In the world of Speedmasters, there?s basically nothing more rare than a NASA issued Speedy that was flown to the moon. We?ve put human beings on the moon six times, all between the years of 1969 and 1972, and every Speedmaster strapped to every spacesuit worn by each astronaut on those missions was the property of the United States federal government. Legally, they all had to be returned to NASA, and if you somehow came across one and tried to sell it, you?d be likely to get a knock on the door from someone more than willing to flash you their identification. So, those Speedies are basically untouchable and uncollectable. But that doesn?t mean that there aren?t extremely special astronaut owned Speedmasters out in the world that well heeled collectors can at least make an attempt to obtain. We heard about one such Speedy recently currently on the block in Texas, a fitting location given its NASA provenance. 
The gold Speedmaster Professional seen here was owned by Michael Collins, part of the Apollo 11 crew that was first to land on the moon in 1969. Collins, who flew the command module while astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong touched down on the lunar surface, passed away last year. Collins had a distinguished career that included two spaceflights (the other was on Gemini 10 in 1966), and a stint with the State Department and then the Smithsonian Institution following his retirement from NASA in 1970. While he was known to wear a Rolex when not orbiting ...