(note - I have edited this introduction as when I wrote it I was so exited I didn't count properly - also I have learned about the 1978 radial dial star case which I don't have //Double Edit: Which I now have, see page 5))

So I decided to focus my collecting a while ago.

I wanted to find an example of each reference and execution, of speedmasters from 1959 - 1978 which was the last year Omega stamped the year in the case back.

For the 861 Speedmasters I have identified twelve different executions, and as a thank-you to OF for helping me achieve this, I present all of them here. (I was separated from my No NASA -71 When I originally wrote this but,not I have slotted it in below.

I once read on this forum that these watches are not Pokemon, that we did not need them all. Well I dont need them all, I just want one of each.

This is what you will see:

145.022-68
145.022-69
BA145.022-69
145.022-69 Grey Racing
145.022-69 SW
145.022-69 SW Apollo
145.022.71 NoNasa
145.022-71
145.022-74
145.022 Soyuz
145.022-76
145.022-78
145.022 Star Case

Here is the -78.

It is the least interesting of my collection - almost neglected when acquired. I bought it years ago when a Speedmaster for £1200 was considered a must buy. And this one was badly described on Ebay and I snapped it up. I de-cased and cleaned the case, even under the bezel, replaced the pushers and glass but otherwise remains unserviced.

It is on a correct, period, 1171 and 633 endlinks.
You could argue that the 78, being so undesirable, I could have a spectacular NOS example. Well I was offered one. At the time when I got this for £1200, I was offered one for Euros 5500. And that for a watch I could never wear. No. The money went elsewhere....

 

And so on to the -76


Another ratty watch from the depths of rural USA in 2012. The princely sum of $1500 and for that I got a pretty dodgy watch. Again this watch remains unserviced, but with a deep clean by me, including a pusher strip and clean.

On-wards...

 

Next is the -74....or is it? No it is not it is the Soyuz, which is 1975 so I slot it in here:


Not my best photo, the crystal is throwing a few artifacts.
This is serviced. I believe a watch this important needs to be serviced, if only to check at the cog-level that it is all correct.
Unique bracelet, and 5.5mm pushers with modified case.
Dont buy one of these without an extract, they are faked.


Now back to the cooking versions:

 

The -74

This very unusual in that this is a 74 with a step. It is also brown. General concensus is that all 74's carry the no-step dial. Also not many are seen in brown. So it is possible this dial is from an earlier watch. In this case I dont care. This collection is for my pleasure and this watch gives me great pleasure.


It was serviced twice by STS in my ownership - thats how long I have had it.

 

-71
This is an extremely original watch - This is the kind of watch I love to see. Perhaps untouched it really needs a service. Check the condition of the hands which might not have been removed.

It has the stepped dial that makes them so attractive. Always need to make sure these have the correct DN90 bezel with the dropped serif on the 7's.
1039 bracelet with appropriate date stamp.

 

Here is where the -71 NoNASA would go. And now here it is!
Thanks to @gemini4
The smooth backed version of the -71

Very rare - if not exactly valued. Its hard to say how many there are, but there seems no real shortage, once I started to look.

 

-69 Late Straight Writing.
Bought from a street vendor in Hong Kong. I did not even realize it was brown until I got it home...

Cost too much, at the time in 2013 but now seems reasonable. I find it very attractive. It has the later engraving shown here:

 

This is also a -69 Straight writing but this is the earlier version. This is much rarer than the one above, but cost me a third. Thats how it goes, some you win...

though in fairness the Hong Kong one is much more attractive.
Here is the rare back:

 

Waited to post this until you were finished so as not to break up the flow.... Looks like another 220 you've missed on that -76, you're quite ahead on this one then!

 

Now you cant go anywhere without showing this, the BA145.022-69:
Completely original, one owner then put away by descendants, sold to me at a print Convention in Chicago(!).
Unopened and full length bracelet.


this is one of the best examples I have ever seen in terms of pure history of ownership, untouched, and un opened.

 

Well now we go on to the classic -69. The watch that really started it for me. This is not my first but it is a favorite.

A Real tropical. I do not believe the fakers can make a dial that looks like this. A wonderful example.

 

Of course there is another -69. One of my all time favorites. This watch came to me only through the generous help of @Tom Dick and @tyrantlizardrex without whom I would have been yelling down the phone at a Swiss Auction House. Thanks again guys.
This is one of the very best dials I have EVER seen on a Racing:

 

-68
So now the Transitional. Very rare, and often not very attractive. People pay a premium just to own the reference, and forget you have to like the watch. Also a Brown.:



Long indices dial and AML.

 

So there you have the 861 speedmaster "Complete Set" as I see it, and as I have assembled.
They give great pleasure and all get worn, even the Racing which is the most valuable, followed by the Soyuz - which also goes out.
Mrs Fruit likes the browns on leather because they fit her, but wants the gold one badly. Those bracelets just dont adjust...

Stand by for the 321 edition.

It might be a few weeks, but it will come..

Good night all!

 

Fantastic post.....as usual! They are all great watches, but something special about that racing dial.

 

@Spacefruit thanks for everything you have done for the community!

Question for you. You claim the 76 with the early -74 dial correct but not the 74 with a step correct.

Any reason you call one correct and not the other. You never see -76 with a step and -78 with the older logo, whereas 74's with steps aren't uncommon.

 

Mind blowing!!

 

How come that the -68 is often unattractive? Does the dial or lume have a specific way of aging?

 

My one, and only experience as a mule

Happy to have helped.

 

Isn't it simply the prevailing wisdom that stepped dials on 74's are not correct?