Hello,

i'm not so familiar with pro 80s Speedmasters... What references are there with sapphire glass backs but with tritium indices on the dial?

 

The Speedmaster Professional 3592.50 was produced from the late 1980’s or early 1990’s and has a hesalite crystal and sapphire case back with both a tritium dial and handset.

These were produced until ~1997 when they changed the reference to 3572.50 (along with some aesthetic changes to the movement; meaning non-mechanical changes) - some of the early versions of that reference also had tritium dials and handsets up until 1998 (or so) with the change to luminova.

Don’t have my copy of Moon Watch Only handy to confirm production dates and/or additional references that had that combination. There are other references that were LE or numbered editions (Apollo 11’s) that had tritium and sapphire as well.

There is a lot more detail to what I shared above, but those are two references you can start to check out and I’m sure others here have plenty more to share .

 

The 345.0808 was the LE Apollo XI that jB1128 references. It is harder to find than the 3592.50. The early 3572.50's with tritium are pretty scarce as well.

 

This isn't exactly true, as the earliest 3572.50s had the gilt movement, NOT the updated 1861 rhodium-plated model. The change in model number didn't coincide with the movement as the rollout wasn't fully coordinated, that's why there are a cacophony of "parts bin" Speedies from this time, sapphire or solid backed.

Also to note that during the 3592.50 lifespan the movements went from copper to gilt color, and added a jewel, from 17 to 18. But even then some of these used old movement plates with "Seventeen" text even thought the 18th jewel was present.
https://omegaforums.net/threads/861-movement-in-a-4835xxxx.82387/

As previously mentioned the 345.0808 preceding the 3592.50 had the tritium dial and sapphire back, but there are plenty others that had the combo the OP was looking for. Good rundowns are below:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/what-are-all-of-the-display-back-moonwatch-references.63611/
http://moonwatchonly.blogspot.com

 

Thank you for the clarification, you make an excellent point regarding the "parts bin" approach that Omega has (consistently) taken through transitional periods.

I had been under the impression that the update from the 863 to the 1863 occurred with the transition from 3592.50 to 3752.50...so that is really informative that this transition took place in the lifecycle of the 3592.50 and was not a fully coordinated rollout. Thanks!

 

@yinzerniner

Also: thank you for posting those threads! I knew I was in well-tread territory and should have done a quick forum search first...!

 

Here’s more from this great forum.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/first-speedmaster-professional-rhodium-3572-50.35181/