Watches, Stories, and Gear: an Astronaut’s Stolen Speedmaster, the Apollo 11 Broadcast, the Song of the Summer of ’69, and More

“Watches, Stories, and Gear” is a roundup of some of our favorite watch content on Worn & Wound, great stories from around the web, and cool gear that we’ve got our eye on.

This installment of “Watches, Stories, and Gear” is brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop.

WORN & WOUND
ASTRONAUT DONN EISELE’S STOLEN SPEEDMASTER FOUND AFTER NEARLY 30 YEARS MISSING

Storied watches going missing are always a point of fascination for collectors. One such watch story revolves around the Speedmaster worn by NASA astronaut Donn Eisele, who flew on the Apollo 7 Mission. Eisele, like many other NASA astronauts, wore an issued Speedmaster on his wrist, and in 1989, two years after Eisele’s passing, the watch was stolen from a display at the Instituto Geográfico Militar in Quito, Ecuador (the watch was on loan from the Smithsonian). An investigation was launched, but the thief was never found. That is, until a few years back.

READ THAT STORY HERE

THE SONG OF THE SUMMER OF ’69
“IN THE YEAR 2525” BY ZAGER & EVANS

50 years ago, during the summer of the moon landing, there was one song the dominated the Billboard 100 charts. Titled “In the Year 2525,” the track was written by a band called Zager & Evans, and it was their only hit. Ironically, with the moon landing showing humanity at its best, the song of the summer took a more dystopian, and some might say prescient, view of the future. Listen to the single above, and you can read a very brief interview with Mr. Zager in the the WSJ here. 

CBS
BROADCAST OF THE APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING

CBS streamed their 1969 coverage of the Apollo 11 moon launch and landing in its entirety, in which legendary newsman Walter Cronkite broadcasts the mission to living rooms all across America. If you’re too young to have lived during the launch, or if you just want to relive the wonder of that moment, then check out that coverage in the stream above.

ESQUIRE
MICHAEL COLLINS IS THE FORGOTTEN ASTRONAUT OF APOLLO 11. HE’S PERFECTLY FINE WITH THAT.

A few days ago, I was watching a program where the presenter incorrectly stated that Buzz Aldrin is the only living astronaut from the Apollo 11 mission. He quickly corrected his error and reminded people that Michael Collins, who orbited the moon as his colleagues walked it, is alive and well. Esquire recently had a short feature on Mr. Collins, in which he answers the questions he gets asked the most: “God, you got so close to the moon and you didn’t land. Doesn’t that really bug you?”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

FISHER
SPACE PEN 

The original Space Pen was conceived in July, 1948 by Paul Fisher. The idea was to create a pen with ink that would not be exposed to air or rely on gravity, that would never leak or dry up over time, and that wrote underwater and in extreme temperatures. After two years of testing, the Fisher Space Pen was approved by NASA and accompanied the Apollo 7 astronauts into space, so go out and get yourself a piece of astronaut kit.

SHOP HERE

HASSELBLAD
907X SPECIAL EDITION CAMERA

Hasselblad was the camera of the Apollo 11 mission, capturing the now iconic images from the 1969 moon landing.

The three cameras taken on the mission were:

• A silver Hasselblad Data Camera (HDC) used by Armstrong to shoot on the lunar surface.
• A black Hasselblad Electric Camera (HEC) used from inside the Eagle lunar module.
• And another black HEC used by Astronaut Michael Collins aboard the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit.

Collins’ camera was the one that made it back to earth, and in celebration of the brand’s connection to the moon landing and that camera in particular, Hasselblad is releasing the 907x Special Edition. It’s a 50 MP medium format camera with a huge dynamic range of 14 stops, and comes in a matte black housing that’s sleek and modern.

IT’S NOT AVAILABLE YET, BUT YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT IT HERE

GASGASBONES
V207 NASA STRAP

The NASA velcro straps that cinched Speedmasters over space suits are stuff of legend at this point, so it’s no surprise that there are numerous options for recreations out there. One of the best comes from the UK’s GasGasBones, who builds his straps to original NASA spec. Because it’s a small operation, GasGasBones regularly closes shop to fulfill orders, so keep an eye on the site for when they’re taking orders again if you want to snag one.

SHOP HERE