A strong selection of vintage collector’s and luxury modern watches will be offered for sale in Tennants Auctioneers’ Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver Sale on 16th July, one of the highlights of which is a fine and rare 1963 ‘Ed White’ Pre-Moon Omega Speedmaster (estimate: £7,000-9,000 plus buyer’s premium). The 105.003 reference is colloquially referred to as the ‘Ed White’, having been worn by NASA astronaut Edward Higgins White (1930-1967) when he became the first American to walk in space two years before his death in Apollo 1. This model was only in production from 1963 for three years before being superseded by the model later worn by astronauts on the first moon landing.
From the same year is a very rare 1963 ‘Gilt Underline’ Rolex Explorer reference 5000/1002 (estimate: £5,000-7,000). Only a small number of this reference of Explorer were made by Rolex in the early 1960s, which are only distinguishable from other Explorers of the period by the switch from the inscribed ‘Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified’ above the six o’clock position to ‘Precision’ or ‘Super Precision’. Highly attractive to collectors will be the watches original glossy black dial, gilt finished script and the covetable fine line beneath the ‘Super Precision’.
