Hi all, I’m new to the forum and hoping you can help assuage some concerns about a Speedmaster I’m supposed to inherit. A little back story: I have been in love with the Speedmaster for years. Have considered buying one off and on for about 10 years but always had more “responsible” things to do with the money. Recently, I’ve had a renewed interest as I got a job in the space industry after grad school and have been closer to pulling the trigger to buy one. Then my Great Aunt passed away, leaving her estate to my mother and her brother. Lo and behold my Great Uncle who passed away years earlier owned a Speedmaster that I never saw him wear and it’s been offered to me. I was shocked and very excited to become the new custodian of this watch. The Help Part: My big concern is that there seems to be some rust on the bezel. I’m curious if that’s an indication that the movement is likely rusted out beyond repair. The will is still in probate so the watch is not in my possession yet and I only have one picture of it. Trying to not get my hopes up before I actually receive it. My assumption is that the watch has been sitting in a drawer for 15-20 years. Anything else you can tell me about the reference from the picture would be greatly appreciated as well!
You won't really be able to tell about the movement until you get it to a watchmaker and have him service it. This is something that should be done regardless, as soon as it's in your possession. But the dial doesn't seem to show any rust, so it may not be so bad. Based on what I can see (not much), I think it's probably a 145.022-74 or -76. The hour and minute hands are incorrect though, from a Speedmaster Mark II. Surely replaced at some long-ago service.
It's not rust on the bezel, it's just grime and dirt. Could be a lovely watch after a sympathetic service and new hands.
Thanks guys. You’ve definitely assuaged my concerns. I’ll post more pics when it’s in my possession. Will take it in for service immediately
Curious to see what it looks like after a gentle service. Please do try to source the right tritium hands destined for a Speedmaster Pro, as opposed to the Speedmaster Mark II hands that are on it now. New service hands would also be an option, but as those would come without the nice yellowish hue that the hour markers feature, it would be suboptimal. Correct, vintage ones will make an enormous difference! I'm sure you'll (come to) enjoy it!
I’d suggest that you take it to a watchmaker and NOT an Omega dealer for service! If sent to Omega, they will likely replace the dial with a service dial and that would detract from the watches originality.
Well there are two ways to think about the hands. One, is to replace them and make the watch as original as possible. But the other is to keep it the way your great uncle wore it, with the Mark II hands, even if for a relatively short period. IMO can't go wrong either way, but a set of original tritium hands may be costly.
So I had a similar conundrum when inheriting a Seamaster. When I first got it, I wanted to make it look brand new again (which is NOT what a lot of people would do). I ended up deciding that I wanted to preserve the watch in the condition that I got it. So aside from a movement service, the cosmetics of the watch I decided to leave alone. I wanted to keep it exactly how I received it. However. The Seamaster was all original, and really was not in that bad of shape. Your Speedmaster on the other hand is a slightly different story. I think if I were getting the Speedy you are getting, I may just send it to Omega for a full service. (Avoiding the rocks that are being thrown at me) For $750, everything will come back working, clean and "correct". Maybe not totally original to the watch, but at least the correct parts. And correct me if I'm wrong but does Omega still send back the removed parts? If so, you will still have the original dial that you can keep. A lot of the advice you will get on this forum will come from hardcore collectors, not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that advice, in fact I think it is safe to say that is is probably the BETTER advice in most cases, but it is also not for everyone. That's just my $0.02.
Yes, dial and hands will be retuned, typically tossed into a bag with whatever else they replace and not protected from damage at all...
When Omega deems something as scrap, they treat it like scrap. Getting back dial and hands that are damaged from the way they are handling is a real possibility. Just making people aware that although they return them, this is still not without risk...