The Watch: In April 1970, the Apollo 13 mission suffered an oxygen tank explosion roughly 200,000 miles from Earth. The crew used the lunar module as a lifeboat and relied on a hand-held timing of a 14-second engine burn (timed by a Speedmaster) to correct their trajectory and make it home. NASA awarded the Apollo 13 mission team the Silver Snoopy Award, a peer-recognition honor named for the Peanuts character and given for outstanding contributions to mission safety. Omega received the award as the supplier of the timing equipment that helped save the crew. Tom Hanks was in there somewhere.
The 50th Anniversary Silver Snoopy Award commemorates that history. Released in 2020 to mark the 50 years since the Apollo 13 mission, this is one of the most thoroughly themed Speedmasters Omega has produced. The 42mm stainless steel case houses a silver dial with blue sub-counters, with Snoopy embossed on the small seconds counter. The blue ceramic bezel adds the color story.
The caseback is where the watch becomes something more than a static commemorative. A second disc beneath the sapphire shows an animated Snoopy in the command module orbiting the moon, synchronized with the chronograph, traveling the path of the Apollo 13 trajectory engraved on the caseback ring. The Earth rotates in time with the watch's second hand.
Inside is the Master Chronometer caliber 3861, Omega's modern hand-wound Speedmaster movement with co-axial escapement, silicon hairspring, and METAS certification (magnetic resistance to 15,000 gauss). 50-hour power reserve.
This 2021 example is in excellent condition with the full set.
