I apologise for the blatant showing off, but I live in a very small village and have no one in the real world to share my absolute euphoria with.

I am a complete bottom-feeder; I scour charity stores, flea markets, tip shops etc for bargains. The thrill is the hunt, I love it. Today I hit the jackpot. A 145-022-71 in a cluttered second-hand store in a very small rural Australian town.

It runs, but the crown is very tight. Obviously, it needs a clean & service. (and a 1171)
I have spent the last few hours pouring over Speedmaster 101 and Fratellos guides, cross checking everything.
I am happy to say that as far as I can tell, it is 100% original. (If you know better, please enlighten me).

I am so happy I could squeal.

 

Looks like it's all correct- great find.

Can you show a pic of the crown?

 

Crystal is probably not the original as it appears to have a silver tension ring instead of the original black, and also no omega symbol in the middle. One pusher looks to be a bit loose as it sits further out, just need the screw to be tightened.
But overall looks a nice watch which will clean up well

 

Jammy bugger! If I fell in a bed of roses, I’d come up smelling like s..............

 

Congrats dude.

 

So it actually does happen. Good to know.

Congratulations on the awesome find.

 

Thank you for that - a replacement crystal I can live with. You are 100% correct about the loose pusher, this will be taken care of when serviced.

Here is a crown pic as requested.

 

Lucky b***er! If I ever do that all I find is 1970/80’s Casio digital watches requiring a battery.

Enjoy it and please do post more pics when you’ve had it cleaned etc

 

Maybe @nzshadow can enlighten us on a circa crappy quartz to Speedmaster ratio when bargain hunting?

 

Oh man...

I have been scouring opshops/charity stores/thrift shops, tip shops, and the like every day for the past 30 years.
'Every day' is the key. I hunt vinyl records, antiquarian books, MCM furniture and, since 2015, watches.

I am not exaggerating when I say I spend hours upon hours rummaging through utter rubbish in the hope of unearthing gold. On the watch front, I would say I have driven hundreds of kilometres, and sorted through thousands of gaudy Chinese plastic crap.

My other great find was a Seamaster. It's my avatar pic.

But this takes the cake.

 

Congratz...
BTW this is not the real world

 

Congrats! I recognise the nobody to show off part ;-)

 

Interesting to see that crown on a -71. I've been looking into when the late 60's crowns switched over and you don't normally see A2's on -71's. It's usually an A3.

Not a bad problem to have as this crown may be original and even if it's not, its more sought after than the more commonly seen (on the -71) A3.

 

ilovemyspeedmaster says it's a 1973

That is my birth year.

Holy shit.

 

That is great. God this place rules. What an absolute wealth of information.

 

Great find, and a birth year watch to boot!!
Some things are meant to be.
Wear it well.

 

Congratulations. Very nice find!

 

What state are you in you lucky bastard. Lucky to find a watch that’s not a
G-Shock in the Northern Territory (I’m in Darwin)

You want to send it to

https://www.lewiswatchco.com/

In Perth. A member here and known for great work on anything Omega

 

To me this sounds more like hard work than luck!

Nice bonus... and then it’s also a birth year. Fantastic.