Speedmaster durability: 145.022 vs modern Speedys

If the crystal was fogging up, then water ingress occurred on your watch to some degree. Chances are, some water entered your watch when you weren't noticing because the seals on your vintage watch hadn't been replaced in years.
It's likely that the bump didn't do much, if anything at all, to foul your watch. Shocks affect the mechanisms of the movement and effects of shock typically manifest themselves in timing deviations and abnormal behavior.

In terms of durability, the modern Speedmaster is the same as its vintage 145.022 ancestors, provided that watches in question do not have pitting, and have had their seals annually inspected and replaced.

The Speedy Pro has changed very little over the years. As someone who owns a 1976 145.022 and a 2020 311.30.42.30.01.005, I would argue that the modern version is better in some respects (improved bracelet and clasp, super luminova indices and hands that won’t degrade like tritium, rhodium plated movement parts in the 1861 vs copper plated and unplated parts in the 861). That being said, the modern version is no more or less durable than a properly maintained 145.022.

The modern and vintage watches are similar enough that there really isn't any significant difference in their durability.

The common point of failure on a Speedmaster of this type is the crown. It is used every day to wind the watch, for setting, back-hacking the movement, etc. So it will be the first seal to go bad usually. Here is a photo of a Speedmaster crown gasket:



You can see that the O-ring inside, that was originally a circular cross section, has become flattened over time as the seal has deteriorated and become harder - sort of a natural vulcanization process. The constant wear and tear on this seal makes it the most likely place for ingress of water.

The case back has the gasket fully contained by the case back, and in my experience it's rare that you have a leak there. The pushers are not easy to get water into...here is the side view of the pusher as it sits before it is installed into the watch:



If you look at the underside, you can see the serrations on the pusher tube and the cap - water has to get by this interface first...



If we disassemble the pusher, this is what the tube looks like, and this part is screwed into the case. Inside the tube is the O-ring...



There is a post on the pusher cap seen here, and the outside diameter of this post is pushed inside the seal in the tube, and it stays in contact with the seal at all times:



Note that the exact same pushers, crowns, gaskets, and crystals are used with the modern Speedmasters as are the vintage 145022's.

Cheers, Al