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Randolph, NJ—I may be giving away too much information here, but I remember watching the televised landing of the Apollo 11 lunar module in 1969, and the next day’s adventurous steps as two astronauts descended the ladder of the module and stepped foot on the moon’s surface. I was a kid, on vacation with my family at a lakeside resort in Vermont. The resort set up hundreds of chairs out on the long wooden porch under the late night sky and a huge television set … remember- this was 1969 – so that all by itself was a big deal! From those chairs, under the starry sky, we watched the incredible breakthrough man made. I was a kid. Maybe I didn’t realize just how monumental that landing and walk was. But today, when I look back, I am so grateful to have witnessed it.

July 20 and 21 marked the 45^th anniversary, respectively, of the first lunar landing and our first giant leap for mankind—Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first steps on the moon.

Time played a critical role in the space program, and so did timepieces. The leading role in the NASA space flights and the walk on the moon was played by Omega, as it was the official watch of NASA, having undergone rigorous testing over the course of many months. The astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission were equipped with Omega Speedmaster watches.

Now, as we celebrate the 45th anniversary, Omega – along with brand ambassador Buzz Aldrin — releases a new Speedmaster Professional Apollo 11 45th Anniversary Limited Edition watch. Events to celebrate the launch were held in Los Angeles and in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center, from which Apollo 11 was originally launched. Both events the evening commemorated the history of the original, now iconic, OMEGA Speedmaster Professional “Moonwatch,” which Dr. Aldrin wore on his spacesuit during the legendary mission.

The new limited edition timepiece—just 1,969 pieces—recalls the colors of the moon and the Apollo 11 lunar and command modules.  It features a 42 mm brushed grey grade 2 titanium cases with a touch of gold.  The black PVD dial, with its 30-minute and 12-hour recorders and small seconds sub-dial, has been produced using a special laser, which creates the design elements on the watch’s face by removing the material surrounding the name, sub-dial numerals and hour markers.

If you can’t get your hands on one of the limited-edition commemorative watches, Omega’s Dark Side of the Moon watch (read more here) is an all-black, all-ceramic (case, dial, buckle, pushers) Omega Co-Axial Speedmaster that salutes the pioneering spirit and pays homage to the Speedmaster Professional chronographs worn by Apollo astronauts.

This article was excerpted from Naas’s blog, atimelyperspective.com. To read the article in its entirety, click here. Images courtesy atimelyperspective.com.