I’ve been intrigued by the notion of a birth year watch, wearing something that’s as old as me. I’ve been reading the old threads on this a bit, and I understand that sometimes you need to get some kind of report from Omega for a particular watch to determine its real production date. But I was wondering if there’s any particular model/variant that is uniquely from 1978 so it might be easier to buy with confidence? If not Omega, any other “famous” 1978 models of other brands that people might know of? Seems like a neat thing for a collection... (not that I even have my first watch yet but hey there’s still time for a collection, right?

 

1978 happens to the last year that Omega put a specific year of manufacture in the Speedmaster.

It happens to be the most affordable of dated Speedmasters (albeit that still means $3k+ for a decent example, head only).

Legendary watch with a 78 written in it...

More info here: http://speedmaster101.com/145-022/145-022-71-74-76-78/

 

Thanks for the quick reply - I thought even though those said 78, they could have been manufactured over a few years and you still needed the report, no? Maybe that doesn’t matter much as it’s the thought that counts and I guess it’s still the ‘78 model, right?

 

No, you’re right - ‘78 in the case doesn’t necessarily mean it was made in ‘78.

That said, it’s the most famous “1978” labeled watch that I’m aware of Omega making and I figured it was cooler to have a watch that says ‘78 rather than one simply produced in that year according to an extract.

 

I think I agree!

Too bad I didn’t have $187,501 to spare to win this auction - seems like a kinda famous 1978 model:

https://www.fratellowatches.com/omega-speedmaster-alaska-iii-145-022/

https://www.omegawatches.com/planet-omega/60th-anniversary-speedmaster/alaska-iii-1978

 

I agree with @sjg22 !!
It's cool to have a marked caseback that means your watch is effectively mentioned as a 78 model even if it reached the store one or two years later. You have to consider that for the same reason you most probably couldn't buy a 78 produced watch in 78..
A later bought BD watch has to be related somehow to your BD date, but according to me it has to be first of all a watch that make you feel good vibes when watching and then wearing it, because most probably one of those you would like to wear in everyday life ;-)
Have fun while hunting!!

Cheers

 

Ilovemyspeedmaster.com

But a 145.022-78 with a 39or40million Serial should be in 78. You can play with the site it seems to be plus or minus 1-2 months in that era.

Seikos are easy to date to the month but finding one is hard. Best bet is find a model produced in 78 and google how to determin the year and month and hunt eBay.

 

There are plenty of interesting models from that era to choose from. Here are the Speedmaster variants from a September 1977 catalog, likely showing models ready for sale in 1978:


Some love on this forum for the chronoquartz shown here:


Plenty of threads on the oval Geneve models, an example of which is shown here:


A tuning fork pocket watch is pretty cool:

 

Hummer pocket watch?

Wow that’s interesting. There’s a joke in there somewhere. Now I need to hunt one.

 

nice!

 

There are plenty of Seamaster models, and several DeVille models, in several styles to be had from 1978.