Omega Speedmaster Racing 145.012 auction

Spacefruit

Interesting watch and certainly one I will be watching closely.

The movement number is what immediately caught my attention. Having checked the Black Racings known to me, I cannot recall another with a serial as low as 25.00x.xxx. In a normal Speedmaster this would be a slight red flag in the absence of an Extract, although with Black Racings the history is murkier than most references.

In the past we were sometimes able to obtain Extracts that specifically confirmed the Racing dial configuration. However, I have personally encountered a couple of examples where Omega refused the Extract because the movement had originally been delivered in what Omega described to me as a solid gold watch. My own suspicion has long been that some slow-selling gold models in period may have had their movements recycled into Racing dial Speedmasters, although that remains conjecture rather than proven fact. In both cases the Red Racing Speedmasters had original Omega sales guarantees with the movement number.

The fact this is a non-Professional dial could support the idea of it being an extremely early example, although to date I have not seen convincing evidence that the non-Professional and Professional Black Racings were produced in distinct batches or periods. To be clear this movement number is unique in my records of black racings.

As for the watch itself, overall it looks very good to me. The case appears strong, the bezel is better than many surviving examples, and the dial print looks clean and complete. The hand colours also look correct.

The only obvious issue I can see is the central chronograph seconds hand, which does not appear correct to my eye. If straight, it should resemble the white equivalent of the Ultraman hand and extend fully to the minute track, whereas this one falls noticeably short. That said, I have seen many different replacement chrono hands fitted to these over the years and it would not personally stop me buying the watch.

The dial markers are also slightly inconsistent, with some retaining lume and others apparently not, although that is not unheard of on Black Racings and again would not overly concern me.

At the low estimate, once commission is included, the watch feels inexpensive relative to recent Black Racing transactions. At the upper estimate it begins to look closer to current market reality.

What may ultimately hold it back slightly are the replacement central seconds hand, the mixed marker condition, and perhaps most of all the unanswered question around the unusually low movement number. Happy to be corrected if another Black Racing with a comparable serial is known.

erpin9

I will be bidding on this watch and hopefully, it will be part of my collection soon. Fingers crossed.

M'Bob

One thing that puzzles me: I understand the idea of soliciting feedback on the watch if you’re interested in it, but strategically, why state overtly that you’re going to bid on it to a community of dedicated collectors and potential buying adversaries?

M'Bob

One thing that puzzles me: I understand the idea of soliciting feedback on the watch if you’re interested in it, but strategically, why state overtly that you’re going to bid on it to a community of dedicated collectors and potential buying adversaries?

M'Bob

One thing that puzzles me: I understand the idea of soliciting feedback on the watch if you’re interested in it, but strategically, why state overtly that you’re going to bid on it to a community of dedicated collectors and potential buying adversaries?