
Charles Dower
Head of sale, Knightsbridge
£25,000 - £35,000
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On the 17th of July 1975, in the depths of the Cold War, space became the meeting point of two of the space faring nations, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Every Astronaut and Cosmonaut were equipped with an Omega Speedmaster Professional and in the case of Alexey Loenov, two. To celebrate this, in 1976 the Jeweller De Marchi of Turin took delivery of a group of special celebratory Apollo Soyuz watches with the mission badge on the dial and a special embossed case back depicting the Saturn Rocket on a map of the world. The back was also lightly engraved with the limited edition number, an I for Italy and an Ω.
The present watch was bought new in 1980 at a large discount when it is possible that the Italian market was a difficult place to sell this particular piece. It was soon inherited by the present owner who left it unused in a draw for many years and only sporadically wearing it. For this reason, the dial is in excellent condition with virtually no UV damage.
Very few of these original pieces were created and they have been celebrated ever since with anniversary editions being produced at 20, 25 and 30 years.