Race for space watches heats up

It has been 60 years since Nasa certified the Omega Speedmaster for space flight, immortalising the hand-wound chronograph design as one of the most consequential watches of the 20th century. As Omega observes this anniversary, a fresh wave of space-themed watches is sweeping the industry, driven by the proliferation in recent years of private space flight.

Some are more poetical than practical in nature, like Louis Vuitton’s Tambour Taiko Galactique. The 47mm titanium and white gold minute repeater features a set of animated elements on its dial: when the hour is struck, the astronaut plants his branded flag on the Moon, the satellite moves its solar panels and the shooting stars oscillate around the Sun. It is a seven-figure celebration of space flight, decorated with four different types of enamelling and about as far from tool-watch tech as it is possible to get.

Also operating in a fantasy sphere is Rado’s Diastar Original x Tej Chauhan, for which the British industrial designer drew inspiration from sci-fi movie Ad Astra, basing the watch’s oversized oval case on the astronaut helmet worn by Brad Pitt in the film. “My form language is about the ‘near future’,” Chauhan told Rado. “I was looking at AI futurescapes, and also happened to see a movie which featured a moonbase and some [gold-tinted] space helmets. This became the final inspiration.”

Most efforts are concerned with the future of space flight in a more hands-on sense, however. In 2024, IWC provided a set of four Pilot’s Chronographs to the crew of the Polaris Dawn, a mission operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX on behalf of entrepreneur Jared Isaacman. The flight was the first of three planned and carried out medical research during its five-day programme. IWC’s watches, in white ceramic chosen for its suitability for harsh environments, survived a spacewalk and were later sold at auction for charity.

Rado’s Diastar Original x Tej Chauhan

Louis Vuitton Tambour Taiko Galactique

Those looking to buy a watch that has actually travelled into space could also turn to German watchmaker Fortis, which has been revived under new management and is channelling its energy into space flight-approved designs. The brand says its number one goal is to create a watch worthy of being selected for a manned Mars mission, and it has been testing its watches with various space agencies and corporations in recent years.

In 2021, in partnership with the private telecoms and space flight company Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) it flew 13 of its in-house chronograph movements to a height of 30km. All were still functioning after landing by parachute in a remote Finnish forest. The following year it flew 13 Stratoliner watches to the edge of space aboard a rocket operated by SSC, and in 2024 Fortis provided modified versions of its Novonaut watch to the Amadee-24 mission, an Austrian-Armenian terrestrial project aimed at simulating life on Mars. The Stratoliner and Novonaut watches were offered for sale after the tests.

If a watch that has been approved by a major space agency is more your thing, but not tempted by Omega, there is always Micromilspec. The young Norwegian company has made its name by supplying hardy tool watches to workers in fields such as oil and gas and the military.

In 2023, it became the officially approved watchmaker to the US Space Force (USSF), the military division with overall responsibility for extraterrestrial security.

Micromilspec says it took two years of negotiation with the US government to be allowed to create the watch, but that it was not intended as a mission-critical tool, rather a “unit watch” for the USSF. “While we could have focused on building a ‘space-ready’ watch with advanced materials, that would have significantly increased the cost,” says chief executive Henrik Rye.

Fortis Novonaut

Micromilspec USSF

One man is focused on doing exactly that: former Nasa engineer and founder of start-up watch brand Barrelhand, Karel Bachand. Drawing on his team’s experience in 3D-printing and engineering, he has created a prototype watch, the Monolith EVA, components of which travelled to the Moon with US company Intuitive Machines in 2024 during its development.

Every element of a standard mechanical watch has been re-examined for its suitability for space flight, from how the crystal might shatter, to the increased shock resistance of the movement and even the design of a new stretchable strap, designed for use on space stations and EVA (extravehicular activity).

Omega, meanwhile, has not rested on its laurels. It makes the analogue-digital hybrid Speedmaster X-33, which is still certified for space flight and whose latest version is known as the Marstimer. The watchmaker also works with private enterprises, such as the Privateer programme, backed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, whose mission is to remove space debris.

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The ‘tell’ was the patch on Buzz Aldrin’s spacesuit / From Leo Enright, Space Commentator, Dublin, Ireland