A little Speedy Project Watch

Yes, another Speedmaster thread!!

A friend (who happens to work at an Omega boutique) called, saying an older gentleman came in looking to sell a 20th Anniversary Apollo XI Speedy. He was kindly informed the boutique does not buy/sell used watches, but he was given my contact info. Shortly after I agreed to come by his home, a short distance from mine, and see the piece. I wasn't particularly interested in it for myself, but thought I might help him on valuation and how best to sell it. I love modern LE Speedy's but the 20th just doesn't tickle my fancy - its too similar to the standard Moonwatch, and there are too many of them (6,250 of these worldwide). The owner was a retired Navy veteran who had originally purchased a 1967 Speedy that was stolen right off his wrist in the Philippines, and later, in the early nineties he bought this watch used from a local watch dealer, no box/papers. This was his daily watch until a few years ago when personal health issues struck.

My copy of MWO was boxed up in storage so I had to wing my evaluation a bit, although I am familiar with this LE. I found an early LE # (0097) with the first style engraving for the 2000 made for USA, a modern replacement 1998/849 bracelet instead of the original 1450/808, replacement luminova hands, new crystal and some prior polishing. The owner had the watched serviced in 2014 at a local mall based Jewelry store ($1100 for service and bracelet). They did return the original parts to him, but he can no longer find them, unfortunately.

The dial was attractive with a light creamy/yellow patina common on these 80's tritium dials. Watch case has the expected normal wear but was on the better than average side, with the all too common and annoying jewelers polish job on it, but I've seen way worse than this one. The hands are a visual mismatch, but not as bad as I've seen on many other 80's Speedies with modern bright white replacement luminova hands. There was the usual grunge as well, most of which came off easily with a soft toothbrush. Opening the caseback revealed a very good condition (as expected of recently serviced watch) 861 movement. I sometimes forget how attractive the 861 is.



Something I've learned to check is any over polishing on the backside of the lugs, to the point where the springbar holes could be compromised... (I want to slap the next jeweler I see sitting at a buffing wheel). Sure enough, the backside lugs have been aggressively polished, but the holes are not compromised (yet), but any more and they would be.


I thought this watch could fetch $1800 in this condition and gave him suggestions on how to sell it.. but he wasn't in a position to be able to sell it online. I told him it really wasn't my cup of tea, but the thought of him taking it to the pawn shop down the street and getting $500 for it, just didn't sit well with me, so I offered a fair price in between and he very gladly accepted. Great... I didn't need a project watch.

With help from the OF community, I have already sourced a 1450 bracelet, a set of 808 endlinks, and a nice set of tritium hands, and I've sold off the 1998/849 to offset my additional costs. Wouldn't hurt to find the original box for this one also, at which point, it will be decent little Speedy that will probably stay in my collection until something better comes along (even though I told the soon to be ex wife it would be a quick flip 😁. Eventually, she will realize my watch box is the roach motel... they check in but they don't check out.

I'll post again when the next stage of restoration is complete.

good show

Wrist shot!

..d'oh!..

Great story and nice looking speedy.

congrats on that nice Speedy! well done

I'm interested in your comment on the hands - not sure what they should look like on a watch that age. Are you referring to the fact they are very white compared to the yellowing hour markers?

The hands are not correct for this watch, and I bought the watch with the intent of returning it to all correct/original condition. This pic best illustrates:

See how the hands have a green illumination, and the dial has none? That's because the hands are modern replacement hands made with luminova, and the dial is original made with tritium that is well past its half-life and has no visible illumination. As far as how "white" they are under normal daylight conditions, they aren't really that bad, but yes, they are also a bit too white compared to the dial plots of the watch which have a more cream colored appearance. Ideally, the dial and hands match.

I did get my 1450 bracelet and 808 endlinks on the watch. Hands are on the way.

What a labour of love! I'm really thrilled to se the progress. - And cant wait the tales to come!! 🍿

Are you able to re-apply Tritium lume? Or is it no longer made?

Very interested in how this is progressing. The pics are great and help with understanding the process so much better than a detailed narrative of words. Also, as others have said, I think it's good that you didn't take advantage of the seller and determined a fair price.

It can be done, to re-apply tritium lume to dials, and hands, if you can find someone to do that work (search OF and you'll see examples). In this case, I think its sub-optimal. Here's a slightly better image, the dial plots have the original lume and I think they have a pleasing appearance. As for the hands, they really aren't that bad a match to the naked eye, but sometimes its what you can't see that bothers you the most - I know they are the wrong hands, and it bugs me.

And now with the proper tritium hands installed. I'm calling this project done.

Perfect outcome!

Oh, and I would like to thank Joel and Ash (@oddboy, @Ash) for their help sourcing original replacement parts for this project. This forum is really a wonderful place with so many people willing to pass on not only knowledge, but also hard to find parts. 👍

Excellent. As soon as you post the picture of the original box you sourced. 😝

I was originally looking for a 20th Anniversary USA model. I thought that was the one, until another OF member offered a -69 with a 1971 birthyear movement. It was the perfect combination. I had to do that instead.

Good work on the project! Thanks for the tip about the lug polishing. I still struggle to identify heavy polishing. It must be because I haven't handled many of these yet. Off to look at the -69 now...

Thanks for that poke in the eye! 😁

Congrats John! That is awesome