Omega brand ambassadors such as George Clooney and Helen Mirren.



And an Omega Speedmaster Professional X-33 from 1998.  This 42mm titanium cased quartz watch has a useful digital dial that can indicate the day, date, gmt, chrono, 24 hour scale, and alarm functions.  Or it can be turned off to look like a plain dial. 

Next up in part 3 is the event location and more pics with Omega and Buzz Aldrin.

Regards,
ED-209
  This message has been edited by ED209 on 2014-07-21 10:18:22

Thanks Ed!

Fx

Regards,
ED-209

. . . the Sheats-Goldstein house at the top of Benedict Canyon . . .

en.wikipedia.org ce

. . . offers a spectacular view of Los Angeles.

[Sheats-Goldstein back yard]

[W Los Angeles skyline]

A fitting venue to commemorate the moon landing forty-five years ago, almost to the day. 

. . . was there.  Referring both, of course, to the moon landing in '69 as well as the commemoration last Wednesday night in LA.

. . . wore a Speedmaster then as . . .

. . . now.   Did you say, "close-up"?

Yes, that's a Lunar Dust limited edition Speedmaster gracing his wrist.



www.omegawatches.com

. . . like they used to.  One of a handful of men . . .

. . . that have made the ultimate journey. 

His vessel inspired the latest special edition Speedmaster.  Titanium case . . .

. . . with red gold accents, reminiscent of the lunar module which carried Buzz on his voyage.

Many thanks to Omega for inviting Ed and yours truly.  Those who own Speedmasters realize how fortunate the two of us were to attend.  The chance to meet a living legend who put a legendary watch to the test was too good to pass up.

Cordially,

Art

Thanks Art for the pics.  Nice macro and close-up.  One of the guests sent me this photo of Buzz checking out his Omega!
Regards,
ED-209

 

Thanks for the report, look forward to Part3!

Thanks DRMW, I'll have part 3 up in just a sec, it was a fun event.
Regards,
ED-209

I didn't know that this iteration from 2014 had some anteriority!

Best,

Nicolas.

Much gratitude for this good information about this watch and range of products. Omega is best. This message has been edited by amorologi on 2014-07-21 22:35:03

Thanks Ed.

The event looked grand and wish we have a chance to meet Buzz Aldrin in this region.  Good to see all the vintage pieces too.

Looking forward to your Part 3.

Kong

Thanks Kong, Buzz has been traveling across the US for several events.  It was nice to see the vintage pieces too.  I need to stop by the Omega boutique soon to check out the production pieces of the Speedmaster Apollo 11.

Regards,

ED-209

The tennis court of the Sheats-Goldstein house was transformed into the event venue with beautiful Panoramic views of Los Angeles.

A lovely DJ spinning the tunes throughout the evening:




Pieces of moon rock on display for guests to see. This was a special treat to view close up.  I still remember visiting the American Museum of Natural History in New York and also the Smithsonian in DC where they also have displays of moon rocks collected by the astronauts during the Apollo lunar mission.




Bob Noss from Astronomical Journeys had a high power telescope that pointed out the clear blue skies above Los Angeles. 




There's an tablet app that is connected to the telescope and can show different planets, stars and other things in outer  space.  This telescope was pointed at Saturn which we could see when it got darker at night.

Later in the evening Buzz Aldrin spent some time viewing the skies through one of the high power telescopes.  I wonder if this telescope was pointed at the moon?  This is a excellent picture taken by one of the guests at the event:

The Tequila Moonrise was the specialty drink for the event.  First time that I've had blood orange soda mixed in with tequila.



This Omega and Vanity Fair Magazine event benefited the MAK Center for Art and Architecture. 


We enjoyed some delicious appetizers that were flowing steadily throughout the night.  Plenty of tasty appetizers like chicken quesadillas, mini burgers, coconut shrimp, risotto on crispy parmesan, and sesame ahi tuna.

The largest Omega Authorized Dealer here on the west coast is Chong Hing and the Lee Family was in attendance to join Omega representatives and Buzz Aldrin.  Here's a nice group picture. 



And two lucky guests that were treated to a special picture taken with Buzz Aldrin and Omega Brand President Gregory Swift.






I wanted to thank the wonderful staff at Omega for the invitation and the warm hospitality at this event.  It was great to see a living legend with a iconic watch. 

Regards,
ED-209

 

This message has been edited by ED209 on 2014-07-21 07:28:50

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Second best to being there

Thanks for the kind words and for reading the report.  I agree, that shot of Buzz looking at the moon through the telescope was great.  It was taken by a guest who was lucky enough to be on the golf cart ride from the parking area to the event.  And at the end of the night the guest even got to take a picture with Buzz!

Regards,

ED-209

ps - on the DJ pic

. . . to be at this event ;-) . . .