I would like to add my thanks as well. Speedmasters are a closed book to me and the amount of knowledge required to even think of buying one is mindblowing. This thread is extremely helpful in presenting part of the Speedmaster story in a clear and readily-comprehensible way.
Guesing you got this -68 when nobody cared about the bezel. You actually presented 12 here, but still need a radial dial in the Star case (and missing a -69 with the 220 bezel)
You are right. But you will notice the smooth back added in later. As far as I know the star case was made in 1980's in response to a "buy American" rule for government bodies. (I hope someone knows more and can share)
Reportedly made in 1978: https://www.fratellowatches.com/astronauts-speedmaster-professional-auctioned/.
Ew... Chris... you didn't swallow the watch... or... put it somewhere... else...... did you? Like Christopher Walken in that film...hiding his watch...you know, up there??
Enjoyed reading this, may have even learnt some things along the way. Look forward to the next edition.
What did you mean by that? Did you see something wrong with that story? It more than likely wasn't 1980 like you said since there were other test objects that had cases made by Star as well. One of the prototype went on to be made available outside of NASA as the FIFA watch in 1979. This would corroborate with the story I linked.
