Buzz Aldrin

The story

Neil Armstrong left his Speedmaster inside the lunar module as a backup for a failed cabin timer, so the chronograph on Aldrin's wrist during the July 1969 moonwalk became the first watch worn on the Moon. Years later, on its way to the Smithsonian, the watch vanished in transit — it has never been found.

Facts

• NASA flight-qualified the Speedmaster in 1965 after tests that destroyed every competitor.
• The hand-wound 'Moonwatch' is still in Omega's catalog today, largely unchanged.