Small 90s Speedmaster with full calendar, reference 3521.80.

I bought a watch that I found awful in the 1990s: the smaller 39 mm version of the Speedmaster. Reference 3521.80 with a blue dial. The model change took place in 1999/2000. After that came the 3523.80 with the ugly bracelet that was new at the time. Not uncommonly, however, the 3521.80 is offered under that reference - the differences are probably too subtle to be immediately obvious.

The later 3523.80 has noticeably more going on on the dial than this one. Overall, I like the watch very much now - 30 years later. Not only because of the excellent bracelet, which I still find very cool despite the conspicuously shiny center links. The tachymeter scale does not have an outer ring like the successor’s and works well with the polished details of the dial. The blue is much more restrained than shown in old catalogues. The sunburst finish is pleasant and not kitschy.

I generally need reading glasses; to read the date, a magnifying glass would actually help. The watch is genuinely small - really too small for me - and also looks very compact on the wrist. And yet there is so much information packed onto the dial. Still, at €2,000 (without box) it was a good buy (from Luxury Chrono in Düsseldorf - recommended). Good piece.

Back then it cost 3,100 Deutsche Mark and, in my perception, has always lived a niche existence. It shouldn’t have.