Hello All

I stumbled upon this beauty this weekend in a vintage watch shop... The Gulf-colored Nato and the combination of blue dial and orange hands was just stunning, especially for a car nut like me. I thought the price was a bit steep for an impulse buy, so I passed and walked away.... But it has haunted me for the past 24hrs now and I'd like to understand what it was exactly. Doing a bit of research here and in other places, I found some confusing info, but I think this is a 145.029 - but the pics I found showed hands without lume/trit. Can someone please confirm? And if either, how is this color combo named?

The one I saw looked in very good condition but the info about it was very scarce, and I didn't like the salesperson either, and to top it off this was in a luxury shop and I could feel prices were inflated all over the place, especially with a $10 Nato... but maybe I did a mistake.

(apologies for the crappy iphone pic)



Thanks for your help everyone

Paul

 

Just a side note: You found this in a vintage watch shop.........in Texas?

 

One on eBay at the moment: https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/231861566125Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

Looks like the one you saw was running a set of brand news service hands, and I'd take a punt and says that's a new dial too.

 

Redpcar: Haven't set foot in the Lone Star State for quite a few years now. I still have some fondness for it and the people who greeted me there almost 20yrs ago. My peudo is a testimony to this

Lizard: Thanks. That's what I was thinking. I'm just surprised the service hands are different from the original... and, insult me for this if you will, I think they look even better with the fresh lume You are also probably right about the dial. The thing was looking super-sharp in the flesh, no 40y.o. dial could look this "new". I am still new to this, but I'm surprised to see a TSwissMadeT (likely new) dial. I thought they would't supply a tritium dial in 2016?

Thanks all, this is very helpful

Paul

 

If you think about colours that fade badly on cars, orange/red/yellow, they tend to go the same way on watch dials/hands that see a lot of sun.

So either this has lived in a drawer since the late 60's, early 70's - or service parts have gone on.

On the tritium dial front... If someone has it as a spare part, they'll fit it

It used to be easier to get parts than it is now, and Omega aren't the only people that have stashes of NOS parts ready to fit come service time.

It's a cool watch... Just be careful on the price, these come up relatively often - and as you say a retailer is going to add their bit on top.

Cheers!

 

Thanks. All good advice. I'm a newbie, and I become infatuated with a lot of watches very quickly, this one still hits the chromatic nail right on the head. Still, I have the feeling i might regret it later if i pull the trigger still in the impulse-buy period following the first sight.

Thanks!
Paul

 

Here is a nice all original

 

@Lonestar what were the asking for it

 

Standy, yours look very good, thank you. They were asking a bit north of $3000. Which I really didn't feel comfortable with, especially with a Nato strap. Not that I don't like it, quite the opposite actually, the color-matching is spot-on!

Thanks ya'll

 

Additionnally... I also found what is said to be a NOS Speedmakster MkII racing, with full hands - vs hollow, as per most other 145.014 Racing's I had seen so far. Then, would this supposedly NOS 145.014 not be NOS, or did Omega go to full hands (with tritium in the "gap") at some point during the early 70's, like those service hands on that 145.029 above?

Thank you all!

 

The only way that NATO would look nice would be on fire

( I do hate multicoloured NATOs with a passion some may have noticed )

Bit too much , even the other eBay link is a bit over what you can snag this model for. One similar model sold on here for a lot less not that long ago. They do have 861 movements which is a plus for them.

 

Nato's are polarizing. As a vintage car enthusiast, I have a special fondness for Gulf- or Martini-colored ones. when they match the dial color range so well, it's a home run for me. Then again, to each his own

Edit: Found the pic I was after, it's an acquaintance's. I think it's close to perfect