Lovely wife gifted me a Speedmaster for my birthday and I had to research what I could. Inside the caseback is marked 145022-69 Has DN90 bezel, 1171 bracelet, straight text on the case back and not clear if there is a stepped dial or not. Seems to slope at the markers but maybe the domed crystal is messing with my perception. The main issue I have is the SN starts with 32xxxxxx. From here (http://chronomaddox.com/romans.html) the serial number seems to be from '73-'74. Is it likely that the case back has been swapped? https://imgur.com/a/pucAM8r
You should know by now that we can't think without photos. Please post photos, not just the link, for posterity and educational purposes, in case the link gets deactivated. If you have the full serial number, plug it in here to see what you really have. The Maddox chart has been proven to be pretty inaccurate.
Hi Mike, essential informations on your watch are found here: http://speedmaster101.com/145-022-straight-writing/ Check it out! EDIT: " Calibre 861 Serial Range: 31xx xxx – 32xx xxx "
Difficult to tell whether this watch started life as a -69 or -74 but I can tell you something is afoot. A 32x serial would be in range for a straight writing or -74, so difficult to tell just from two digits. From the first picture, the dial appears to be of the dome variety, which is incorrect for a -69. Since the ‘S’ in Speedmaster is not of the drop variety (going to the bottom of the P), it is most likely from a -74. Depending on what you paid, if the watch is confirmed as a -74 based on serial/extract, this might not be the worst thing in the world as the correct caseback would not be hard to find. However, if this is actually a -69 SW with an incorrect dial, that would be a more expensive fix to find a nice condition step dial. If you are able/willing to post the full serial, that would help. Again, much of this depends on what was paid.
Just noticed the movement has a metal brake, which I believe should have been plastic on a -74, so now my inclination is this is a SW with a service dial, unfortunately.
It’s not a 74 era movement. Look at the brake.... @Taybharr If the dial is stepped it’s correct, if domed it has a service dial from before 1978. Little hard from the pictures to tell for sure. Chuck Maddox tables are no longer considered valid for dating there is a lot of out dated info on dates.
The endlinks look to be modern ones from a 1171-1/633. Do you have bracelet pics also, clasp and both sides? Kind regards Max
I entered SN on referenced website and came back January '74 I then followed links to here: https://www.watchbooksonly.com/omeg...view-of-the-speedmaster-moonwatch-production/ Here I see a table that shows: 1971-1974 145.022-69 SW SN 31.009.xxx - 32.857.xxx So the year matches and SN is within this range. I compared the S with those on this page and it is the same. http://speedmaster101.com/145-022-69/ The step dial is the hardest to see but looking at the picture with 6 dials at following page. I am fairly confident there is a stepped dial. http://speedmaster101.com/145-022/145-022-71-74-76-78/
Looks domed to me, there is no step at the minute track. And yes that’s a modern 1171/1 bracelet. That S was used on all 145.022 through late 1977 production on 145.022-76 models. So 1969 through 1978.
Hi Mike, While this is a very nicely aged dial, I am afraid it’s most probably not a stepped one. Looks like a lovely Speedy nonetheless!
Here is an example of a -69 with a stepped dial for reference. The dome dial on your example does not have as much of a “drop”.
I’m looking for a stepped dial for my -69ST if anyone comes across one. I too have an (even later) domed service dial.