Speedmaster 145.022-74: A Puzzle

WurstEver · May 5, 2020

padders
And logically they left factory in 1974/5 and the extracts are wrong.

Yep, I think you're dead right. And given what we've seen here and elsewhere I'd maybe just add a couple of other points that, while somewhat speculative, are straightforward, consistent with current evidence, and therefore serve as reasonable working hypotheses at the time of writing:

- The "erroneous" 1971 dates we see on older extracts for 31x -74s are probably representative of the date of manufacture of the movements in these watches, which sat on shelves at the factory between 1971 and 1974/5.

- This "error" in the extracts for 31x -74s may have been corrected when changes were made to the extract process in 2019 (though this is currently based on a small number of observations and should be regarded as tentative).

padders
The smoking gun will be when we find one of these with filled in papers. Not sure what to think if purchase date is pre '74!

Haha! Oh God, I don't even want to think about it!

Foo2rama · May 5, 2020

My question is how does the extract predate the release of NASA casebacks?

With full papers what is the sale date?

is it too hard to hypothesize that -71’s sat unsold for 3 plus years due to lack of the NASA caseback? And omega took them back updated them with nasa CB’s and new dials as the lume has degraded?

isn’t it also plausible NASA sent some casebacks and or dealers or the dealers ordered them as parts to move the older stock that was not as popular due to lack of NASA markings?

If both of those non insane things happened it starts to explain why we see some 31m’s with early and late delivery dates and why some have an early delivery date and a caseback that didn’t exist at that point.

abrod520 · May 5, 2020

Foo2rama
is it too hard to hypothesize that -71’s sat unsold for 3 plus years due to lack of the NASA caseback? And omega took them back updated them with nasa CB’s and new dials as the lume has degraded?

Which version of the -71 are we talking about? Unless it was the very early no-NASA, all -71s had the same exterior caseback markings as the -74s, no? Unless we mean pre-moon -69s or Straight Writings.

Foo2rama · May 5, 2020

abrod520
Which version of the -71 are we talking about? Unless it was the very early no-NASA, all -71s had the same exterior caseback markings as the -74s, no? Unless we mean pre-moon -69s or Straight Writings.

Your right ignore me I’m losing my mind. I blame isolation, getting a nail in my brand new tires and not drinking for 2 days.

WurstEver · May 6, 2020

Foo2rama
Your right ignore me I’m losing my mind. I blame isolation, getting a nail in my brand new tires and not drinking for 2 days.

Don't sweat it, I think isolation is getting the better of many of us! This is exactly the kind of discussion that helps to get these things sorted, so it's all good. Oh, and two whole days!? You're a better man than I.

nzshadow · May 6, 2020

I have somehow arrived at the end of this thread even more confused than I was at the beginning.

Banner Roar · May 6, 2020

Has anyone demonstrated two extracts for the same watch. A pre 2019 having 71 year reflecting the movement manufacture. A post 2019 showing 74/75 year reflecting the year the watch left the factory.

Has the hypothesis for this been accepted. The well documented quartz revolution in watch movements that started in the early 70s. This caused a crisis in the mechanical watch industry resulting in a collapse in demand for mechanical watches. The over supply of mechanical movements took years to work through.

WurstEver · May 6, 2020

Banner Roar
Has anyone demonstrated two extracts for the same watch. A pre 2019 having 71 year reflecting the movement manufacture. A post 2019 showing 74/75 year reflecting the year the watch left the factory.

I'd love to see this as it goes to the heart of the second point above. If the recent changes to the extract process are a red herring, this is the way to show it. But so far I've not seen it.

Unfortunately, I only got around to getting an extract for my own 31x -74 in early 2020. Consistent with the interpretation above, it came back as 1976. I now wish I'd got one before the 2019 changes.

Banner Roar
Has the hypothesis for this been accepted.

I think the interpretation above is doing about as well as most hypotheses can, which is to say that it can't be rejected yet. Observations that could in principle lead to it being modified or thrown out are:
1. The repeated extract case you mentioned
2. An old extract for a -74 showing 31x and 1974-6
3. A new extract for a -74 showing 31x and 1971

Banner Roar · May 6, 2020

I have a 2016 extract for my 74 with 31m movement giving a June 71 year and I'm very tempted to get another extract to test this.
With C-19 has anyone ordered an extract recently and got it or has the extract service been suspended.

abrod520 · May 6, 2020

Banner Roar
I have a 2016 extract for my 74 with 31m movement giving a June 71 year and I'm very tempted to get another extract to test this.
With C-19 has anyone ordered an extract recently and got it or has the extract service been suspended.

I got one right as the lockdowns were beginning, but still don't have the physical copy - just the digital one they send now along with the paper copy.

M00NW@TCH · Aug 12, 2022

Here is my extract for my -74. I received it last night. The related thread is here https://omegaforums.net/threads/worried-about-my-first-speedmaster-purchase.142322/

I had no idea what I had at the beginging, initially I thought my Speedy was from the early 1990's but gradually the guys here have helped me piece it together. However, my last post states that I am puzzled by the caseback/movement/metal brake/domed dial etc. Thats how I came to find your thread.

Foo2rama · Aug 13, 2022

All as expected…

Speedmaster 145.022-74: A Puzzle

WurstEver

Foo2rama

abrod520

Foo2rama

WurstEver

nzshadow

Banner Roar

WurstEver

Banner Roar

abrod520

M00NW@TCH

Foo2rama

Similar threads

27xxxxxx serial Speedmaster 145.022-74's might be original after all

A Puzzle ; can we connect these 4 names to this Speedmaster 145.022 ?

Speedmaster 145.022-74 ST - auction: views welcomed

145.022-74 back from Archer Watches

Speedmaster 145.022 STOLEN

1974 Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022-74 Stunning Patina. 1171/633 Bracelet.