Richard Gordon's personally-owned and frequently-worn 18K yellow gold Rolex President Day-Date wristwatch (Ref. 1803, Serial No. 2038922), presented to him shortly after his Apollo 12 mission in 1969. The caseback features a presentation engraving, "Richard Gordon, 11/14-24/69, Apollo XII." This classic Rolex boasts a standard fluted bezel, champagne dial with day at the 12-o'clock position, date under the 'Cyclops' magnifier at 3-o'clock, stick hour markings, and luminous hands. The watch received official Rolex authorized service in 2021 (nothing cosmetic done, only lube, etc.) and is in fine functional condition; cosmetically, it exhibits wear from Gordon's frequent use, primarily evident in scratches to the crystal and one chip to the crystal's edge at the 6-7 o'clock position.
Accompanied by a letter of provenance from Gordon's son, Lawrence Gordon, on behalf of the Richard Gordon Family Trust, which auctioned the watch in November 2020. In part: "I do hereby confirm that this is the personal watch of Astronaut Richard Gordon. It was inscribed and presented to him as a gift by the Rolex company shortly after his Apollo XII mission." This was evidently Gordon's favorite watch, as he is frequently seen wearing it in photographs taken over the years—among these are images of him at his 1993 induction into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame and at a Spacefest function, included with the watch.
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