A Rolex watch that traveled to the Moon is going up for auction – and its price will be out of this world.
RR auction house is offering GMT-Master ‘Pepsi’ model watch that originally belonged to the late astronaut Edgar Mitchell – the sixth man to walk on the Moon.
Was put up for auction on the moon. RR Auction/SWNS
Photos show the Texas-born aviator’s famous watch, which he wore while piloting the Lunar Module on the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.
“This incredibly rare watch, part of Michel’s private collection, is one of only two Apollo-flight Rolex watches ever sold at auction,” writes RR Auction.
“A landmark timepiece, it symbolizes the intersection of human achievement and precise craftsmanship.”
The GMT-Master was Michel’s personal choice. Apollo astronauts were issued Omega Speedmaster Pro watches – although some chose to wear Rolex Chronometers.
Michelle wore both the distributed Rolex and her own ‘Pepsi’ model.
The watch gets its name ‘Pepsi’ from its iconic blue and red bevel. The design was a collaboration between Rolex and Pan American specifically to allow pilots to track both local time and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
The watch is also inscribed: “Worn by the Commander.” E. Mitchell on Apollo 14, 1971, To Carlin – My Daughter.”
According to RR Auction, the value of the watch will be increased by the personal nature of the item.
The bidding is currently around $60,000, but the auction house expects it to rocket through the stratosphere to end up somewhere north of $400,000. The lot will close on October 24th.
Mitchell was instrumental in saving the crew of Apollo 13’s disastrous flight – after that mission’s module’s electrical systems were compromised. The astronaut was credited with figuring out from the ground how the crew could operate their mostly inefficient spacecraft.
In 1970, Mitchell was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon for his life-saving actions.
Upon returning from the Moon in 1971, Mitchell Will describe a spiritual revelation Which changed the direction of his life.
“I realized that the molecules of my body and the molecules of the spacecraft were formed in an ancient generation of stars,” Mitchell famously explained.
He described revelation as a “subjective inner experience accompanied by ecstasy”. He later wrote of the Moon, “The stillness suggests that the landscape itself had been patiently awaiting our arrival for millions of years.”
Michel would go on to discover Noetic Sciences InstituteA non-profit scientific research center “and direct experience laboratory” that focuses on the intersection of “science and intense human experience.”
He also believed in UFOs – appearing in a series of John Podesta emails released by WikiLeaks, in which he advocated He releases federal government records on Podesta (himself a UFO believer) alien contact and “zero point energy”.
Mitchell died in West Palm Beach, Florida on February 4, 2016, at the age of 85.
