I came across this nice 1982 speedie... but something caught my eye.

 

DON???

 

Don't tell anyone

 

Surely that's a 60s bezel?

 

You want to put a nice DNN bezel on that watch mate... bin that old DON... it's ruining the watch!
(I'm sure quite a few members would offer you the use of their bin.)

 

...And according to Speedmaster101 going for silly money. $800 to $3000??? Bezel looks very clean for 50 years. Much nicer than my mid 60's DON

 

I believe one was sold to a member here recently for $4000.

 

I have a correct bezel from the same era if you'd like to trade.

 

very special indeed.

 

wow... that was a good surprise for you

 

Wow, stunning condition!

Now how do you think this came to happen?

 

Service replacement in the '80s, possibly?

 

If that's the new Service Replacement Bezel, how soon can I get my speedies into OMEGA for servicing?!!

"And YES, please change the bezel, Sir!!"

 

No, most likely the watch was independently serviced or put together over 3 years ago. OP states that it is an 82. So I do not think it is a 68/69 cal 861 fitted with a new dial. The check would be looking for some flavor of pre moon.

 

What I meant to convey was if it had been serviced in the '80s after being retailed, there might still have been DON bezels in the stockpile of spares Omega's service department could've drawn from.

 

DO90's... Just sitting in a stockpile at Omega!

So... when did you guys start the great DO90 bezel rush? How long ago?

Was it purely a lack of supply that kicked it off or was it the realisation that 1960's 321 watches were going become particularly desirable and needed to be restored with genuine DO90 bezels?

Every jewelIer I've spoken to regarding servicing my Speedy in the UK has said "we don't touch them. They go to Omega". They must have binned loads of DO90 bezels over the years! Thank the Lord I came here!!! Because I didn't have a clue and mine would have joined them in the bin! Or... are there canny people at Omega ensuring that they find their way out of the bin and back in circulation???

I've been reading this stuff for a couple of months now but the detail of what is or isn't important still fascinates me.

 

Omega will typically return parts to the watch owner - they are after all, your parts from your watch and you own them. Rolex on the other hand steals your parts and destroys them...

 

I just think the watch was serviced by an independent watchmaker many years ago, and he probably had this bezel in stock so he put it on the watch... 10 years ago nobody cared about these bezels.
The funny thing is that I bought this watch from a famous dealer, but he is not specialized in speedmasters so he didn't notice the DON bezel (and I don't even think he knows what it is). The pictures of the watch had already been viewed 2000 times on the website when I found it.