Hey guys, Just like to share my latest find; a barn find (with a badly scratched crystal and bezel, which I have replaced them with original parts) What is interesting isn’t just how amazing condition this Sm300 is in, but this came with a rare case of misprinted case back; correct 165.024 CB case marking with an outer Speedmaster stamped back. I reached out to Alain (Omega curator) whom mentioned that this is probably the second piece he has seen and the other piece is in Italy. I’m just curious and like to gather more experience from members of this forum, have you guys seen another? Any other such misprints from other model from Omega? Interested to hear any comments at all. Cheers
No! Still waiting for an official response if this can be confirmed on an extract. I just got a private message from someone that this is a known issue. Just waiting for someone to point me the link to this as this is probably a bath mistake. I can’t believe that in the 70s, factory QC can be that bad! Lol!!!!! The maker must be drunk and the QC high on weed!
I would argue that the other way around makes more sense. A correct Speedmaster caseback with a mis-stamped model reference number on the inside. And my other comment is: DIBS!! That dial & bezel though son!
Indeed! That speedmaster stamping on the case back is so obvious that is wrong. And it’s visible unlike the reference number. Perhaps back then the QC at Omega for the final assembly must be really lax at their job or something. I can’t imagine this mistake went all the way to the retailer and even to the customer. Perhaps many of these were subsequently exchanged with the correct case back? Seriously I have no idea but indeed a very unique mistake and I’d say, pretty cool for us as collectors!
http://speedmaster101.com/blog/145-003-whats-the-story/ https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-speedmaster-st145-003-anyone-else-have-one.9399/
Thank you for sharing. Got it. Interesting but very different from the scenario mine is in. The misprint is quirky and when it eludes so many levels of people, that really is mind blowing.
Right. What is your opinion on the originality of the lume? The original bezel was quite worn, while the dial and hands are rather nice?
That’s extremely common. The bezel has a weak design and once it’s bumped, moisture can get in into that area underneath the plastic and age the tritium. There are 3 types of lume on this 165.024 The earlier 2 would have either the pin hole at 12 & 6 (which is more common) and the other does not at all. The one that does not have the pin hole is hard to tell from original from the fake to the novice. But when you know how to tell from the texture, you will know. If you Google, you will see many aged examples without the pinhole as well. The last example would be the really flat lume, with pin holes. They are usually greenish and when they age, they aged to a olive green if they are not damaged by moisture. They are usually the last batch of the 165.024 Sm300.
And here’s more example with no pin hole at 12 & 6, that are original lume. Trust me. I am pretty sharp in knowing what’s original lume, and what’s not.
And here’s fake relume stuff..... Ok. Decided not to search for too many for obvious reasons. Just a couple of relumes:
Your assessment is spot on Jack. Your OP example has identical lume qualities to an example I own, in that it is warm and bright but dead flat and matte. Lume thinner than a sheet of paper. The third or olive lume is the second easiest to identify. The other lume studies are very helpful, examples I’d be less comfortable assessing. I’ve passed on some BT because without having them in hand they often give the impression of a relume(or are) and some photos it’s just impossible to tell. I’ve seen this case back anomaly before although I’ll be damned if I can find it in my records, been looking.
Thanks Ryan! I’ll love to see more examples of this anomaly though it’s assuring enough that the stamping is spot on for both the back and front of the case back. Hope to see if anyone has a link to some old discussions that I missed out in the past too.
And if you look deeper into the hour hand, you will see some cracking of the original tritium. That’s a great sign that it is indeed original tritium hands! (They are usually dry and can be fragile if they are not handled properly)