Omega watches have a role all of their own in First Man, the Universal Pictures film that premieres today in the USA.
After the resounding success of La La Land, which won six Academy Awards®, the oscar-winning duo of director Damien Chazelle and actor Ryan Gosling team up again in First Man, which tells the story of the first manned lunar mission, around the central character of Neil Armstrong and the ten-year build-up to the historic Apollo 11 mission. The story is told from Armstrong's point of view based on the accounts in James R. Hansen's book. In the shadow of the triumph, the film illustrates the cost (for Armstrong, his family, his colleagues and an entire nation) of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
Given their knowledge of Omega's unrivalled tradition in space exploration, the team behind First Man naturally chose the brand's watches for the Apollo astronauts and other characters.
In 1964, as part of its developing aerospace programme, NASA was looking for a watch that could be used on all manned space missions. A number of brands submitted their models for a barrage of tests, but only the Omega Speedmaster withstood them all. It was thus officially declared "Flight Qualified for all Manned Space Missions" on 1st March 1965.
Omega therefore became the only watch supplier for NASA's manned spaceflight programme. Its watches were used right up until the last Mercury missions, as well as on the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz programmes. The Speedmaster is still used on space missions today and is used for keeping time on board the International Space Station.
For this reason, the Omega Speedmaster became the first watch to be worn on the moon in 1969 on the Apollo 11 mission. For the filming of First Man, Omega supplied original Speedmasters and other watches from the period. The following models appear in the film:
Omega Speedmaster ST 105.003
Ryan Gosling wears this watch when his character is training for the Apollo mission at NASA. This is the same model that astronaut Ed White wore on the first American space mission on 3rd June 1965 as part of the Gemini project.
Omega Speedmaster ST 105.012
The legendary Moonwatch is worn by the Apollo 11 astronauts during their mission and on their historic moon landing.
Omega CK 2605 wristwatch
A model from 1954 worn by Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in the film.
Omega stopwatch
A stopwatch from the 1960s used by NASA engineers during training. Through its role as an official timekeeper of the Olympic Games, Omega has acquired considerable experience in sports timekeeping and timekeeping instruments.
