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Caught a Speedy 105.003 63

erpin9
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Its quite fortunate that this Speedmaster was offered to me, a rare ref.105.003 63 in very nice condition. This is also my first Speedy with the straight lug case which appears to be unpolished. The dial is the desirable "swiss made" variant with radium lumes. It still glows under UV light. The don bezel is decent and the watch keeps good time. The serial number is 20521XXX which is within the range for a correct 63 model. Another great addition to my collection.

image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
gemini4
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Congrats on your superb example which appears to have a rare type A6 “High SWISS” dial. While the dial lacks TTs, it does have tritium markers. Enjoy
 
erpin9
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gemini4 gemini4
Congrats on your superb example which appears to have a rare type A6 “High SWISS” dial. While the dial lacks TTs, it does have tritium markers. Enjoy

Thanks for the info. I was told before that a “swiss made” only writing on the dial means it has raduim lumes.
 
wagudc
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erpin9 erpin9
Thanks for the info. I was told before that a “swiss made” only writing on the dial means it has raduim lumes.

Often yes, but sometimes no.

It is a great watch. Very beautiful!
 
Faz
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erpin9 erpin9
Thanks for the info. I was told before that a “swiss made” only writing on the dial means it has raduim lumes.
I'm not sure how accurate this info is...

"Speedmaster dials containing radium were made until 1961/62. The last sub-reference for which we measured radium on a Geiger counter was 2998-4."
 
Faz
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Oh...and congrats are in order! A beautiful example.👍
 
pdxleaf
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Not sure i see the unpolished but that lume is striking and I am not looking at the case. In my limited experience the lume on these are often fuzzy. This is so sharp and that color! I could stare at it all day. And the bezel has wear but not scratches and nicks. A nice uniform wear around the edges and a nice fading of the black.

It's not a mint out of the box that you have to store in a drawer. It's a used but not abused watch. Really nice and one that I could only hope to find some day.

And i just saw that it's a 63. Well done!
 
erpin9
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wagudc wagudc
Often yes, but sometimes no.

It is a great watch. Very beautiful!

So a Geiger meter will confirm if it has radium lumes?
 
erpin9
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
Not sure i see the unpolished but that lume is striking and I am not looking at the case. In my limited experience the lume on these are often fuzzy. This is so sharp and that color! I could stare at it all day. And the bezel has wear but not scratches and nicks. A nice uniform wear around the edges and a nice fading of the black.

It's not a mint out of the box that you have to store in a drawer. It's a used but not abused watch. Really nice and one that I could only hope to find some day.

And i just saw that it's a 63. Well done!

Thank you. It is really a well used but not abused watch. Yes, the patina on the hour markers are mesmerizing and it seems that the dial is slowly turning tropical too.
 
wagudc
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erpin9 erpin9
So a Geiger meter will confirm if it has radium lumes?

I agree with @Faz Omega had stopped using radium by 1963. In other situations Radium could be confirmed by a Geiger counter, or possibly a radon gas detector. Sometimes you see Ra in place of T on radium watches. Usually no T-s or Ra-s means Radium on vintage watches. New watches (or new dials) have no indications because luminova isn't hazardous.
 
kov
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Very cool ! Congrats ! It doesn’t happen often anymore to see one of those -63 special references... 👍
 
rootbeer7
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I’ve just congratulated you on the ‘other’ forum. What a lovely honest piece.
 
befobe
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W o n d e r f u l
The back, the lugs, the orange index, the ghost bezel... You ticked all the boxes!

When do you sell it?😁😁😁
 
Seaborg
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Maybe it's due to the red background of the pictures but the dial looks slightly brown as well.
 
rob#1
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Congratulations, very nice. It’d look sweet on a decent caramel or brown strap 👍
 
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