During a visit to Bangkok in August I went about a few recommended places. Most were not much to write home about. 'Because I Like It' was the best place I visited. Good selection of Connie's and Speedies. One caught my eye was a Mark II racing dial. Seeing this in the flesh it looks great with cool on the wrist look. A review of the forum threads on this Speedy it is under appricated.

With new apprication for the 145.014 I have been looking up information and learning about the MarkII before any purchase. Looking through AJTT another variant is shown that I have not seen in the wild. A yachting version. Has anyone seen this or could it be a prototype. Maybe some member has one and could share photos.

 

I believe it would be a simple mater of a crystal change to make a Mark II into a yachting version.

 

Hands and dial highlights are yellow on the yachting version compared with orange on the racing version.

 

Looks more faded orange to me to be honest. I have the same fading on the chrono hands of my Vader which also started out orange.

 

The other question would be is it the 145.014 or 145.034 version.

 

In the the AJTT the text description calls it a 145.014 version and says the chronograph hands are yellow. If we had one in the wild we could answers these questions. As we know AJTT is not 100% correct.

 

That tachy ring looks suspiciously like the one on the 176.010 Seamaster Yachting. Not 100% sure but given that I've never seen one before either, I suspect this is a hobby project. It wouldn't be the only one in AJTT.

 

So similar I would suggest they are based on the same design. As this Seamaster version exists then I would think the Speedmaster version was a test/proto that didn't make it to full production release.

 

not sure but fully agree the Mark II is under rated whether it being the old or new version

 

That is a possibility, but IMO we should be careful with prototype claims. Of course we all want weird stuff to be legitimate, but I have serious doubts. For one thing, the regatta tachy doesn't line up very well with the dial on the AJTT example (compare it to the Seamaster I posted).

When I get home, I'll try and check the sizes to see if one could physically fit a 176.010 ring in a 145.014 case. If not, you may be on to something. If so, I'd say hobby project.

 

My assumption being, given the breath of members here if this version was in production a member would have one or at least seen one.
waiting for you guys to not make an ass of me for assuming .

 

My money is that it's put together with a rehaut from the sea master. A regatta timer on a speedmaster makes zero sense from a branding perspective.

 

I could see someone throwing a case in the ultrasonic without removing the crystal and wiping out the tachymeter markings. Then substituting a Seamaster inner dial support in its place. Perhaps even using a thinner crystal.

 

IMHO following the prototype path based on that AJTT picture could be considered to be somewhat of a fools errand. There are more than a few dubious watches in the book which should already raise red warning flags about everything in there being 100% correct, which is clearly not the case.

I also thought that the yachting/regatta bezel was only ever seen on Seamaster references, such as my old 176.010 posted by @dialstatic

 

Lol, that specific one was actually yours? Sweet! I just Googled the reference for a pic and this was the best-looking one I found Any regrets on selling it? It's something of a grail of mine.

 

There is a ring that runs under the 145.034

 

It was a presentation watch and as such had a small engraving on the case back, other than that it was basically unworn when I bought it.

And no regrets, after enjoying it for a few years it went to a collector who is very happy with it