This may be a dumb question, please excuse me if it is common knowledge, but does anyone know if 145.022 mid cases and case backs from different case manufacturers are interchangeable? i.e. can a 145.022 HF mid case be matched up with a 145.022 CB or 145.022 CRS case back?

Trying to source a mid case and case back and I am aware that finding a complete empty case is ideal but that has been challenging lately so I'm asking in the hopes of understanding my options.

And since we all love photos here and to entice those who may have an answer to my question to provide some help/advice, here is a photo of the hour and minute hands I plan on using that just arrived today.

I wanted a thin hour hand and since they are less common on the Mark II racing dials I took advantage of finding a set listed on C24.

EDIT: I figured my question may be better suited to it's own thread as other may also have this same question now/in the future, and let's face it this thread is for celebrating the Mark II projects. So for now, enjoy the photo of the hands and I'll post again once my project is to a point where I feel it's worth celebrating.

 

I had a go at recasing a Mk II into a Pro case a few years ago, so thought i might as well add it to the collection here, which i think makes 14?
Annoyingly, the/a previous owner appears to try to have erased the 'Mark II' lettering, and made a bit of a botch of it, which is a shame. Other than that, i think it looks great, particularly with the 'thin' (rather than Mk II) hands, which i don't really understand? What were these hands doing in a Mk II originally? I also thought i should relume them, as i'm never a fan of this 'blackened' lume, even if it is typically a good sign of authenticity.

I have included a photo of the Mk II case it came from, for reference. The donor Pro case was an old -74 off eBay for £750, which had an interesting long-indices dial with it.
I think by the time i'd sold the Mk II with a replaced black dial and had Simon Freese do all the hard work, the whole project cost me £3k, all-in. Not too bad.



I actually had a go a year earlier, with the same case, but a different Mk II dial. This one had Mk II hands, and the lume was 'washed'...so didn't look as good. i think i improved on this earlier attempt.

 

Genius!!
I had no idea that the Mark II dial was exactly the same size as the original, did you have to do any modifications to the dial or anything else?

 

The one I went with has a longer chrono hand (perhaps Ultraman proportions), which is a bit weird? Helpful for my project though!

 

Welcome to the club, @john_coburg

 

Just back from a full service and pressure testing. I traded my previous build for a Mitsukoshi build, so I did another on the cheap.

I’ll swap out this over polished midcase for a better one next time I visit my watchmaker, but love the rarer racing hands on this one. I’ll also change the bezel to a more appropriate one but got this one during service so I’ll leave it for now.

 

Momentous arrival to start the weekend! It's been almost two years since I stumbled across this wonderful thread that inspired me to build one of my own. After a seven months of component collecting and five months in the spa it is finally on my wrist! And let me tell you, to say I'm happy with it would be the most understated sentiment from my keyboard this decade. I'm over the moon about it.


A complete kit of parts on my build as no Speedmaster Mark II Racing or regular dial variant was dismantled in the process. I found a hodgepodge Mark II on eBay with a Mark I dial on it and what appeared to be Mark III or IV hour minute hands, and what looked to be a cleanish honest 861 movement. Using ilovemyspeedmaster.com the serial is estimated to be from July 1971 which was one of my goals for the project as I wanted everything to be period correct.




Sourced the rest of the components including a -71 case and a 1175 bracelet. Which I much prefer over the 1039 and 171 bracelets.


And onto the bracelet immediately after I arrived home with it.

Took almost a year to the day from first component ordered to picking it up but it was worth the wait. Thanks again @eugeneandresson for starting this thread! I couldn't think of a more perfect first Speedmaster for me.

 

Since the conversion seem so popular, I have to ask why didn’t Omega offer this variation in the 1st place?

 

Might not be the answer you’re looking for as I could be misunderstanding the question so forgive me if I have.

There were a few variants of the Mark I case with a racing dial (no Mark II on dial) but my understanding is that they were produced in very limited quantities. On top of the limited quantities if they do become available IIRC the asking prices are usually close to the top end of the five figure range with some in the six figure range.

A black dial example 145.012-67 ref.


A couple gray dial examples - 145.022-69 ref.

 

They did. This is just the cheap alternative. The OG’s are rare and quite pricey

 

Congrats on a watch well done ! And that donor watch definitely needed saving.

 

Hi guys! A while ago i finally also had all the parts i needed for my Racing-Speedy-Project and i think it really turned out quite good



My only Speedy at the moment but it is somehow the only watch i wear for the last two months or so. Thanks again @140dave for the dial and hands!
Have a nice weekend!

 

Very nice @zenaj! Congrats!!!