The OMEGA Speedmaster has been one of the most faithful, trustworthy, and accurate companions in my life over the past three decades. During more than a quarter century, while serving in America's Space Program, my Speedmaster became a special part of me, as I walked in space on Gemini IX, took a trip to the far reaches of space on Apollo X, and became the last man in the millennium to leave his footprints on the surface of the Moon on Apollo XVII. My Speedmaster was not just a timepiece, but became a necessity in the endless search for an understanding of time while "away from home".
I often looked at my OMEGA as a window into the real world. Although I found myself in a place where the definition of time took on a new meaning, when I looked into the face of my Speedmaster set on Houston time, I knew at that moment my young daughter was on her way to school in the morning or perhaps saying her prayers before going to bed that night. From a valley on the Moon where life itself seemed almost like a dream, through my OMEGA timepiece I found identity with reality.
Since those days many years ago, my Speedmaster and I have been inseparable. And it keeps time as accurately today as it did on the Moon decades ago. Yes, it is treasured heirloom, but more it is a piece of history - a part of what I am and where I have been.
Now, some 30 years later, the Speedmaster is still going strong. The limited-edition timepiece you have acquired in celebration of the 30th anniversary of my last moon landing is also a piece of history - the history of space exploration and the history of OMEGA. It will, I'm sure, be treasured by generations to come.
Best wishes to one and all,
Gene Cernan
Vorwort der Omega Edition - Eugene Cernan and Don Davis; The Last Man on the Moon; St. Martin's Press - 1999