Fuglesang's Omega at auction

Text: Britta Rossander

It is time for Important Timepieces at Bukowskis. The top lot, according to Bukowskis, is Christer Fuglesang's space watch, Omega Speedmaster X-33, ”Space-Flown”. Eqotime’s Britta Rossander tells more.

Fuglesang wore his the watch during the journey with the space shuttle Discovery on the way to the space station ISS in 2009.

– It was Nasa that equipped us astronauts with this specific model, Fuglesang tells Bukowskis.

Usually these watches are only on loan. But the astronauts were offered the chance to buy them so that they could engrave them and wear them privately.

– I had STS-128/17A and my name engraved, Christer Fuglesang tells. 

Christer's watch has travelled (with him) 9 262 217 km which is 219 laps around the earth and was at most 350 km above the earth's surface.

Carl Palmgren at Bukopwskis points out that the watch belongs to the exclusive club of watches that have been out in space. But also that the case back is in perfect condition and tells that the NASA model was developed to meet the astronautss needs. Officially it was presented as as the Speedmaster Professionell X-33 or ”Mars Watch” in 1998. And the model was developed in close collaboration with among others the astronaut Thomas Stafford who was on Apollo X.

Mission 17A

On 28 August 2009 at 23:59 local time Fuglesang's space mission STS-128 (STS = Space Transformation System) started from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida. It ended 15 days later with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The space shuttle Discovery was docked with the space station ISS for 9 days.

The mission had the designation 17A, since Fuglesang's trip was the 17th American trip for the building of the space station. 

The auction

The Omega, Speedmaster X-33, ”Space-Flown” will be auctioned off at Bukowskis' auction ”Important Timepieces” on 10 November. The watch is in excellent condition since it has been kept in its original box together with the documents that came with it from the start.  

The estimate is 300 000 – 500 000 kronor. A thought that came immediately when I got the information was: why is he selling the watch? Surely it ought to be a treasure worth keeping? But regardless, now we all have the chance to own a watch that has really been out in space.

The viewing is 5-9 November in Bukowskis' premises at Berzelii Park 1, Stockholm.