Picked up a Gateway Speedmaster

Foo2rama

Can of worms?

Marsimaxam

Beautiful watch and love the matching patina.
I believe my 105.012-66 was delivered in 1967 which seems to be typical. Guess you need to decide if you want birth year in reference number or watch actually having been sold in 1966 which means you’d be looking for a 105.012-65.

K KSquared

That's a beautiful watch!

K KSquared

Well, if searching for a "1966," does one look for a -66 case reference, or one delivered by Omega in 1966, or one sold by dealer in 1966, etc? In any case they would be a bit more extravagant than this one.

K KSquared

I grabbed this recently. Serial number dates it to 1984, which I guess is vintage? It's not a particularity distinguished reference, but the case in great shape, the markers are a nice cream color, and it's running well so far. I have a couple of questions for you experts:

The crystal does not have an Omega symbol. My research suggests that it may still be original (or a replacement but OEM). Any expert know for certain, and should I care regardless?

Also, I've put it on an 1171/1 bracelet with 633 endlinks that I obtained with a Watchco SM300. There is a good amount of play in the endlinks, which seems curious. Perhaps they were filed to fit the Watchco?

I'm calling it a gateway Speedmaster because one day I'll make a run at a birth year Speedmaster. The problem is my birth year is 1966, which opens a whole can of worms (plus a lot more $$ commitment)...This will scratch the itch in the meantime.

u35rm8

Haha that is a can of worms I never thought about. What is the general consensus on birth year watches, go by year of manufacture or when it was sold?

mac_omega

How about you? Do you celebrate your date of manufacture or birth? 😗