I can remember hanging out with watch dealers at the 26th St. flea market in Manhattan in the early ‘90s and discussing the merits of vintage Speedys, well before the market exploded and knowledge was so prevalent. Back then, the focus was on the applied metal logo. That was the easiest and foremost way to begin to discern a 321.

But I had always noticed a difference in the dial, beyond the step, and that was the longer markers.

So the question is, why did Omega switch to shorter markers? And in this age of coveting vintage, why have they not reverted to the more elegant longer markers for modern Speedys?

Being that Omega has positioned itself as one of the more, if not the most, collector friendly brands, I wonder if they’ve decided that the longer hour marker is reserved for vintage pieces.

 

The only two reasons I can think about is either just a design thing or a way to keep radiation from tritium down. But let’s not tell Omega that long indicates looks better. Let it still be unique for these old Speedys.

 

They were shortened in 1969, with the transition to the caliber 861, to make it easier to read the seconds precisely.