Omega Speedmaster X33 custom caseback

Posts
27
Likes
180
Good morning everyone,

I wanted to introduce you to my small collection of Omega X33s, which are unique when viewed from behind.

These are three Omega Speedmaster X33s, second series, with a custom case back engraved with the logos of three squadrons.

The watch itself is identical to all the others sold, but as described in the book "Omega - A Journey Through Time," some of them were ordered with the emblems of different American squadrons and patrols.


There are 80 emblems in total; I'm attaching photos from the book to show you all of them...


In particular, a close-up of the three on my watches...


The full sets have the warranty stamped directly by Omega Bienne; I'm almost certain they were sold directly from the factory, without going through other stores.
I was able to verify this by finding other photos online of examples also with the Bienne warranty stamp.

Unfortunately, I only have the complete set of two of the three examples.

The first one I'm showing you, just the watch, arrived from the United States, but also engraved with the name of the soldier who requested it.


I only found this image online, and I'm asking you to help me figure out if it could be him...


The second watch, however, was also purchased in the United States, a full set...
United States Department of Homeland Security


As for the latest addition to the collection, it's a piece with a caseback engraved with the logo of the "United States Navy - Fighter Weapons School," a combat training school for US Navy pilots, commonly known as...Top Gun!


I found it in the United States, as usual, and thought I'd purchased just the watch without the accessories, but instead, when it arrived:
Full set with tag, card, "Bienne" warranty card, sticker, its beautiful white fabric box, outer box, and another sticker with the same logo.


I've found others over the years, but unfortunately I haven't been able to buy them.

These pieces really drive me crazy, even though they don't have any particular value, but when I find them and manage to buy them, I feel like a child receiving that much-desired Christmas present 😀

The article continues with this story I want to tell you:

A while ago, I was contacted on the Italian forum "Orologi e passioni" (where I share the same post about the X33s) by a German guy named Jorn.

He contacted me because he, too, was fascinated by this type of watch and had recently acquired a similar model to mine.

It's the model with the TOP GUN caseback!


The great thing about this story is that his is practically the twin brother, with a serial number just one number lower than mine, a virtually identical warranty, and sold by the Bienne factory in July 2005, as you can see from the following photo of the cards.

My serial number is 58340318, while his is 58340317.

I'm glad you wrote to me; it's already hard to find other X33s with military casebacks, much less with the same logo!

Let's hope they continue to be found...

I hope I haven't bored you, and if you have any, please bring them out!

We could use this article to group together as many Speedmaster X33s with engraved casebacks as we can find.

Ciao!!!
Davide

I hope I haven't broken any forum rules as this is my first post.
In that case I apologize in advance
 
Posts
17,938
Likes
37,510
In that case I apologize in advance
No need to apologise Davide.
Thanks for an interesting walk through these models.
While I'm familiar with them, but unfortunatley not owning one I like to see members showing their examples.
I'm sure many others here also enjoy posts like this.
 
Posts
27
Likes
180
Non c'è bisogno di scusarsi, Davide.
Grazie per l'interessante passeggiata attraverso questi modelli.
Anche se li conosco bene, ma purtroppo non ne possiedo uno, mi piace vedere i membri mostrare i loro esempi.
Sono sicuro che anche molti altri qui apprezzeranno post come questo.
Grazie! 😊
 
Posts
27
Likes
180
Anyone own this type of watch?
I'd love to see more engraved casebacks, please spread the word if you know anyone who owns them...😀🧐
Come on!
 
Posts
5,283
Likes
128,317
Hi Davide, it’s been a pleasure communicating with you via PM and would like to contribute to the thread.

First, big congrats on your ownership of 3 of these special watches. I’ve never known anyone with 2, let alone 3! Although not an owner, I’ve been interested in these for over 15 years and have been a collector of information and case back photos.

In 2013 an original owner/pilot over on WUS, Dalemony, posted these ordering instructions from Omega.

These are very interesting and explain a number of things including why adjacent S/Ns for the same patch design is entirely possible, as they would have been ordered together in a group.

I’ve also been fascinated by the 80 case back images shown in AJTT and have now accumulated photos for about 1/3 of them. My thanks to you Davide, the friends in your network, and OF members @stockae92 , @TLIGuy , @Taddyangle , and @Timetron for your permissions to include and share your photos in this compilation. Other photos are from various FS’s over the years, and old posts on other forums and from members who are no longer active and thus not responding to my requests for permission. If I’ve used your photo without permission, I apologize in advance. Please PM me.

So without further ado:

The last row and a half are NOT in AJTT, presumably because they came after their stated range of 1998 - 2006 (for 2007 publication). The one I've put last, Old Hickory 105th Air Squadron, is interesting because its FS showed a Bienne warranty card dated Apr 2013. That’s the most recent date I’ve seen for one of these, a whole 7 years after AJTT’s range. This indicates there were many more made in those additional years. How many and what they were?...maybe someday Omega will tell us...

Davide and I would like to ask that if any of you have other case back pictures, we’d luv if you could dig them up and share, either here or via PM. This has become sort of an OCD/passion for me and discovering each new one is a special treat!
 
Posts
27
Likes
180
Ciao Lou!
Thank you so much for your wonderful work cataloging the casebacks and for helping to enrich this post.

I'm really grateful to you for that, as well as renewing my thanks to the members of OF for the permission to publish their photos.

It's interesting to know that there was demand at least until 2013, after which it's unknown...

They are watches unknown to most, but they arouse interest in us like no other.
I hope that over time we can find it again and again... and I'm sure others will pop up!

For now let's enjoy these and....eyes open! 🧐👀