ST 145.0022 Alaska IIRef

The Alaska Project, led by Pierre Chopard from the late 1960s to 1973, aimed to create a Speedmaster better suited to space's low temperatures; Swiss patent CH 537170 was granted on May 31, 1973, for an outer case protecting against extreme temperature variations, and the dial was coated with zinc oxide for maximum solar radiation resistance. NASA saw no need to improve the Speedmaster, so the project remained a prototype. This watch belongs to the second generation of Alaska Project prototypes, with a sandblasted stainless steel case in regular Speedmaster Professional style but a slightly higher bezel.