Community Stories

321 Steel.

SpeedyMW2103
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Good day, fellow Speedmaster Lovers.

Here are some photos of my Steel 321 Ed White.

I must say, having the chance to own multiple Speedies, if I can only have 1 SpeedMaster, this would be the one.

Here are some of my favourite features after wearing it for 2 years:

1/ The wearing experience: This watch is incredibly light and compact on my wrist, yet it always has a commanding presence, with polished straight lugs and a beautiful polished flat link bracelet. I’ll talk more about the bracelet below.

2/ The finishing: we don’t need to further discuss the legendary 321 movement. Please DM me if you have questions. The case, dial and bracelet are on the next level when compared to a normal MoonWatch. It may just be in my head, but I can feel the polishing shines better, and the brushed surfaces are more grainy, hence the contrast between polished and brushed parts makes this watch reflect light beautifully.

3/ The dial is galvanised. The indices (hour markers) are more elongated and finer than on the MW, which I prefer. You can see the circular graining on the chronograph sub dial with your naked eye.

4/ OMEGA etched logo on the sapphire crystal is a nice touch, it’s a pleasant feeling when you can spot it from time to time, under the right angles and lighting.

5/ Ceramic bezel with Enamel-filled Tachymeter scale.
The bezel is shinier than the steel one on the MW. The numbers are stark white (enamel) while on the MW, they are silvery (anodised aluminium). This makes the ED White look more luxurious.

6/Winding the 321 is smoother than 3861. Chronograph pushers are more pleasant to operate.

7/The standard bracelet on this 321 is marvellous. It fits me perfectly after removing 2 links on each side. I’m currently wearing this on the New FOIS bracelet, which I gained the Quick Release, same OMEGA vintage-logo-clasp. It fits perfectly.

Do you have a question for me? 😊


Have a magnificent day!

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Evitzee
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I agree, the 321 Ed White is the nicest Speedmaster since the previous 321 was replaced by the 861 movement in the late 60's. Not cheap, but worth the extra dough over a 3861, imo.
 
Porteroso
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A beautiful watch. Once there are enough of these on the secondary market, I hope the price comes down, and I might pick one up. Would love to have one. So many watches though.
 
SpeedyMW2103
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Porteroso Porteroso
A beautiful watch. Once there are enough of these on the secondary market, I hope the price comes down, and I might pick one up. Would love to have one. So many watches though.
I agree with your approach.

The Ed White is subjectively much rarer than Snoopy, due to OMEGA only producing roughly 1200 321 movements every year. My OB informed me that they only receive 1 every few months.

Purchase history is a must to attain this.

Hence, if you only plan to have 1 Speedmaster, grey market is a way to go.

In Australia, the secondary price is lower than retail at the moment. (AUD 25k vs 28k).
 
SpeedyMW2103
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Porteroso Porteroso
A beautiful watch. Once there are enough of these on the secondary market, I hope the price comes down, and I might pick one up. Would love to have one. So many watches though.
I was only offered the Steel 321 after the Moonshine Gold was purchased.

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ErichKeane
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Thank to a few posts (including this one!) I added myself to the OB's list for a Ed White last night. Sales Rep seemed optimistic, so I'm hopeful 😁 Thanks for making me spend money OP!
 
S
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Got multiple Speedmasters; wore the 321 for 90% of the time in the last 3 years.
 
Caliber561
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Excellent pieces, and it seems like they're more or less readily available below retail now!
 
Evitzee
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Caliber561 Caliber561
Excellent pieces, and it seems like they're more or less readily available below retail now!
You won't find new 321 Ed White's for less than retail. You might find LNIB pre-owned with box, cards and all accessories at slightly less than retail.
 
T
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Perfect description on the on the differences compared to a 3861. But ultimately, if you’re not a 321 diehard than these improvements (which push the watch more into luxury) are incremental in nature (10%) but at double the price (3x for preowned 3861 vs 321). I love it, but I haven’t been able to justify it to myself. I do wish the black was closer super almost wet black found on Submariners.
 
SpeedyMW2103
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T TradeWinds577
Perfect description on the on the differences compared to a 3861. But ultimately, if you’re not a 321 diehard than these improvements (which push the watch more into luxury) are incremental in nature (10%) but at double the price (3x for preowned 3861 vs 321). I love it, but I haven’t been able to justify it to myself. I do wish the black was closer super almost wet black found on Submariners.
I agree. The 321 is for die hard Speedmaster collector.

But for me, it is the perfect Speedy.

I would never want a glossy dial on a Speedy (unless it's Onyx Stone 😋)

Matte black dial is the most legible, and optimal to read the chronograph sub dial without any reflection.

Please see my video on the Onyx Dial Canopous 321 and the Platinum version to see what I mean.

The Submariner dial is nice, but it wont make sense in a Chronograph.

Have a magnificent day!

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T
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SpeedyMW2103 SpeedyMW2103
I agree. The 321 is for die hard Speedmaster collector.

But for me, it is the perfect Speedy.

I would never want a glossy dial on a Speedy (unless it's Onyx Stone 😋)

Matte black dial is the most legible, and optimal to read the chronograph sub dial without any reflection.

Please see my video on the Onyx Dial Canopous 321 and the Platinum version to see what I mean.

The Submariner dial is nice, but it wont make sense in a Chronograph.

Have a magnificent day!

IMG_3319.webp

What a great post. That Speedy with the Onyx dial is stunning - I'd seen only pictures before never a video. I wish that one cost $14K instead of $55K lol
 
cuonglm
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The Ed White is subjectively much rarer than Snoopy, due to OMEGA only producing roughly 1200 321 movements every year. My OB informed me that they only receive 1 every few months.

Despite this claim, some of new 321 on the market have the serial 88714xxx, which may indicate the the production number is much higher, on the high side, 2000 movements per year. That’s the only way they reach 14k serial number after ~ 6 years.

I emailed Omega to ask about this, and they said the serial number is not related to the quantity that they produced.

This does not make sense to me.
 
Evitzee
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Omega stated at the beginning that they could produce up to 2,000 movements a year, so 14,000 at this point could be feasible.
 
cuonglm
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Evitzee Evitzee
Omega stated at the beginning that they could produce up to 2,000 movements a year, so 14,000 at this point could be feasible.

But it does not count the 888xxxxx series, which Omega uses before switching to 887xxxxx. The steel one that @Robert-Jan owning has the 888 prefix.

In any case, 2000 movements per year sounds a lot, even though they are shared with platinum and white gold variants.
 
Evitzee
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cuonglm cuonglm
But it does not count the 888xxxxx series, which Omega uses before switching to 887xxxxx. The steel one that @Robert-Jan owning has the 888 prefix.

In any case, 2000 movements per year sounds a lot, even though they are shared with platinum and white gold variants.
2,000 a year is about 8 per day, not an insane number. Perhaps Omega has quietly ramped up production the last few years as they honed their systems for this watch.
 
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