I have available to me a 145.022 Speedmaster professional The watch itself is in very good condition with only a minor scratch here or there however the hands are not original they are service hands over the original dial. What is everybody's thoughts on this watch?
It's only your opinion that matters in the end. Some people don't mind some service parts at the right price, and others are purists that want everything to be original. There is no right or wrong. Obviously, we are only taking your word for the overall condition of the watch. Good photos would be required if you want actual feedback on the watch.
My thought it is it a new enough watch that it is not a big deal. Assuming they are Superlum they probably detract a little, and you could get dinged a few hundred dollars on resale, but that is about it.
After seeing the picture, I think that the dramatic mismatch between hands and dial would bother me personally ... so much that it would be a deal-breaker. The lovely tritium dial just doesn't go with the SL hands. Really a shame, since the dial is beautiful.
The mismatches hands would bother me too, but correct hands could be sourced if the price is right. That said, there are so many of these out there in good shape there’s no reason to not just wait for a near perfect one.
Also, that photo looks a little too catalog perfect. Would want to see many other pics under regular lighting
I guess this is a 1990s tritium 145.022. These are not so uncommon, and I would tend to recommend patiently waiting for an example that you are entirely happy with. You could also have the hands re-lumed to match the dial, set up a search on eBay, or reach out to the standard dealers who stock Speedmaster parts. If you look on eBay, you will figure out who they are.
What Dan said. It’s a nice looking watch and appears in good shape but alas it has service hands. If the seller had it serviced by Omega, and is selling it as such, they should have paperwork for the service as well as the parts that were removed- including the original hands. It would have to be a really good deal to make it enticing. And to put it in perspective- if you have to track down hands, which hopefully are in good shape and match the lume color, or have to have the hands relume to match- and the cost of having a watchmaker replace them- you are adding several hundred to the cost of the watch. You have to weigh the total cost to make you happy with it versus just finding another one that’s already where you want it.
And time, and energy, and risk. But people (including me), often have to learn this lesson for themselves.