Speedmaster 70's

Not me. But my research with extracts seemed to show that some 71’s may have received -74 casebacks at sale time to update them to the Moonwatch caseback.

Also very possible that the case-back has been swapped. Can we see the watch?

If a birthyear watch is really important to you, I think you shouldn't be satisfied with a "watch with a story." Several interesting Speedmaster variants were made in 1971, don't buy one that is questionable. You will always wonder.

I just looked mine up again on the "I love speedmaster" The aggregator still says it was most likely made in Feburary 1970. Which would have been my 10th birthday.

Sadly I do not have the correct caseback. The movement is an 861. The aggregator web site says it should have a ST145.022-69 Pre Moon back. Currently it has a 105.012 case back.

The watch came with two casebacks. One was engraved. It had the initials W.C.L. on it.This is also on the bracelet which I still have. Sometime during the last 30 years that I lost the 'spare' engraved back. It should have been kept with the watch. I did find the spare bracelet links.

I got this before the Apollo 13 move came out. Which was 1995. So I must have got it in 1994. It was one of the first writstwatches I bought. My interest being more into clockwork dolls and singing birds.

The problem now with the extreme interest in these. Is every tiny little detail now matters. I wore this watch every day for 10 years. The crystal is scratched, the bezel bunged up, and the lume falling out of the hands. I used to wear it to the Renaissance fair rehearsals, I would also wear it on special occasions even over the last 20 years. It still runs, although the pushers are stiff.

Now I am disappointment I lost the engraved back. I have looked for the proper back, but they now cost more than I paid for the watch.

I also put off getting an EOA as I could get a couple landeron movements or a bunch of A shild watches for the same price to practice on. I also do not have the updated tools to work on it.

The irony is the what what inpired it inspired it was a Tissot T12 which came as a box of dissembled parts. I wanted another and had heard the moonwatch story. The other factor, was I became active in the rocket club with was founded in 1992. The late 1980s and early 1990s were not good times for mechanical watches. Quartz watches were cheap and given out in breakfast cereals. (I still have one of those.) The only watch anyone would pay to have serviced was Rollex, and then only if it was solid gold. No one wanted to pay more than 20 bucks for a service, so a lot of people retired.

This is still my favorite watch. And it would be really neat if it was made on my 10th birthday. Which was at the height of the Apollo program. And I was obsessed with such things. An anodyne to all the horrible things that were happening in the world at the time.

The 105.012 case-back is worth at least as much as the correct back and the -69 caseback you need is the most common pre-moon reference.

I had a similar situation recently. I bought a Rolex with no photos of the interior and was disappointed to find that it had a service case-back for a different reference. However, the case-back on the watch was for a more collectible reference. It was a hassle obviously, but a few months later, I had purchased the correct case-back and sold the incorrect case-back for a $400 profit.

I am aware of that. I do not have the cash flow to play the game at that level.

Now it is part of the watch's history.

I did a straight-up case-back trade once with a stranger in Mexico. I actually arranged it after seeing a watch on eBay that had the opposite mismatched pairing. It was nerve-racking to ship it, but we spent some time getting to know each other by email, and everything went well.

It has been on my mind as a possibilty to look for a trade.

At the moment I am so deep into Landerons, other chronos, Aschild (for practice) and Enicar. Not to mention the Seamasters, Dynamics, and ladymatics. The speedy is way down on the list. Even if I did get it cleaned and serviced, I would not feel as comfortable wearing it.

Especially when mowing the lawn.

Edit: what really irks me is that I lost the other back. Even if it was engraved.