Omega held its official worldwide celebration for the 60th anniversary of the Speedmaster in London this week.
The star-studded event at the Tate Modern welcomed guests of honour George Clooney and Buzz Aldrin for an evening themed as “Lost in Space”, a reference to the Speedmaster’s history of being worn by pioneering space explorers.
Key retailers from around the world were invited to the event, which presented 60 important Speedmaster models from 1957 to 2017.
The Speedmaster has been worn by astronauts, Air Force pilots, explorers, athletes and actors, as well as a growing community of fans from all around the world over the past 60 years.
Most famously, as part of Apollo 11 in 1969, Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the lunar surface and, in that moment, the Omega Speedmaster became the first watch ever worn on the moon.
48 years later, Mr Aldrin described the experience: “We weren’t scared. More so, we were proud to have been able to represent everyone and to have the skills and the knowledge to carry out something that was very meaningful to us as astronauts, of course, but also to so many other people.”
Mr Clooney, a brand ambassador for Omega, added: “Speedmasters were a big part of my growing up. My uncle and my father, we all had them because it was such a big part of the moon landing. And it was huge in our lives. My father gave me, as my graduation present, a Speedmaster. There’s every reason to love them because they’re elegant watches. But I also love them because of the history.”
Other guests at the London event included American actress Liv Tyler; British singer Ellie Goulding; French actress Clemence Poesy; British actress Joely Richardson; British singer Pixie Lott; American model Arizona Muse; British model Erin O’Connor; British model David Gandy; British actress Laura Carmichael; British model Amber Le Bon; Influencer Camille Charriere; Model and influencer Oliver Cheshire; British model Toby Huntington-Whitely; Celebrity chef Marcus Wareing; British boxer David Haye; British Olympic Games swimmer Adam Peaty; And Chinese actress Liu Shishi.