'Ed White' 105.003-65 Omega Speedmaster

Ed Whites are a category of watch which don’t really exist anymore. This was a humble tool made to serve a purpose with a calibre 321, decidedly not a luxury product. It filled its role admirably and as such became named after the man who accomplished the first American spacewalk. Otherwise, we’d be calling this the 105.003. And we know that real-life kind of marketing worked, because this watch was purchased a few years after the actual spacewalk by its seller's father on vacation in Bermuda. It comes with a letter detailing all this, and that’s pretty incredible.

The 105.003 has been the basis of numerous releases since, it’s one of those historic references that’s so good not even modern Omega can do better today. Why? First, there’s the history, which most of you will be familiar with. In case you’re not, this is not a Moonwatch. It’s a pre-moon space watch, worn by its namesake during the first-ever historic space walk on Gemini IV. It was worn on that space walk because it was tool that simply did the job better than any of the other watches NASA tested (including Wittnauers and Cosmographs). Compared to their manual Daytona peers, early Speedmasters have an equally captivating story and significantly more approachable value. It’s a win-win. But examples like this are the outlier: with known history back to its original purchase, coming right from the family.

The straight lug speedmaster case has had a bit of a resurgence in recent years, not only from collectors realizing how much more special these vintage examples are to wear, but also from Omega themselves in reissues. While not insubstantial at 39mm, it wears considerably more diminutive than the 42mm Professional cases. And that really matters. The Ed White was the last straight-lug pre-moon reference, but with the handset and layout we recognize today. It’s something of a goldilocks in 321 collecting, and Ed’s own contribution is just icing on that already well-built cake. But it was still in the era where everything was informal. There were no flight qualified Speedmasters in 1965. It was just the best tool for the job, without much marketing machine. And that proved to be enough. Think how different the watch world would be if that weren’t the case. What a chronograph.

This example appears as great as they come. It's a Narrow T dial, with golden tritium. There is very minor loss in pinprick size on hands, to be expected of this age. The bezel, crown, and bracelet all check out. It comes with a typed letter from the son of its original purchaser detailing its life, signed, and an Extract of Archive confirming that it was indeed sold it Bermuda, all from a well-regarded Omega focused retailer.