Moon Race

A unique concept

« Moon Race » is perhaps the most exciting epic of modern times.

This space race is staged through four key episodes in the conquest of the Moon. It combines the finest craftsmanship with lunar meteorite and the most spectacular natural stones. These four creations all feature an authentic fragment of the spacecraft that shaped history. Each of them has travelled more than a million kilometres in interplanetary space before being presented in the Louis Moinet travel trunk, which invites you on a journey through space.

Moon race

First on the Moon

Episode 1 | 1966

Luna 9 was the Soviet space probe that made the first successful lunar soft landing.

It was a real feat at the time, following a long series of failures. Soviet astronautics lost 26 space probes between 1962 and 1965 without a single success.

Launched on January 31st 1966 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Luna 9 landed in the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) on February 3rd 1966, giving the world the first panoramic images of the lunar surface.

Moon race

Man on the Moon

Episode 2 | 1969

While the Russians were attempting to send a crew to the Moon, the U.S. orchestrated a succession of Apollo space missions, drawing ever closer to this goal.

It was Apollo 11 that enabled humankind to set foot on the Moon for the first time.

The giant Saturn V rocket left the Kennedy Space Center on July 16th 1969, and the crew landed on the night star on July 21st 1969.

The first steps on the Moon were filmed by a video camera and broadcast live, an event watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Moon race

Around the Moon

Episode 3 | 1970

Apollo 13 is the third mission in the space programme to take a crew to the Moon.

When landing at the Fra Mauro crater, a site heavily impacted by asteroids, a serious accident damaged the spacecraft. The mission was abandoned, and the return journey required going around the Moon before returning to Earth.

So was Apollo 13 a success or a failure? The objective was of course not achieved, yet this highly dangerous mission can be considered as one of the most spectacular rescues ever carried out. The return to Earth was due to the unfailing will and tenacity of human beings, from the crew to the control centre in Houston.

Moon race

Last on the Moon

Episode 4 | 1976

Luna 24 is the last probe of the Luna programme to land on the Moon, in the unexplored region of Mare Crisium.

It brought back 170 grams of lunar soil samples (regolith). The analysis of these samples proved to be valuable, proving the existence of water on the lunar regolith.

After landing on the Moon on August 18th 1976, Luna 24 returned to Earth (Siberia) on August 22nd 1976, thus concluding the Luna programme, which began with Luna 1 in 1959, as well as the Moon Race launched in 1961.

It was not until 32 years later that a new probe landed on the Moon (Moon Impact Probe, India). China also landed a probe (Chang’e 3), but in a controlled manner (soft landing) in 2013, subsequently bringing back samples from the Moon in 2020 (Chang’e 5).

Caliber LM35

High-precision tourbillon movement, awarded First Prize in the International Chronometry Competition.

Manual

21600 VPH (3 Hz)

72 hours

Jewels: 19

45.4 mm

Hours, Minutes

Hours, Minutes

30 meters
Alligator
24 mm
Folding Clasp
18K Gold
Swiss made

Moon Race

Discover the timepieces

First on the Moon

Episode 1 | 1966
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Man on the Moon

Episode 2 | 1969
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Around the Moon

Episode 3 | 1970
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Last on the Moon

Episode 4 | 1976
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Travel trunk

4 one-of-a-kind creations

The trunk evokes the journey through space. It houses four exceptional watches composing the “Moon Race”.

It is made of natural elm burr wood and adorned with a black-lacquered Fleur de Lys pattern. The domed lid is topped by two black-coloured leather straps.

Its interior is made of black leather, and the inside of the cover features an 18th century treasure: the drawings of the Sphere of Copernicus & Sphere of Ptolemy, by Buy de Mornas. The printing is enhanced with watercolours, making this creation truly one of a kind.

The Louis Moinet travel trunk housing four works of art and technology.