Hi guys, last year, I have bought an Omega Speedmaster 145.022-76ST. It was an offer in the Bay and I did not know much about a vintage Speedmaster. Before buying, I asked a good collector friend and he gave me a go. The watch was now for service at an Omega certified watchmaker. I am new to this forum and have read some threads about vintage Speedmasters, but I am far away from knowing all details about the different models from different years. First, some pics: As you can see, actually, there is no 1171/633 mounted (have it at home, but it has some stretch and I like bracelets with flat links). My questions: 1. This watch was sold in the Bay. Thought, it was not expensive and wondered, why no collector bought this (there was a possibility to make an offer). Yes, it was a germany only listing. Yes, the pics were kind of poor. Yes, the watch was polished sometimes (but not dead, I think). But are there other reasons? That leads me to my next question: 2. Because service history was unknown: Do this watch have some service parts? What I know: The hands have new colour and are relumed. Crown and pushers are correct? Movement number should be correct for a 76s (39.1 mio.). 3. Bought it with the correct 1171/633. Have some 677 endlinks as well. A friend offered me the bracelet, that is mounted actually. Is it a 1175/47 or one of these exotic US bracelets? Only writing is that, what you see inside the clasp. Is this a correct bracelet for a -76ST? Thanks for your help. Regards, Peter
Looks like a nice watch, Peter. What makes you think the hands are relumed? They are often a slightly different colour to the dial and that's fine. The 1171/633 is correct for that vintage - ideally a trapezoid logo, 1171/633 rather than a later 1171/1/633. There are various threads on here discussing the 633 endlinks, and the bracelet fit etc. The 1175 was fitted to earlier Speedmasters (69-71 according to MWO) but not with 47 end links.
I'd say that this a very nice and unmolested watch! Serviced in Jan/18? Movement looks nice! So I don't know any hidden reason, but if you bought it cheap, just be happy. Referring to the bracelet question, there's a very interesting thread from @uwsearch here on the forums: https://omegaforums.net/threads/fro...-and-speedmaster-bracelets.45883/#post-544374 I have seen 1175 bracelets with the number stamped on the clasp and without. I think yours is a US version and it matches the period, when these bracelets were sold with the 145.022, while I have seen these on earlier references ('69, '71, '74) more often.
Thanks for all the help. When the watch arrived, I saw, that the hands were badly white coloured. Think, a watchmaker has done a bad paint job. So, I asked my watchmaker and he has painted them new and relumed it new. If this is the only difference to a total genuine one, I will try to find some nice tritium lumed hands (possibly with same colour as the lume on dial). Yes, the 1171/633 bracelet has the trapezoid logo, but also some stretch: Thanks for the first impressions, they sound very well.
Nice looking watch. I don't know what you paid, but I think you did pretty well. I am actually with the OP on this, I think it's been relumed (dial and hands I think), along with a repaint on the hands... I'm not saying for sure, but I think so. Even if so, I'm totally fine with that if it were for a reasonable price and you think it's attractive.
Thanks at all. Yes, think it was a good price and after the service, it is a very nice watch. I am more and more convinced, that the bad pics are the reason , why this watch was not sold earlier. @JimJupiter : I have to thank you again, my friend! @Foo2rama : Will try to find some pics tomorrow!
Okay, I’ll step out on this. The photo of the dial isn’t sufficiently high resolution, but I have questions about the lume on the dial and the hands. Looks like someone removed the old lume and sloppily applied this stuff. If I had to guess, the hands have been repainted — the telltale is frequently the lume line in the chrono sweep hand. Hard to be sure with this resolution. Everything else looks fine. Just IMO.
I believe if the dial was relumed, the specialist must have been drunk. So I assumed that this is the kind of fading of lume I've seen so many times before.
A reluming of dial would be new to me, but I am not first owner, so I cannot rule it out. Here is a better pic of dial (have none of dial without case): It would not make a big difference for me, but surely it would be nice to know.
Judging by the hands, I tend to vote for the former... Plus the OP has already said he's pretty confident that the hands are repainted/relumed. But it very well might just be the hands that were redone to match to degrading dial, so I'm not going to jump to any conclusions yet. Here's my 145.022-74 when I first bought it, before I had it relumed. It looks very similar to this dial. Give it a shot with a UV light and see how the plots glow. That will most likely answer the question.
The hands are definitely painted new and relumed, that is sure, because my watchmaker has done this job. The dial lume should be original. Have tested it with UV. It glows and fads out within 10s. The hands are glowing longer.
From the new pictures I still believe the hands and dial have been messed with. Speaking for myself, I’ve never seen lume like that on a dial from a mid 70’s Speedmaster, but I’m prepared to yield to the more knowledgeable here. Particularly the way the lume’s liquid carrier has spread around the 12 hour marker reminds me of poorer redials.
As I said: Hands are surely relumed . After the UV, I do not think, that the dial is relumed. It behaves, as expected (for a tritium dial).
Sounds like you have your answers. It looks great, aside from the hands... To your original question as to why it may not have been scooped up by other collectors - sometimes it just happens. I nabbed mine [above] for super cheap too, simply because it was ugly at the time. It cleaned up nicely and now it's my baby. The dirty green color of the lume probably deterred some people, and maybe mix a little luck in there. It's certainly a nice watch and I wouldn't be concerned about any of the rest of it! Get those hands redone by someone more talented, of which we can recommend several, and enjoy it! Viel Glück!
I think it is a nice watch at all as well. Even if it was cheap. But I also think the dial has been edited. In case of doubt, the original lume should be a bit too small rather than overlapping. It also contracts a little over time. Since the lume already subsides after 10 seconds, this can have been done much earlier with tritium. Here are photos of my 74ST on which it is easy to see:
It's hard to be sure as atmospheric conditions, moisture, ingress etc can have a significant impact on lume colour but when I saw the watch in the op, my gut reaction was relume as I don't usually associate that colour with a -76.
I think it's impossible to do such a fuzzy relume. So it must be vintage. I have seen some dials like this and I vote for moisture being the reason.