NEW YORK, NY.- An 18k gold chronograph wristwatch belonging to Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean will be offered for sale at Bonhams’ Space History auction on April 21.

Estimated at $40,000 – 60,000, this Speedmaster Professional is number 26 of 30 numbered watches that were given to President Nixon, Vice President Agnew, and 28 Apollo Astronauts. The back of the dial is engraved with the words:

"—Astronaut Alan Bean— to mark man's conquest of space with time, through time, on time. Skylab Mission II [III] Apollo 12."

Alan Bean (b. 1932) was the fourth person to walk on the moon. Captain Bean served alongside Commander Pete Conrad as the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 12 mission, the second mission to put a man on the moon. The Omega Speedmaster Apollo XI model was created in the fall of 1969 to commemorate Apollo 12’s successful moon landing on July 20 of the same year.

In a handwritten provenance letter, Alan Bean notes that he was awarded the watch by the Omega Watch Company in a ceremony in Houston shortly after the completion of the Apollo program. “I have worn the watch over the years, particularly on special occasions," he writes.

Cassandra Hatton, Director of History of Science & Technology at Bonhams, says, “We are extremely pleased to be offering the Apollo 12 collection of Alan Bean, including his rare Omega Speedmaster Professional. Omega has a long history of being the watch of choice for the US Space Program, and has been the first and only watch to have been worn on the moon.”

This year’s Space History Sale is set to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first American Spacewalk, accomplished on the Gemini 4 mission by astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White. In addition to this watch, the Space History auction will present a fascinating array of other items belonging to Alan Bean like the strap from his portable life support system soiled with moon dust (est. $60,000 – 90,000); an uneaten meal that accompanied the mission and which Bean kept as a souvenir ($50,000 – 80,000); and the water dispenser he used to re-hydrate his food (est. $60,000 – 90,000).

The auction will begin at 10am.