Surprise, surprise, Ultraman Speedmaster

[MeBlob]

I bought this Omega Speedmaster 145012-67 SP (number 26.078.XXX) second hand in 2009. I was always wondering about this orange chronograph hand (posted even a question back then about it on one of the forums) but never got an answer. Kept this watch with my other watches not wearing it even once. Just for curiosity I revisited (googled) the issue of orange hand again this week. To my surprise, I found a lot of info about Speedmaster Ultraman including an interesting story on Hodinkee. Checked the numbers, length of the orange hand (all match) and ... do I or I do not have Speedmaster Ultraman.

 

[gemini4]

Get an extract.

 

[MeBlob]

I am re-posting my earlier post: Surprise, surprise from the general forum to vintage Omega forum. I was so fascinated about my discovery of Ultraman Speedy (I did not know about) that I opened the case and took additional pictures (taken with a cell phone) to share (attached). Sorry if too many. My original post is below.

I bought this Omega Speedmaster 145012-67 SP (number 26.078.XXX) second hand in 2009. I was always wondering about this orange chronograph hand (posted even a question back then about it on one of the forums) but never got an answer. Kept this watch with my other watches not wearing it even once. Just for curiosity I revisited (googled) the issue of orange hand again this week. To my surprise, I found a lot of info about Speedmaster Ultraman including an interesting story on Hodinkee. Checked the numbers, length of the orange hand (all match) and ... do I or I do not have Speedmaster Ultraman.

The orange chronometer hand is not flat for sure. It follows the contour of the dial and bends slightly similarly to minutes hand. The length seems to be perfect.

Saints geaux !!!

 

[kov]

The hand appears to have the correct length and your dial seems to have the same properties than what we observe in the so called Ultraman Speedmasters. A shame that all the lume is gone...

The serial is within the observed range, too.

Don’t worry about the hands to bend, as long as they do not touch each other everything is fine.

So far, everything looks correct to me. 👍

Do you have a UV light? I would be very interested to see a picture of the watch under UV.

So far, congrats ! 😉 and DIBS ! Please contact me if you ever think to flip it for another watch or cash 😉

Edit : you might want to look for a nice vintage DON bezel now, to bring the watch back to the original setup 😉

Edited: Oct 30, 2017

 

[TsoloT]

Kov .....Do you think the dial has been washed or swapped ?

 

[Vintagewtchzilla]

As kov stated everything seems to match.

As the ultraman dial has a specific appearance and this one fits, it was not changed. What happened to the missing lume is another story.

Congrats

 

[nixf6]

Congratulations.
That's a great find.Sat on it from 2009 without a clue.Fantastic.

 

[TsoloT]

Vintagewtchzilla

As kov stated everything seems to match.

As the ultraman dial has a specific appearance and this one fits, it was not changed. What happened to the missing lume is another story.

Congrats

Yes I take the point but there are a few issues which I would like his opinion on namely the step line running through the lume and the part white part black colouration ...maybe not descriptive enough but have seen over 100 Watches of this model when I see the issues I have outlined it always indicates something has been done
That plus the very black dial plus the missing paint on the pinion and the repaint on the others and the step line always indicates a dial that has been on and off a movement and one that may have been ‘improved ‘

 

[TsoloT]

When you wash the dial to remove Mold dirt etc one never cleans near the step line as it’s thin there and it splits the
Lume as can be seen on this dial

As a consequence you get a patch of dirt just above the step line WHICH THIS DIAL IS SHOWING
So I ask the question ...lume depredations are even not white with a patch inthe middle

 

[kov]

TsoloT

Yes I take the point but there are a few issues which I would like his opinion

To put the things in the right context, I am not a watchmaker and my watchmaking skills are close to zero. My observations on a number of different watches have nothing to do with any professional background.

As a pure amateur, I can tell you that this dial has the appearance I would expect from an Ultraman dial. And this is what I already wrote above. Lume is another question. It’s almost gone and to be honest I don’t care why nor how. Might be a natural degradation or washing or bad handling or something else... but who cares? All I can say it’s a shame that its lume is gone.

Please, @TsoloT, now that the Holy Grail thread has been locked, let’s avoid driving this one in the middle of nowhere, per respect to its author and all other readers.

 

[MeBlob]

Indeed the lume is mostly gone and likely due to degradation or poor handling, who knows. It is not a dirt above the step line but residual lume. For some reason it sticks better in those particular spots. Just looked at dial under a microscope and the lume on hands and the step line have the same granular appearance. If there is dirt it equally covers hands and residual lume on hour marks. I have noticed that paint is missing on hands here and there but no sign of repainting. It looks chipped off likely from taking hands off for service. Service on the watch was done few times judging from the inscriptions on inside of a cover, likely due to "hour creep" the watch has.
And thanks for your valuable opinions.

 

[Vintagewtchzilla]

@MeBlob true and correct description ... what and how it happens that the lume is gone is not interesting as the damage is there. with some patience and luck u can source a correct dial with intact lume and then u have a nice one 👍 ok and a DON bezel would be nice 😉

 

[MeBlob]

kov

The hand appears to have the correct length and your dial seems to have the same properties than what we observe in the so called Ultraman Speedmasters. A shame that all the lume is gone...

The serial is within the observed range, too.

Don’t worry about the hands to bend, as long as they do not touch each other everything is fine.

So far, everything looks correct to me. 👍

Do you have a UV light? I would be very interested to see a picture of the watch under UV.

So far, congrats ! 😉 and DIBS ! Please contact me if you ever think to flip it for another watch or cash 😉

Edit : you might want to look for a nice vintage DON bezel now, to bring the watch back to the original setup 😉

 

[MeBlob]

Thanks for your expert words. I have just ordered UV light and will post additional pictures shortly.
I have educated myself on DON bezel. I have also noted that Hodinkee has two Ultraman pictures posted, one with DON and one with DNN bezel.
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/bring-a-loupe-october-23-2015
https://shop.hodinkee.com/products/1967-omega-speedmaster-145-012-ultraman?variant=22495560324

Though it is possible that bezels were swapped at some time from DON to DNN in my watch and in Hodinkee's watch, one cannot exclude that certain markets (or later batches) received DNN bezels. Just a thought. Future may shed light on this topic.
Thanks again.

 

[gdupree]

Not much to add here, but very interested to see what turns up here. An extract should be interesting.

 

[kov]

It’s a 145.012 and the DNN bezel isn’t correct on this watch. The original DON has been replaced at a certain point in time...

 

[MeBlob]

OK, my UV light has arrived. Tried my best with cell phone camera. Appreciate your comments (I am not sure what additional info UV pictures provide). Fluorescent light is visible in spots where lume residue is present. Archives extract has to be requested through Omega dealership (there is none in my hometown), including direct inspection and photography of the watch. Luckily, I will be in Las Vegas in December and intend to request one. Thanks.

 

[kov]

Thank you, I wanted to observe its behavior in UV light and it behaves as expected 👍👍

 

[MeBlob]

What would be the best (safest, most efficient) way to send this watch to Omega in Switzerland? How long does the process take?
Can I have Omega Las Vegas to do it for me since I will be there in person.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[propervinyl]

M MeBlob

What would be the best (safest, most efficient) way to send this watch to Omega in Switzerland? How long does the process take?
Can I have Omega Las Vegas to do it for me since I will be there in person.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.

Amy omega AD can order you an extract. Just take it there and they can do it.