Finally received my 145.022 – 69 back from resto-service !

Ron_W · Jul 19, 2024

Finally in my hands again after + 7 months, an agonizing wait in total opposition to my character which prefers to have things moving along in a much faster pace. And about double of the initial planning. One of life`s hurdles you just have to jump i guess. Makes me think these restauration projects may not be for me.

The end result i must admit in all fairness is very pleasing as this timecapsule is now returned to it`s full operational glory, thanks to plenty new parts in the engine bay, to match with the rather pretty looks it already came with. Left the case untouched and saved the crystal after a good polish and kept the original crown and pushers fitted with new O-rings. Found some better tritium hands too. And a good condition 1125 bracelet with 633 to make it complete. I think the drop-end chrono hand is much more elegant then the straight version so i gave myself a pass on that one.

Spend some silly money on a nice box and paperwork from that era just because they look so good together, and I imagined this is how it was presented in the shop window back in the day. Yes, i am a Romantic 😀

The long wait did kill some of the thrill of this find from last December unfortunately, several extensions of the promised delivery date blew out the flame similair to that of a summer vacation crush you had in your teens ( y`all remember those don`t you ? ) and after a few month`s back home you wonder what was all the fuzz about ?

So let`s work on bonding again ( is there a Watch therapy Anonymous in the forum ? ) and forget about the price tag and the long wait.
Thanks !

impaw · Jul 19, 2024

Wonderful!!
You’ll fall in love with it again after a few days of use.
Looks great

hansaboy · Jul 19, 2024

Nice endgame Ron!
And cool box!
You know that waiting is half the fun?
Enjoy your timepiece now!
😀

Ron_W · Jul 19, 2024

Thanks Hans !!
And I am not a good waiter i think 😁 .... terrible to be honest 😉 but happy to have this one in the house !

hansaboy
Nice endgame Ron!
And cool box!
You know that waiting is half the fun?
Enjoy your timepiece now!
😀

fizz · Jul 21, 2024

Fantastic piece and great overall condition, especially after the workshop job. Your patience has been rewarded and, to bring back the original topic, it does look "brownish" in the pic where you are holding it in your hand. Not "tropical" tropical, but enough to compel someone who notices to, well, notice.

Ron_W · Jul 21, 2024

fizz
Fantastic piece and great overall condition, especially after the workshop job. Your patience has been rewarded and, to bring back the original topic, it does look "brownish" in the pic where you are holding it in your hand. Not "tropical" tropical, but enough to compel someone who notices to, well, notice.

Thank you for your kind words !
As this is my first "colour changed dial" it was difficult to judge for me and eventhough i did find pics of darker dials here and elswere, i did not see a sort of standard for the different phases of colouring and when it could be called tropical. So a stage 1 for Light and stage 5 beeing the dark brown dials shown on speedmaster101 and maybe the more experienced members here in handling these can come to a reference picture chart ?
I agree that mine is light or early stage with some beige/yellow lume on the markers and i find it very difficult to photograph as my Panasonic camera does not pick it up very well.
I tried some on my samsung smartphone just now and the first 2 give a pretty good view of what my eyes see in daylight. The last one is with the white balance changed to enhance the effect a bit for comparrison ( awful picture )

Lume still intact for 2.4 seconds and yes the sweep hand is new but i still prefer it !

napalmsunrise · Nov 6, 2024

Ron_W
It arrived as a Christmas present for me, bought from the daughther of the original owner who told me it was a 1978 wedding gift for her parents. A new watch. In a bit of a sorry state but even i could see it must be a 69 with that step dial and DO90.

So did Grandfather cheap out on that wedding gift ? We will never know i guess and no point in telling the kids.

The price was very fair, even for a -78 with the wrong 1162 bracelet, lumeless hour hand and the movement shot made clear emergency service was needed after laying in a safety box for a decade, plus some parts. But that very sharp case looked unmolested , the bezel realy good and the dial had a very nice hue so i took it.

I had to because of the Wrath of @pdxleaf PSA on molesting Mark II racing Speedies, bless him ! i felt the need to step into the light and figure i pay my penance by saving this poor baby. At least i get a watch out of it which can never be a bad thing, right ? Beats Hail Mary`s .

I had to do First Cleaning myself, i did not dare to give it to someone with so much ...... on it. From behind the pusher

Inside crown tube, and then some...

So off to the watchmakers bench it went with strict orders not to polish it and figure out a way to keep the pushers and crown, just wriggle in some new O-rings or something. Crystal has the old logo so leave it as well. This one will be like it`s 1969.

But, just this week , 5 months in waiting…. I had a set back call from the watchmaker that a reset lever had to much play in the platine so he had to take it apart again to fix that bushing or hole or whatever – and it ran totally great on the timer he added some pain to my misery - for an extra day`s work and €.

You realy have to love rusty old crap to call this a hobby 😀 !
Let me thank you all again who kept me away from that project cal 321 on auction a few weeks back, i reallllllllllllly appreciate it even more now ! ! @hansaboy @Dan S etc You are fine people !

So I could do with some chearing up as you`ll understand if you have been in this kind situation. How about telling me please how to classify the dial in condition and colour. I have never seen a coloured/tropical dial in real life, and this one got a little bit of hue to it, or is it just worn ? No clue to what are the different shades or Pantone numbers.
The closest one i find is on @Speedmaster101 ; Chocolate dial 145.022-69 with 2960xxxx serial but i dont think mine is that chocolate. Movement dates to June 1970. And I am open to compliments as well 👍

Straight TL light and then 2 on the watchmaker bench light, no filters used.

Thanks for reading and hopefully i will have it complete to show here in 2 weeks time. I need a drink…. Bottle size

Beautiful