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I'm now looking for a late 145.0022 - 861 cal. (before they changed the brake lever to delron). Used to have one and wish I'd never parted with it :-(
Here is my 145.022 from 1992 with the 861 caliber. I like it but don't wear it much...like some other guys....strange, huh! I also have the 2 X-33s too...
I have lusted after one of these for quite some time now, and I'm not really sure why. Can we discuss the pros/cons of this beauty (IMO)?
I should mention, I prefer a vintage example if I can find one.
It's a beautiful watch is all I can say. IMHO the cons also make the Speedy Pro special.
I've lusted over it for as long as I can remember but somehow tried hard to ignore this fact when I started watch collecting. Seiko collecting got me distracted to say the least and then one day, through a thread here at Wrist Sushi, I realized that if I had to have only one watch it had to be the Speedy Pro.
Here's my 3592.50, purchased at roughly the same price of a brand new 3570.50:
The 3592.50 has the Hesalite front, sapphire back displaying a gold gilt calibre 863. It is the predecessor of what is now the 3572.50 with the rhodium plated calibre 1863. I'm not a big fan of older versions as they are usually more expensive (and beat up). Mint versions cost an arm and a leg of course. This one I have still looks quite young and even has proper lume. I'm looking forward to the patina that'll develop in the coming years. My advice is go for whatever model you fancy (vintage year, hesalite, sapphire, etc) at a price point that you like. Doesn't really matter IMHO as long as it is a Speedy Pro.
The only real downside for me is the fact that to get one Speedy Pro I had to sell a number of really great vintage Seikos. And because I really dig the Speedmaster I am now on the hunt for a Racing Dial Mark II. This is also the reason why my collection has gone from 28 to 12 in the past few months. To be honest, I really miss my Seikos but I have no regrets.
Here is my 145.022 from 1992 with the 861 caliber. I like it but don't wear it much...like some other guys....strange, huh! I also have the 2 X-33s too...
Lovely classic looks. Why don't you wear it much?
Not really sure, but I do like date watches, which is why I bought the midsized date Speedie. I have so many nice watches that it time to get around to the Moon watch ahahahahaha! I actually wear the Bond 300m blue Seamaster more!
The Speedmaster is the iconic one to get, of course. But I got stuck on the great Speedmaster X-33 models and had to have both gen1 and 2. They have great provenance, at least my gen2. A US pilot owned it and had his initials on the back. Omega put 8 years of research into producing the astronaut/aviator watch.
A forum friend from a few years back bought it believing it was genuine. He realize as soon as he got it that it was a fake and got his money back from ePrey/Paypoo. The seller just told him to keep the watch. He didn't want it and gifted it to me along with a genuine Citizen quartz dive style watch.
The watch actually runs very well. It has a Chinese Sea-Gull ST6 automatic calibre movement that puts out some very respectable numbers on the timegrapher. The watch is fairly well made but probably lighter than the real McCoy. Also the registers are actually for a day/date display...that's what tipped off the friend who sent me the watch; it's not a chrono and the pushers are just used to quickset the day and date registers.
If I come across the correct multi function dial without the Omega IP, I will swap it over and then wear this watch out in public because it then won't be a fake
A forum friend from a few years back bought it believing it was genuine. He realize as soon as he got it that it was a fake and got his money back from ePrey/Paypoo. The seller just told him to keep the watch. He didn't want it and gifted it to me along with a genuine Citizen quartz dive style watch.
The watch actually runs very well. It has a Chinese Sea-Gull ST6 automatic calibre movement that puts out some very respectable numbers on the timegrapher. The watch is fairly well made but probably lighter than the real McCoy. Also the registers are actually for a day/date display...that's what tipped off the friend who sent me the watch; it's not a chrono and the pushers are just used to quickset the day and date registers.
If I come across the correct multi function dial without the Omega IP, I will swap it over and then wear this watch out in public because it then won't be a fake
Remember this, Peter? It has the ST16, if memory serves me ( or is it ST6 the small ladies size movement....(so wanna trade something for that fake Omega chrono? Email me if you do.....thian48@gmail.com.......
Last Edit: Aug 19, 2014 13:32:28 GMT -8 by thianwong
good thing, because it made me check my Speedie. Here is a photo of the watch and spec sheet the japanese watchmaker/store wrote up concerning the watch. I figure either the owner or the used store had this spec sheet made up. There is a mistake naming my watch a 145.022 when it should be 145.0022! This is according to the serial # shown starting with 4826xxxx. speedie documentation by blingmeister, on Flickr
I found this chart of models and serial numbers and years of make.....http://chronomaddox.com/romans.html
I just can't let this one go, it's a must have at this point. So here is the question, do I buy secondhand new, of go for something more toward vintage? Which model?
Thats a hard question to answer and much depends on your budget. Unless you are willing to pay high money these days the good vintage Speedmasters are too expensive and its very difficult to find one which is genuine and good condition, I was lucky and did buy my vintage Speedmasters before the price went so crazy.
That leaves you with the more modern Speedmaster in either standard form or one of the limited editions. If I was going to buy another 'standard' Speedmaster it would probably be an Apollo XI 863 model or 3592.50 1863, or maybe a broad arrow 3594.50 1861
The caliber number that was actually on the lunar surface was a 321. It has been speculated, but I believe never proven, that 861 may have made the trip. 321 is a column wheel - 861 is a cam. Both have been extensively used in space and approved by NASA for space flight.
Last Edit: Dec 1, 2016 11:08:58 GMT -8 by earthphase
Always looking to buy anything "Pepsi" - so let me know.