I promised someone on the forum I would post a picture of the rebuilding of my Speedmaster after it was heavily damaged during a solo Trans-Atlantic sailing trip back in 1971.I never got around to it...until now.
Just to recap, The watch was a
1968 Omega Speedmaster 145.022-68 ST. My parents bought it for me as a high school graduation gift, and I needed a good watch for offshore sailing since I was planning to sail solo from the US to England that summer. This was back in the days before GPS when a high-quality chronometer was essential for navigation. So that's how a dumb 18 year old kid found himself in possession of such a fine watch
On the 23rd day of the voyage I encountered a bad storm during the night just south of Newfoundland Shoals. The seas grew and grew until it became a survival storm. To this day, it was the worst storm I have ever encountered!
I was up on the foredeck trying to reduce sail in pitch blackness when I got hit by a freak wave that slammed me against the mast with such force that I thought I had broken my arm! My wrist slammed into the mast hitting the watch and I felt the wristband slide off my wrist. I was sure it went overboard and was now on its way down a couple of thousand fathoms to the bottom of the ocean. This was indeed a survival storm so losing the watch was not my main concern, surviving the storm was.
I survived the storm but over the next few days was depressed about the watch until one day when I was changing the engine oil and saw something shiny in the bilge...It was my watch! It had somehow made it's way down into the bilge! I was ecstatic to find it, and it was still ticking!
My thrill at finding my beloved watch only lasted a few days. As I began wearing it, I started noticing condensation under the crystal. Salt water had obviously gotten inside the watch!
Long story short, the watch continued to run for a while but gradually the face of the watch started showing signs or corrosion, the markings and lume started showing increasing signs of damage. Then one day the winding stem came off, and I sadly retired the watch to a dresser drawer for several years until I finally started thinking about resurrecting it.
Omega wouldn't touch it, claiming it was beyond repair. Through this forum I found a master horologist with credentials for working on Omega watches. He took a look and said he could completely restore it mechanically though I'd have to live with the dial's cosmetic damage unless I wanted to spend thousands to find a replacement.
At first I thought of doing that, but then someone of this forums suggested I just leave it as is. He said I should think of it as "battle scars" and be proud of that. And you know what? He was right! Even though a collector would scoff at the look of my watch, I love it! Every time I look at it, it reminds me of being an 18 year old kid on an epic sailing adventure. Even if someone paid me, I wouldn't replace the face. So thanks to whoever suggested that to me on this forum!
So, anyway I went ahead and spent $700 to repair it and now have a fully functioning watch with a sort of ugly dial on it LOL I prefer to think of the dial as "battle scars" of that fateful trip, rather than a flaw. I mean, I am not a watch collector. This watch was used as it was intended, and used very hard! Now, 55 years later, it is still running just fine. Imagine that...55 YEARS!!!
Anyway, here are a few pictures from the rebuild:
The permanent damage to the face:
The internal watch repair using Omega parts:
The finished repair:
Internal Shot after repair:
Case back (inside)
I plan to keep the watch, but I've been very curious what this watch might be worth in today's market. Can anyone hazard a guess? I've checked eBay and other sources but it seems that the 1
45 022 68ST Transitional model is very rare and I could only find a couple of listings, and they were all pristine collector's models, which mine is obviously not.
According to Speedmaster 101.com poor models shoudl fetch $3000 and fair models around $3,800. I'm not sure how to rate this watch because, mechanically it is excellent, but cosmetically, not so much. I think of the damage as "battle scars" and I actually like the look. It shows an Omega Speedmaster that was was really used for its' intended purpose, not merely as a collector's showpiece....but that's just me
😀
Anyway, any ideas, I'd love to hear them.
Thanks!
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