I have a 1995 Speedmaster, serial number 483*****, which I bought new. I have noticed recently that other SMP's from that year have the "T Swiss Made T" on the lower dial, and mine simply says "Swiss Made". In over 20 years of ownership, I've never noticed this difference before.

Can anyone tell me why there is this discrepancy on my dial? Thanks.

 

Likely has a post ~1997 service dial on it. Has it ever been to Omega for service?

 

It's been to Omega for service twice since I bought it. Why would they swap out dials? Is that standard practice for routine servicing?

 

If they believe the dial is less than Factory finish, they will replace it. Usually they would charge you for it on top of the cost of service. I'd imagine that to Omega, a tritium dial (pre 1997 or so) would be something they would replace. I believe they usually return parts to the owner though, so I'd expect they would have both charged you for the new dial and returned the old one, but maybe not every location or service center has them same rules.

 

Interesting. I don't remember the dial being anything put pristine, and I'm sure I never got any parts back from the times it went into service. I'm surprised that they would proactively change out something as important as the original dial without permission from the owner.
Does having a "service dial", rather than the original, significantly affect the value of the watch? Thanks very much for your help.

 

In most cases, yes it does. I'm surprised to hear they didn't send the replaced parts back to you as that is common practice.

 

It's possible that the original dial accidentally got damaged during the service and Omega simply fitted a new one. That would explain no charge and no return of the original item.

 

The T means tritium lume. Last put on the watch @1998. By 2005 the tritium would be dead and they would replace the dial and hands in a service, this would be standard at that time. Yours has the newer Luminova lume. Way to check charge your lume with a flashlight and it will glow for awhile. Tritium would not glow strongly for more then a minute.

 

Say what you will about Omega service, but they're really good about returning replaced parts, and I've never heard of them damaging a dial. I think it's likely OP's watch was an early luminova dial, and was untouched during the two services.

 

It's too early for luminova, in 2000-2005 I could see them swap it without saying anything. That would have been the first service.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I spoke with my watch dealer, who in turn went through his files. His records do show that when I sent the watch in to be cleaned in 2012, they did replace the dial, for which I was charged. They didn't return the old dial with the watch. He told me that it was fairly common practice to preemptively change parts they felt weren't representative of a pristine example of the type. I find this hard to believe and a bit frustrating.

As an aside, could my watch have a 1985 manufacture date with a 483***** serial number?

 

Hard to say about the mfg date as Speedies are notorious for not having sequential serial numbers. You can get a window but nothing definite.

Although a 1985 production watch should state 145.022 inside the caseback. A 1995 watch would not ( I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure). Maybe 145.0022 or what ever the reference was at that time.

 

This is common practice for Omega and their affiliated service centers, unfortunately. Many threads have been posted about this.

Yep, I don't know for sure but around 1990 or 91 (with the move from the 145.022 to the 3590.50) the casebacks were inscribed 145.0022 / 345.0022. Definitely an '85 watch would be inscribed 145.022 though.

 

Well, it is inscribed 145.022 on the inside of the case back, so I'm guessing it is a 1985.
I appreciate all of the expertise and advice in this forum. Thanks very much.

 

Well, it's not necessarily 1985, but it is (or at least the caseback is) 1982-1990/91. Can you post some photos so we can get a better idea?

 

In researching the inside case back, mine doesn't have the machine marks, and the "hallmarks" are much smaller. I wonder if Omega swapped out the case back when they changed the dial? Very weird.
I'll try and post some photos.

 

That means nothing. If they had swapped it to a new one, it would state 145.0022 the service part number. What are the first 2 digits of the serial number?

 

483 on the 7 o'clock lug.

 

Fwiw, the 376.0822s I have had both had 48m serials and that ref was only made for about a year around '86/'87...

 

Pictures