The Twelfth Fratello × REM Strap — Last Man On The Moon
Just before Apollo 17 astronaut Eugene Cernan stepped up the ladder of the lunar model to leave the Moon at 5:34 GMT on December 14th, 1972, he did something that made almost every daughter in the world jealous. He knelt and scribbled “TDC” — his daughter Tracy’s initials — in the lunar dust. Her initials are still there and probably will be for millions of years. Eugene “Gene” Andrew Cernan is known as The Last Man on the Moon. His book, with that title, came out in 1999 and mentions the watch he wore on the lunar surface — the Omega Speedmaster Professional.
Last Man on the Moon
For our last collaboration of this year, REM and Fratello decided to come up with something that suits the month of December perfectly. So here’s the result, a strap commemorating the Apollo 17 mission of December 1972 as well as the holidays in this month. I will come back that later.
For this month’s strap, we decided to go with gray, just like the surface of the Moon and its dust. And, as you can see, we had the initials of Tracy Cernan laser engraved. We also made sure to have it engraved to resemble Gene Cernan’s handwriting (based on some signed or written cards we’ve found). We hope you will appreciate this little “gimmick” on the December 2023 edition of our Fratello × REM straps for the Speedmaster.
In case you were wondering, Gene Cernan wore the Speedmaster 105.003 with NASA serial number 28 when he was on the Moon’s surface. This is the watch he wore under his suit. Over his suit, he was wearing the Speedmaster Professional 105.012-66 with NASA serial number 67. This information comes from Robert J Jackson, W. Craig Conre, Philip MWU, Lawrence L. McGlynn, Gilles Aurégan, and other members of the Space Watches Facebook group.
TDC and the Apollo 17 mission patch interpretation
On the long part of the strap, you will find the “TDC” initials surrounded by the lunar craters and rocks. On the short end of the strap, you will find an interpretation of the eagle from the Apollo 17 mission patch. The gray strap has hand-painted black sides and black stitching to match the black dial and bezel of the Speedmaster Moonwatch.
Happy Holidays
But that’s not all! For this year-end release, we decided to celebrate a little bit by putting the Lunar Module getting towed by Santa’s reindeer on the inside of the strap. As always, the strap has a 127mm long end and a 74mm short end. It also comes with the Fratello-signed buckle in brushed steel.
The Fratello × REM Last Man on the Moon strap is available now!
REM straps are made of organic leather from Sweden. The entire production process also takes place in Sweden, including the stitching and laser engraving. This strap is available in our shop as of today with a price of €107 (excluding VAT). Click here to get your Fratello × REM Last Man on the Moon strap now. Please note: Due to the holidays, we will not ship before December 27th.
