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Is it an Ultraman? Help!

johnireland
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A Speedmaster with one orange hand. Which origins are somewhat not clear ; some think it's worth a lot , lot of $$$ ; the Factory is somewhat erratic on confirmations; that orange hand is quite long and is faked now in Vietnam. All a bit foggy , but as you know from your Rolex experience, Watch collecting is also about stories.....

So like all those silly Rolex Subs with different names, but basically the same watch...the Ultra Man is just another marketing ploy to sell the same watch over and over. Paul Newman would have laughed at what some people pay for a "Paul Newman" Daytona. He chose the dial he preferred and that's all there is to it...it's no different than any other Daytona.
 
Dash1
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just another marketing ploy to sell the same watch over and over.
I don’t think it was a marketing ploy, this was back in the 1960’s when that type of thing was in its infancy and Omega didn’t even promote that model afaik.
Omega were prolific innovators and I suspect they tried out the orange chronograph hand to see if it improved visibility in the real world. I, for one, think they look very cool.
 
padders
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Omega were dumping orange and other coloured hands all over the place in the late 60s. Many model lines featured them, Geneve, Dynamic, Chronostop, Seamaster etc etc Why not the Speedmaster too? It was an era of experimentation, maybe someone dropped something into the water cooler in Bienne. That might explain why there is uncertainty over how many, they were stoned!
Edited:
 
dpwaber
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padders padders
That might explain why there is uncertainty over how many, they were stoned!
Surely not.
 
johnireland
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padders padders
Omega were dumping orange and other coloured hands all over the place in the late 60s. Many model lines featured them, Geneve, Dynamic, Chronostop, Seamaster etc etc Why not the Speedmaster too? It was an era of experimentation, maybe someone dropped something into the water cooler in Bienne. That might explain why there is uncertainty over how many, they were stoned!

I guess the same joint was being passed around at Rolex...and they're all still smoking it. The lightening bolt second hand on the Milgauss, the red second hand on 40mm Turn-o-graph, the orange hand on the Explorer ll, the silly names and bezel inserts on the anniversary subs...all reminds of the big fins on the cars of the late 50s early 60s.
 
Scarecrow Boat
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johnireland johnireland
the Ultra Man is just another marketing ploy to sell the same watch over and over
The name was a nickname given by collectors.
https://www.fratellowatches.com/speedmaster-ultraman/#gref
Speedmaster 145.012-67
watches were assembled with an orange hand. The reason is unknown, but after it became clear that these watches played a role in Ultraman, they were nicknamed ‘Speedmaster Ultraman’ or the ‘Ultraman Speedmaster’.
 
johnireland
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The name was a nickname given by collectors.
https://www.fratellowatches.com/speedmaster-ultraman/#gref

Thank you for giving us the true story of a model that obviously has no horological significance and is just a fan/collector inspired variation of the basic Speedmaster. Like the Paul Newman Daytona...nothing honestly worth spending extra money on. Orange hands seemed to be a big fad in the late sixties and through the seventies, but rarely had any functional purpose except to catch a buyer's eye. Watches that had some actual need for these kind of design variations usually were for military situations where the ability to rapidly read the dial under extreme stress or conditions made them functional. Oversized pilot's watches for high altitude flights before cabins were pressurized is one example. Oversized dive watches with heavily luminous dials were used by military divers during WW2 and later. But these watches, often the size of a can of tuna fish, were never worn for normal circumstances. Collectors made them popular, and manufacturers began cashing in on the fashion trend. All sort of like John Travolta's clothing in "Saturday Night Fever,"...big collars, bell bottoms, etc.
 
Pvt-Public
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johnireland johnireland
But these watches, often the size of a can of tuna fish, were never worn for normal circumstances.
A can of tuna fish is tiny.
4A42A174-3E28-4A08-B6A8-BA3CF7CFD4B6.jpeg
 
dennisthemenace
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All sort of like John Travolta's clothing in "Saturday Night Fever,"...big collars, bell bottoms, etc.
I'll have you know I was wearing those long before John Travolta.
 
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