For the first time ever, Neil Armstrong’s commemorative gold perfect Omega Speedmaster super clone watches is coming to auction, offering a rare chance to own a watch that belonged to (and was often worn by) the first man ever to walk on the moon. With a whopping $2,000,000+ estimate, the watch will be sold by RR Auctions live at the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at 6 PM ET on April 17, 2025. Omega has confirmed the watch’s authenticity, and its specific provenance is bolstered by several images of Armstrong wearing the watch over the years.
Omega originally made 28 commemorative 18k gold Swiss made replica Omega Speedmaster watches, the ref. BA145.022. The first two were meant to be gifted to President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (though they had to decline), with the next twenty-six to be presented to NASA astronauts at a gala dinner on November 25, 1969, at the Hotel Warwick in Houston.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong – you know, the first man to walk on the moon – was given watch number 17, with a caseback that reads “to mark man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time” and “Gemini 8 – Apollo 11.” More watches were eventually made for the general public (numbers 33 to 1000) and came with a caseback commemorating Apollo 11 and the UK 1:1 super clone Omega Speedmaster watches‘ history as “the first watch worn on the moon.”
I’m quite familiar with this cheap fake Omega watches. In 2022 – before joining Hodinkee – I connected with the now-consignor while looking at some vintage pocket watches. The consignor asked me for my advice on where to take the watch or who might be the best potential buyers.
I made a few introductions, but my understanding is that the sale never went through despite receiving a few offers. Unfortunately, the market for these watches – and vintage Omegas in general – went through a lot of upheaval around the same time. Eventually, I lost touch with the owner until recently, when he reached out to tell me he’d be selling the watch publicly.
The chance to own top Omega Speedmaster super clone watches owned by Neil Armstrong—or, more specifically, an incredible commemorative piece of history not just with his name on it but frequently worn by him—is a compelling opportunity for collectors, some of whom I talked to on background. However, the current state of the market and how this watch will perform against its estimate remain unknown.
In November 2021, Speedmaster reference 2915-1 set a record as the most expensive Omega ever sold. Later, it became a central piece in allegations of wide-ranging fraud perpetrated (again, allegedly) by the former head of the Omega Museum and Brand Heritage. Phillips and Omega have claimed they were both victims of the scheme, and the related court cases are ongoing.
Less than a year later, in June 2022 – before the news about the alleged fraud – a private collector was the winning bidder for the first notable post-COVID sale of one of the 26 solid gold Swiss movements copy Omega Speedmaster watches, this one worn by Astronaut Michael Collins, who piloted the Apollo 11 command module Columbia while Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the surface of the moon. The achieved price of $765,000 was a record for the reference.
In November 2022, the gold Speedmaster gifted to Astronaut Walter “Wally” Schirra was sold at RR Auction in New Hampshire for $1,906,954, including the buyer’s premium. Whoever bought it (it isn’t clear if this was the Omega museum or a private collector) was probably keen to own a watch tied to the Mercury 8, Gemini 6, and Apollo 7 astronaut and the first person to wear super clone Omega Speedmaster watches UK online in space.
However, the market quickly fell off due to various factors. One was the legal drama and uncertainty surrounding the vintage Omega market. Another was the fact that the market quickly flooded. RR Auction brought three more astronauts’ Speedmasters to market soon after, fetching from around $300,000 to $375,000.
Around the same time, Eric Wind offered Astronaut Scott Carpenter’s watch for a whopping $1.5 million (though the watch was quietly removed from the site after a short time). The AAA Omega replica watches later sold for $150,000 at Heritage Auctions – one-tenth of the original asking price. Phillips also sold an astronaut Speedmaster for just shy of $180,000.
Regardless, the Armstrong Speedmaster is an interesting proposition and auction to follow. Armstrong left his NASA-issued Speedmaster in the lunar module as a backup to their digital timers, and Buzz Aldrin wore his Speedmaster on the moon’s surface. Both 2025 cheap Omega super clone watches belong to NASA, and while Aldrin’s was reportedly lost in transit en route to the Smithsonian, Armstrong’s flight-worn Speedmaster is on display at the National Air and Space Museum. That makes this (to the best of my knowledge) the first and maybe only chance to own a Speedmaster owned by the first man to walk on the moon.
Unlike many other commemorative gold Speedmasters that have come to market, this one isn’t offered directly by the family. Yet, there’s no doubt this is the real deal as the watch comes with an “Extract from the Archives” from Omega. Even more so, the Omega fake watches for sale has the blessing of Neil Armstrong’s son, Mark, and half the hammer price will be donated to charities selected by Mark Armstrong.
Compared to “the Schirra,” which was nearly new-old-stock, the Armstrong shows a life well-worn. The red bezel has faded, and the case is scratched. The back features a deep gouge from where someone likely tried to use the wrong tools to open the caseback. The Armstrong doesn’t come with the commemorative box or anything that would have come with the 1:1 quality super clone Omega watches during the presentation. And yet, I found the condition pretty charming. That, plus the pictures of Armstrong wearing the watch, made it all the more special when I got to wear Armstrong’s Speedy a few years ago.
“This watch, which my father liked to wear on special occasions, symbolizes one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of mankind,” said Mark Armstrong, son of the late astronaut, in a statement provided by the auction house. “A substantial portion of the proceeds from the sale of this watch will benefit charitable causes my father believed in, furthering the impact that he and many other Americans made to humanity more than half a century ago.”
I spoke with a few collectors who still spend large sums on vintage Omega. Watches like Alaska Project prototypes and rare space-worn Speedmasters not belonging to NASA can still reach serious prices. However, multiple collectors told me they were unsure of the price of the Omega super clone watches shop it could fetch – it could be a few hundred thousand or multiple millions.
One collector I spoke with said that, from their perspective (as an owner of astronaut Speedmasters), a gold watch from an astronaut, any average astronaut, is worth $200,000, and “the rest is just air – it’s emotional value.” The emotional value of a watch from Neil Armstrong is probably pretty high. That same collector told me they thought the Omega replica watches site would do much better at the RR Auction than any of the big watch auction houses. “RR Auction is a memorabilia auction house and is the right place for space memorabilia.” Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos getting involved isn’t far from the realm of possibility, and prices could go – to use a pun – to the moon.
There’s already some buzz around the luxury China super clone Omega watches. Whether it sets a record is partially up to whether Omega decides to reenter the market as a buyer for the museum after its hiatus or the more significant “X-factor” of space collectors. Space collectors have a history of paying massive sums for even small objects tied to Apollo XI. Though the unresolved court cases may have caused upheaval at the museum and heritage department, it’s hard not to see a watch belonging to Neil Armstrong as having a major appeal to the brand, which owns both Nixon and Agnew’s examples. Otherwise, there will certainly be some level of fight among watch and space collectors alike.