@MyPetFly: I think that items from various moon missions has been auctioned off in the past, and there are people with large collections of those artifacts. I doubt that includes "moon dust" but at least the fabric on the band and the metal from the watch could be made from those artifacts. It wouldn't take much metal to cast nineteen hundred watches, really, considering the command module alone weighed like 60,000 pounds.

weatherman

@Ibelieveinsandwitches:

Well it's SUPPOSED to take a licking and keep on ticking...

MyPetFly

every watchmaker with a sandbox is going to be counterfeiting one of these.

Ibelieveinsandwitches

@MyPetFly:

maybe if you stopped licking it you wouldn't have problems with it.

Ibelieveinsandwitches

@scuba_steve_1:

From what I understand, moon rocks (and dust, I'd assume) are considered national treasures or some such thing, and unlicensed possession is illegal. I guess this company has done their research so maybe the dust is okay. As for the steel, I wonder if maybe it came from something jettisoned during launch, or even, considering that steel is heavy and probably not used much in the launch vehicle, maybe it's from the launch tower. Those have been torn down and all that remains are the concrete bases.

MyPetFly

@scuba_steve_1:

NASA REALLY needs money.

Alchemistmerlin

@bobojuice:

I've already got one of those. It doesn't keep very accurate time though.

MyPetFly

I'm pretty sure that the statement "dust from a rock retrieved during our first mission to the moon" is incorrect, Sean.

First, the press release doesn't say that. It says "a lunar dial based on a mineral deposit including moon dust." To me, that sounds like the dials are made of some terrestrial minerals -- i.e. a meteorite -- that contains traces of moon dust due to the rock having a lunar origin.

More importantly, though -- EVERY OUNCE of material brought back by Apollo is meticulously tracked, and doled out sparingly. NASA simply does not hand out this stuff. Save for museum samples and materials sent out for legitimate research at universities, etc., there are very, very, very few privately-held lunar samples, and most of those are small fragments given to world leaders (and some of the astronauts) encased in lucite.

So bottom line is I think this isn't an Apollo moon rock watch. If it were, it would literally be an unprecedented break from the normal treatment of moon material. I think people are supposed to think that it is, though, as you did. Don't be fooled!

A Pimp Named DaveR

So is the US Government selling its "Moon Dust" to pay for this "bail out"

sfokevin

...so in other words is just a watch

xsecretfiles2

I don't get it.

Apollo 11 was funded by NASA. The capsule that returned should be US government property (perhaps on loan to the Smithsonian), as should be the dust. I assume that rocks and dust have been made available to external entities for research purposes, but for profit? I accept that the ISS spacesuit is a different issue...and that some ISS participants view that program as a carnival ride for the wealthy, but I do not understand how Apollo components and artifacts are part of a commercial venture.

Regardless of how this makes sense, it disheartens me.

scuba_steve_1

mmmmmm Tourbillon........

CmooreInOR

These people who wear this watch are going to turn into vampire like things like the dudes on I Am Legend. Great job you bastards! Now I get to watch Shrek for an eternity.

aliskaba

Why would anyone pay half a million for a watch made with items from an event that never happened?

You might as well buy a watch made of chocolate, everlasting gobstoppers, and snozberries.

bobojuice

@MyPetFly: I LOL'd :)

vandiemen007

Next watch: 911 DNA made from the steel and dust from the towers...Equally bad taste!

Dr.Remulak

@bobojuice: I'd love to see Buzz Aldrin punch you in the face.

LastGunslinger

Eh, they'll be worth $5 and $10 in a couple years when all of us start making trips to the moon and be come private astronauts, thanks to Virgin Galactic.

beyondthetech

@LastGunslinger: +1

KronikFpLiOnYkD

Grinding up a moon rock for watchage? How are they even allowed to do that? Everything is tagged and tracked, almost as closely as blue fin tuna through the Tsukiji fish market.

frigg

@Dr.Remulak:

Like those "commemorative coins" on TV with the fold-out Twin Towers...

MyPetFly

@LastGunslinger: +3

bobojuice

One of these days Alice, bam! pow! to the moon!!

VideoVampire

@LastGunslinger: +2

Barry99705

I think I'll just hold out for the one with dust from Mars.

B.Zanetti

So when people ask you what the "RJ" at the 12 oclock position is for, can you say "It's Rick James on the moon, bitch!"?

Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->

@Dr.Remulak: I have a glass jar at home with some dust from when I was up at Ground Zero. I keep it to remember. I also ended up inhaling a good deal of the stuff as well.

Git Em SteveDave loves this guy-->

uhhh...isnt time different on the moon?

enchantedgoose

Q: What sound does a half-million dollar watch incorporating 'moon dust' make?

A: Luna-tic... [and during an eclipse, Crazy-toc]

Stem_Sell

@LastGunslinger: +5,000,000

Xterm11

I guess this turns the ladies on? "hey babe... checkout my watch, it's made with moon dust..." Maybe but I'd be thinking tool.

Sons of Norway

@aliskaba: i think i am confused...

HawaiianActor

In her book, "The Planets", Dava Sobel tells the story of a lovelorn NASA technician that risked his career and jail time to steal a tiny amount of moon dust to give it to his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. He gave her the Moon! Even more bizarrely, she ate it! She did it so that he would taste the moon on her lips whenever he kissed his "Moon goddess". Tragically they broke up.

ManfredSnookie

@LastGunslinger: +more than everyone else

jercb123

I find that oddly sexy and fantastic.

justhesh

@aliskaba:

Lawl. I loved that part.

Mark X