Earliest 220 Bezel Serial ?

220SPEED · Mon. 9:14pm

I am the proud owner of a 145.022-69 with 220 bezel. I notice that its serial number of 30.584.XXX falls ahead of the 30.588.xxx~31.008.xxx listed range.
Is this the earliest known error bezel serial, or reason to question if it's correct? Any thoughts/resources would be much appreciated.

SOG53 · Mon. 11:00pm

Congrats on your nice Speedy. The slighly green lume color is typical of that period, mine is same. The serial numbers are based on observed examples so I dont think they are absolute, so I would say yours is close enough.

If you enter the SN onto the ilovemyspeedmaster.com site it gives production estimate of July 1970 which is a bit early for 220 but again its an estimate.

You could never exclude possibility that the watch originally had a DON bezel and was later fitted with the 220 bezel, but it may have come with the 220. Regardless you have a good example with one of the cleaner 220 bezels I have seen.
Enjoy the watch!

hansaboy · 2026-05-05T04:45:47-0500

Hi and welcome with your nice Speedy!

I do not want to rain on your parade...but the chrono hand is from a previous version, it should have the square end.
And regarding your question about the bezel,
I have a 69, with a DON, and the serial nr is 30591xxx, with production 4th of September 1970.
😉

220SPEED · 2026-05-05T12:30:00-0500

SOG53
Congrats on your nice Speedy. The slighly green lume color is typical of that period, mine is same. The serial numbers are based on observed examples so I dont think they are absolute, so I would say yours is close enough.

If you enter the SN onto the ilovemyspeedmaster.com site it gives production estimate of July 1970 which is a bit early for 220 but again its an estimate.

You could never exclude possibility that the watch originally had a DON bezel and was later fitted with the 220 bezel, but it may have come with the 220. Regardless you have a good example with one of the cleaner 220 bezels I have seen.
Enjoy the watch!

Thanks for the ideas, SOG53! This mid-late 1970 was such interesting period of production with DONs, 220s, 1039 bracelets all coming and going. I have the feeling this is just the start of a deep rabbit hole on these 145.022-69s for me 🤣

220SPEED · 2026-05-05T12:52:24-0500

hansaboy
Hi and welcome with your nice Speedy!

I do not want to rain on your parade...but the chrono hand is from a previous version, it should have the square end.
And regarding your question about the bezel,
I have a 69, with a DON, and the serial nr is 30591xxx, with production 4th of September 1970.
😉

Thanks hansaboy! Great to know about the chrono dial. I’d never know about that evolution… it looks like those switched to the flats around 1968 - generally speaking with the intro of the 861 movement…? Really such an interesting period.

I’m seeing this roughly 30.3M - 30.60 range as a real grey area where there’s legitimate possibility for DON, Early DNN, or 220s.

That’s a great looking DON you’ve got! So cool to see one so close in serial number to mine. Its my understanding that Omega is no longer doing the Archive extracts anymore, no? Any thoughts as to best resources for getting into the weeds on all things Speedmaster?

Dan S · 2026-05-05T13:06:47-0500

2 220SPEED
it looks like those switched to the flats around 1968 - generally speaking with the intro of the 861 movement…?

Many 145.012 examples came with the flat-end chrono hand, before the cal 861. If you are curious about the various subtleties, many of them are well documented in Moonwatch Only, or the speedmaster101 website. Personally, I find that these details are mainly useful for distinguishing what is plausibly original and what is not, but some people find them interesting in their own right.

IMO, most published serial number ranges should not be taken as gospel.

hansaboy · 2026-05-06T00:31:29-0500

2 220SPEED
Thanks hansaboy! Great to know about the chrono dial. I’d never know about that evolution… it looks like those switched to the flats around 1968 - generally speaking with the intro of the 861 movement…? Really such an interesting period.

I’m seeing this roughly 30.3M - 30.60 range as a real grey area where there’s legitimate possibility for DON, Early DNN, or 220s.

That’s a great looking DON you’ve got! So cool to see one so close in serial number to mine. Its my understanding that Omega is no longer doing the Archive extracts anymore, no? Any thoughts as to best resources for getting into the weeds on all things Speedmaster?

Omega sadly stopped the extracts a few years ago...

And learning about Speedys...phweeew....😁😅

Start here:
https://speedmaster101.com/145-022_update/

And here is a very interesting video:

And these are only about the 69!
Done by @Spacefruit who has forgotten more than I have learned about Speedys!

Have fun, and enjoy your nice watch!

Earliest 220 Bezel Serial ?

220SPEED

SOG53

hansaboy

220SPEED

220SPEED

Dan S

hansaboy

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