First Rolex Moon Watch Is Leaving the U.S.A.

Edgar Mitchell. (Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)

The first Rolex moon watch, which is also the first watch on the moon to be self-winding, was sold yesterday. The astronaut's daughter had the Rolex GMT-Master consigned with Boston-based RR Auction.

The auction house told Coronet that 16 bidders from four continents participated in the auction. The final price reached $2,165,198.75 when including the buyer's premium ($1,730,559 without).

Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell's Rolex GMT-Master 1675 worn on the Apollo 14 mission was only the second time a Rolex moon watch had been auctioned off. The other time was in 2009, when Apollo 17 Command Module Pilot Ron Evans' Rolex GMT-Master was sold for $131,450. Evans’ watch was bought by Rolex.

"[Mitchell’s daughter Karlyn] wasn't eager to consign it. It was very sentimental to her," Bobby Livingston, Executive Vice-President at RR Auction, told Coronet. “But she understood it had incredible value and it should get into the hands of the next generation of watch collectors and institutions that are going to take care of it.”

The auction house was not allowed to confirm whether Rolex bought Mitchell's watch. But “the winning bidder, who wishes to remain anonymous, was an international buyer,” Livingston said.

Coronet’s coverage: Mystery Surrounds Edgar Mitchell's Other Moon Watch … Did Mitchell Actually Wear His Rolex on the Moon? … Was Mitchell's GMT a Gift From Rolex? … Don't Bother Bidding on This Watch. Rolex Will Likely Buy It

Mystery Surrounds Edgar Mitchell's Other Moon Watch

As the auction of a Rolex GMT-Master that flew on Apollo 14 will likely top $1 million this week, video archives now reveal NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell may have brought another personal watch to the moon though few agree on what it is.

An unearthed footage of Mitchell suiting up captures the astronaut putting the mystery watch on his left wrist. The NASA-issued Omega Speedmaster was worn higher, above the suit sleeve, and the GMT-Master on his right wrist.

Philip Corneille, a space-watch expert who runs the Moonwatch Universe blog, told me the third watch may be another Rolex, a GMT-Master “Rootbeer” 1675/3, while watch spotting expert Nick Gould believes the cream-color-dial piece doesn't look like a Rolex.

The Rolex GMT-Master currently being auctioned was a gift from the astronaut to his daughter, Karlyn Mitchell, who is now consigning the piece with RR Auction. The mystery watch is likely in the possession of his other biological daughter, Elizabeth, and could come to auction soon.

When I asked RR Auction about Mitchell's other timepiece, Executive Vice-President Bobby Livingston told me, “I've not been approached about the second watch.”

According to the Apollo 14 Mission Onboard Voice Transcription recorded on the Command Module, Mitchell said at 23:53:08 on the ninth day: “Just a minute, I can't get my watch.” That prompted mission commander Alan Shepard to say: “You got so many watches, you can't pull your arm up.”

(Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)

Auction Twist: Did Mitchell Actually Wear His Rolex on the Moon?

NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell. (Credit: NASA)

When RR Auction sold Dave Scott’s Bulova for $1.6 million in 2015, the Boston-based auction house wrote the astronaut's personal watch had been worn on the moon. After all, a letter by Scott himself certified of such a fact.

But in one of the most important auctions of a Rolex GMT-Master that is closing next week, on Oct. 24, RR Auction is stopping short of saying so. The Edgar Mitchell Rolex GMT-Master 1675 listing indicates the watch was "worn on the Apollo 14 mission" and that Mitchell "wore this GMT-Master to the moon along with his Omega." The listing doesn't say whether the watch was actually worn on the moon.

I asked the consigner of the watch, RR Auction, why the listing didn’t say the Rolex was worn on the moon when its owner did step on the moon during Apollo 14 mission. RR Auction executive vice-president Bobby Livingston said they believe the watch was left in the astronaut kit in the lunar module and it was not worn during Mitchell’s EVA (extra-vehicular activity).

“Would he wear a watch under his suit? What practical purpose would it have served?” Livingston told me. “We have to go by with what he told us in his letter.” Neither the letter nor the engraving on the watch caseback says the watch was worn on the moon. “If he had made the claim it went to the moon, OK,” Livingston said. “But he didn’t. And he knew—he would have known enough to point that out, I think," Livingston finally said.

Rolex Moon Watch Auction: Was Mitchell's GMT a Gift From Rolex?

(Photo credit: Jake’s Rolex World)

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell's Rolex, the first Rolex to go to the moon, is coming up for auction 15 years after another Rolex moonwatch was sold, Ron Evans'. The serial numbers of those watches are 2448767 and 2448718, respectively, just 49 numbers apart.

“It would appear they received them at the same time,” said Nick Gould, a watch researcher, who made the discovery. “Special delivery from Rolex USA back in the day?”

Evidence found in correspondence show Rolex would gift GMT watches to NASA test pilots and astronauts, who then would report to Rolex how the timepieces fared during the flights and thank the company for the gift.

“Sincere appreciation to the Rolex Watch Co. and personal regards to [Rolex director] Mr. René Jeanneret,” William Pete Knight wrote. “With Best of Regards to René & Rolex,” wrote Scott Crossfield. “My GMT 200,000 miles from Geneva,” wrote Stuart Roosa on a black-and-white wrist shot. Roosa flew with Mitchell on Apollo 14.

As for Mitchell, whose GMT-Master is being auctioned this month, he, too, wrote to Rolex to express his appreciation: “I wore a GMT-Master for most of the hours I flew the module, and as always was very satisfied with its performance.”

Don't Bother Bidding on This Watch. Rolex Will Likely Buy It

The first Rolex watch to land on the surface of the moon is available for sale, and Coronet believes it is too historically important for Rolex to ignore it.

The news broke yesterday that Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell's flown Rolex GMT-Master 1675 worn on the Apollo 14 mission is being auctioned off. The caseback is engraved, “Worn by Cdr. E. Mitchell on Apollo 14, 1971, To Karlin My Daughter.” The watch looks unpolished.

The auction for Mitchell’s watch, which opened on Sept. 26, 2024, comes with a certificate of authenticity signed by the astronaut himself. Nick Gould was first to publish the news.

The first Rolex moon watch is also the first watch on the moon to be self-winding. It is likely Rolex will participate and win the auction. The last and only time a Rolex moon watch was put up for auction was in 2009, when Apollo 17 Command Module Pilot Ron Evans' Rolex GMT was sold for $131,450. The watch was bought by Rolex.