In the first post of this thread, I put forward the following in relation to Speedmaster 145.022-74s:
After almost three months and a little over 1000 page views, zero examples of extracts for 145.022-74s with 31x serial numbers and production dates in 1975 have been brought forward. But what's a bit more exciting is that
@Norfolk has now received his extract. Whenever you're testing a hypothesis, it's best to put your cards on the table first, then undertake observation. Apart from the general call for people to bring forward examples,
@Norfolk's extract was really the first specific opportunity I became aware of through the forum to test this hypothesis. So with huge thanks to
@Norfolk, here's the result ...
Well, whaddyaknow, a -74 with a 31x serial and a production date of 1971. The hypothesis stands despite what I think it's fair to say is now two attempts to falsify it: The first was the general call for counter-examples. The second is
@Norfolk's extract.
What does this mean? Well, for now at least, I think we must put to bed any suggestion that a -74 with a 31x serial number should, if it is all original and correct, come with an extract that gives its production date as 1975 or later.
Despite attempts to find them, no such extract has been shown to exist. On the contrary, these watches consistently yield extracts with much earlier production dates - typically in 1971. While these things must always be subject to revision in the face of contradictory data, there is currently no basis in evidence for asserting that this combination of sub-reference, serial number, and production date suggests a lack of originality. I think that's progress
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