Short answer
Most watches sold as a "replica Speedmaster Apollo 17" are not copies of the Apollo 17 40th Anniversary limited edition. They are a generic 42mm Moonwatch style case with Apollo 17 markings printed on the dial or etched on the back. The movement inside is usually a Seagull ST19 hand-wound chronograph or a battery quartz, not the Lemania-based calibre 1861 that Omega used. If a listing does not show a clear photo of the movement, assume it is one of those two.
What the real Apollo 17 Speedmaster is
Omega released the Speedmaster Professional Apollo 17 40th Anniversary in 2012, marking the December 1972 mission that put Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt on the lunar surface. It was a limited run of 1,972 pieces, a number chosen to match the mission year. The case is the familiar 42mm shape with a 20mm lug width, so the silhouette looks like any other Moonwatch from across a room. What separates it from a standard Speedmaster is the dial lettering, the mission-specific caseback engraving, and the finishing on the hands and markers. Those details are the entire point of the watch. They are also the hardest part to reproduce.
Why the Moonwatch resists a good copy
The Speedmaster is a chronograph first, and chronographs are expensive to fake well. Omega's calibre is a cam-switched design with a specific pusher feel: light at the start, firm at the stop, no wobble in between. The ST19 is a column wheel movement derived from the Venus 175, and it feels different in the hand. Reset behaviour gives it away. A genuine chronograph snaps back to zero and lands dead on the mark every time. A cheap one drifts.
Other tells sit on the outside. The printed dial text on fakes tends to run thick, with the wrong letter spacing or the wrong position for the country of origin marking. Lume plots come out flat instead of slightly domed. Case finishing misses the sharp brushed-to-polished line on the lugs. Many Moonwatch references use a hesalite crystal that warms and distorts at the edges, while copies often fit flat sapphire, which changes how the dial reads under light.
What usually goes wrong on the Apollo 17 versions
- Dial text that says only "Speedmaster Professional" instead of the edition-specific lettering.
- A caseback that copies the mission patch loosely. The real engraving holds fine detail in the flag, the lunar module and the spacecraft. A cheap etch looks soft and hazy.
- Missing or fake limited edition numbers. These watches are individually numbered, and copies either skip the number or stamp one that matches no known run.
- Wrong crystal type, usually flat sapphire where the reference calls for something else.
- Strap or bracelet hardware that does not match the reference at all.
The legal side, in plain terms
In the United States, importing or selling counterfeit watches is a trademark violation. Customs and Border Protection seizes counterfeit goods at the border and can destroy them, and trafficking in counterfeits carries criminal exposure under 18 U.S.C. 2320. Buying one for yourself is a smaller risk than selling, but the parcel can still be stopped in transit and there is no recourse if the seller vanishes. You also get no manufacturer warranty, no service from Omega, and most independent watchmakers will decline the work because the parts do not exist.
How I judge one when it crosses my desk
- Ask for a movement photo with the caseback off. No photo, no interest.
- Compare the dial text letter by letter against an official photo of the 40th Anniversary.
- Run the chronograph. Start, stop, reset, repeat. It should land on zero every time.
- Feel the pushers. Mushy or grinding means cheap.
- Weigh it. A steel Moonwatch on a full bracelet usually lands near 150 grams, and copies often run light.
Bottom line: the Apollo 17 name carries a specific set of details. When those details are missing, what you have is a Moonwatch-shaped object with a logo on it, and it will not fool anyone who knows the reference.