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  1. Dr No Jan 17, 2016

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    Just acquired a 910 from the original owner a few days ago. He purchased it at a PX in Thailand ~ '71, fitted with yellow hands. The pushers have 'mustard' . . .

    DSC02455.jpg

    . . . but no 'ketchup'.

    Does anyone have experience with similar pusher color schemes? I'm curious because the watch appears to be entirely original otherwise. It was serviced at least once, judging by markings on the inner case-back.

    Art
     
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  2. lillatroll Jan 17, 2016

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    Perhaps they just flaked off over time. My understanding is that it is not uncommon to find these watches with no colour left on the pushers at all, but you can buy replacement pushers for them. Personally I would leave it as is but each to their own as they say.
     
    Edited Jan 18, 2016
  3. Dr No Jan 18, 2016

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    That possibility occurred to me, but it's remarkable the crowns have their color scheme intact, and the pushers half left, consistent with the hands. I'm wondering if there are other Flightmaster owners with identical pushers.

    Art
     
  4. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Jan 18, 2016

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    Hi Art,

    Not sure what your question is really. The pushers do come with yellow and red on them, and as noted new pushers are available - some I replaced last year...

    [​IMG]

    There is an older style pusher that doesn't have the divided dot like this and only has one smaller dot in the middle of the pusher, but every instance of those that I've had in the shop had the colour completely gone from them.

    Most of these have all the colour gone when they come in, or have all the colour there - unusual to see them with 1/2 the colour still intact, but I don't think it's an indication of anything in particular.

    Cheers, Al
     
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  5. vinn2 Jan 18, 2016

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    some pilots or ground personel have color vision problems. clock dials, tachometers and other equipment gets "color marked" - vinn
     
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  6. Dr No Jan 18, 2016

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    The issue I'm trying to resolve is whether or not there were 910s delivered to the US military fitted with single color scheme pushers. The original owner claims this is the condition in which he acquired the watch, i e, with yellow hands and exclusively yellow marked pushers. The other possibilities (in order of declining likelihood) are that the military procurement office responsible for the order intentionally removed the reddish paint prior to sale; that a watchmaker removed the paint while it was in the owner's possession; or that only the red paint flaked off on its own over the years (inferring the original owner doesn't accurately recall the pusher's original coloration).

    Good to hear from you, Al! It's been a while . . . hope all's well with you.

    Art
     
  7. Dr No Jan 18, 2016

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    That's the answer I was searching for, vinn. Are you aware of another specific example similar to mine? It could be the other way around, too - yellow paint removed for a Flightmaster with the more common reddish orange hand set.

    Art
     
  8. vinn2 Jan 19, 2016

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    any one who has " red green color blindness" is valuable because he can spot camouflage.
     
  9. browncow Jan 19, 2016

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    As I understand it, early 910s had either all mustard or all ketchup pushers.
    Then subsequent, later 910s had the familiar half mustard half ketchup pushers.
     
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  10. Dr No Jan 19, 2016

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    That's my understanding as well, but did any of those early production 'monochrome' pushers have the split? In addition to Al, another member of the OF community informed me via e-mail of his 910 with yellow pushers without the split to accommodate different colored paints.

    I'm curious if other monochrome pushers with the split exist.

    Art
     
  11. browncow Jan 19, 2016

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    AFAIK, earlier monochrome pushers did not have the 'split'.
    Not the best photo by any measure, but the only one I have access to right now.....
    You can just about discern the lack of the 'split'.

    Also note the lack of the 2 lume dots at either side of the 12 o'clock marker - a feature only found (or rather, not found) in the earliest 910s.

    wST145.013fm910.jpg
     
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  12. lillatroll Jan 20, 2016

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    I think the most likely explanation is either that the standard split pushers were on the watch with red and yellow markers and the red ones were removed deliberately, perhaps for the reason Vinn2 said, or that they simply fell off over after being poorly applied in the first place. I can not imagine that the military ordered a consignment of these watches with only yellow markers and no other examples have come up. Perhaps you could contact Omega and ask if they did so. No harm in asking.
     
  13. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Jan 20, 2016

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    As I noted, there was no split initially - here is a photo of one I had in for service that had an older "single dimple" pusher in one spot, and what looked like a regular Speedmaster pusher in the other...

    [​IMG]

    Cheers, Al
     
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  14. styggpyggeno1 ΩF Enforcer ....and thread killer Jan 20, 2016

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    Bought like this from original owners son (who did not use it himself):

    [​IMG]

    Corresponding no dot dial.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Dr No Jan 20, 2016

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    My thanks to all who've taken the time to respond. I'm not sure what to think about mine; the possibility of the reddish orange paint peeling off entirely on its own, with all the other paint intact, seems the least likely to me. Either an independent watchmaker removed the 'ketchup' after it was acquired (which is possible, since there's a 9/77 mark inscribed on the inner case-back), or it was deleted by the military prior to sale in the PX, either by their own technicians or further upstream by Bienne to conform to a contractual specification. The most likely explanation in my opinion is the latter, but there's no way of knowing for sure unless there's independent corroboration.

    Cordially,

    Art

    DSC02440.jpg
     
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