#bienne

(Biel, Switzerland)

Illustration of the town of Nidau, Switzerland, from the book "Chronik oder geschichtliche, ortskundliche und statistische Beschreibung des Kantons Bern" (1857) by Albert Jahn. British Library.

Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, August 2024

BIEL / BIENNE-> SWITZERLAND

Entrée et escalier de l'Hôtel Elite, Bienne, Suisse, construit entre 1929 et 1931 par l'architecte Karl Frey. - source Markus Stüdeli.

Omega Speedmaster CK2998... "Mercury 7" astronaut Leroy "Gordo" Cooper, Slayton and Schirra, were petrol heads and that's the main reason why they had an Omega Speedmaster wrist watch which was advertised as a sports car racing timing chronograph. NASA photographs suggest that the astronauts must have bought their Speedmaster CK2998 in 1961, Cooper perhaps in 1962. 60 years ago, Donald Slayton expressed the need for an "off the shelf" durable accurate wrist chronograph for use in the hostile space environment and on the the lunar surface. By October 1964, this memorandum landed at the desk of NASA engineer James Ragan, who determined a set of requirements and contacted 10 different watch brands to submit a request for proposal; American Elgin, Benrus, Bulova, Gruen, Hamilton, Lucien Piccard, Longines, Mido, Omega and Rolex. Only 4 brands answered, 3 sent actual wrist chronographs, the rest is history ! (Photo: LIFE magazine)

BIEL / BIENNE - SWITZERLAND

La Bienne à Dortan, Ain.