Spaceman watch by André Le Marquand

I mention in some earlier posts that the Spaceman watch came in many variations, and today is another of those.

The Spaceman watch was designed to commemorate the 1969 moon landing, and was released at the Basel fair in 1972. The designer was André Le Marquand who was commissioned by the owner and director of Catena Bulle Switzerland to come up with the design. Many were sold through different companies and in different configurations with around 150,000 being sold.

This model is one under the Spaceman brand rather than one of the other producers. It has an automatic manual movement, and this time it is without the date marker. The dial shows the Spaceman logo and has small text saying Swiss Made T<25. The back has the moulded picture of a Spaceman and explains it is a fibreglass construction. The strap has an unusual shape and has the Spaceman name on the leather at the back.

Omax Spaceman Automatic

Here is the second of my Spaceman watches that I've posted, and I think it was the first one that I bought.

The Spaceman watches were designed by André Le Marquand to commemorate the 1969 space launch. He was commissioned by Claude Lebet and Francis Bourquin, the owner and director of Catena Bulle Switzerland, and came up with this unique design. The watches were released under various companies, including Omax like today's model.

Various different versions were released with manual or automatic mechanical movements, and with or without date. This particular one has a date at the 3 o'clock position, and has an automatic movement.

The back of the watch features the moulded fiberglass picture of a Spaceman as with the other models. It also has a Dupont Corfam (artificial leather) strap which is in one piece and fits around the watch head.

Spaceman Watch by Andre Le Marquand - Violet Date only mechanical version

I've been skirting around the Spaceman watch range for a while without showing the original design. So today I'm finally blogging one of the originals.

The Spaceman watch was released at the Basel fair in 1972. Four series were released with the oval original coming in 6 colours. Inspired by 1969 moon landing /launch of the first space vehicles, Andre Le Marquand was asked to create a range of unique watches by the owner and the director of the Swiss Catena Bulle watch company. This design was what he came up with and they were a surprise success, with overall about 150,000 being sold.

This design was available with or without date and day, and automatic and mechanical versions. This one is the mechanical version with a date just below the 4pm mark. 

This one does not have the correct strap, as the violet dial in version should have a white strap. It could be that the strap has been switched (as they go brittle and split), or it is a copy (of which many were made in Hong Kong). The original straps were made out of an artificial leather called Corfam and manufactured by Dupont. They had an unusual shape with the three prongs going into the case, and were in one piece fitting around the centre of the movement.

The back is made of fiberglass, and has an embossed picture of and astronaut.

Spaceman 7Z by Andre Le Marquand

I should have blogged this watch a couple of weeks ago, but I'd put it down while moving things, and left it behind in the wrong house!

So after a short wait, here is the Spaceman 7Z by Andre Le Marquand. The watch is part of the Spaceman range which were started in the late 60s by Le Marquand. The range also includes the original Spaceman (not blogged yet), and the Spaceman Audacieuse (which I've blogged earlier). This watch has the most 'normal' design in the range, and was released in 1972 (so is 40 years old this year).

The watch has a 3-hand dial, with the date at the 3 o'clock position. It is powered by a Swiss made automatic movement.

The watch has a Spaceman embossed on the plastic back, which is the same as the original Spaceman, and the strap design with the 3 prongs is also similar.

Spaceman Audacieuse - White Mechanical Mens version

Today is another of my Spaceman Audacieuse watches. Previously, I showed the smaller womens /unisex version, and this one is the larger mens version.

The Spaceman watches were designed by André Le Marquand in the 1970s, and released in 1974.

There were also 2 movements, this one being the manual winding watch, and the other being the automatic.

Comparison of mens and womens sizes