Nov 1968 Speedmaster ST145.012-68SP

I had once owned a cal.861 ST145.022-69 Speedmaster pre-moon, but traded it off cos it didn't quite speak to me.

So I must have been pretty struck with the dreaded Watch Acquisition Syndrome when I started looking for a slightly earlier variant, the last Speedmaster variant to carry the column-wheel cal.321, the ST145.012.

ST145.012s from 1967 are fairly common, but I wanted the considerably less common variant, the ST145.012-68...these were literally the last c.321 Speedmasters, produced in late 1968 or so, before they transited to the cheaper to manufacture c.861 ST 145.022.

So I found this one on Fleabay - it's condition looked so-so - dial looked original but with the lume 'washed' off, hands likely service replacements, wrong DN90 bezel - under normal circumstances I would have walked away (and the experts at Omega Forum all seemed to agree), but it had one redeeming feature that I found irresistible - it came with Omega Archive papers stating the production date to be 11 Nov 1968. This meant that this watch was produced 'in the factory' at about the same time (give or take a few days) as yours truly!

When the watch arrived, it did appeal to me more than my previous cal.861 Speedy, but I wasn't satisfied with the 'washed' lume on the dial, so I promptly shipped it back to the UK to the master James Hyman to have the dial relumed - now I hear all the purists letting out a collective scream: "DO NOT RELUME YOUR VINTAGE WATCH!!!!"
I do know perfectly well that it will adversely affect it's resale value, but since I had no intention of selling it on, I felt no compelling reason why I shouldn't do whatever I wanted with it! =P

When I got it back from James it was much much better - but it was still not perfect - everytime I looked at it, the incorrect DN90 bezel bothered me immensely.

Trying to find a correct 'Dot Over 90' bezel is not impossible, but they were all super expensively overpriced.

Then I found one that was faded - extremely faded - in fact, faded enough to be termed a 'ghost' bezel.

There tends to be 2 distinct camps when it comes to ghost bezels, you either love it or hate it.

I, for one, love the 'I've had an honest, hard life' ghost bezel look - for sure a nicely faded ghost bezel is way more attractive to my eyes, than say, the flaked bezel of my previous c.861 Speedmaster 145.022-69 - so I took a gamble, emptied the wallet, bit the bullet, and bought the ghost bezel!

And while I was at it, I bought a correct, earlier 'pointy base' chrono hand to replace the later 'flat base' chrono hand of mine.

So when I finally put it all together....I was greatly relieved - my Speedy now looked pretty darn perfect!

It's by no means all original, but who cares!

It's mine, it ain't going anywhere, and it looks absolutely lovely (albeit in a Franken kinda way)!!!

The Big Triangle, ST166.024 SM300, from 1969

One of my greatest watch dilemmas - what's the most iconic vintage diving watch?

The Seamaster 300? Or the Submariner?

My choice is perpetually evolving - one day the Sub might prevail, another day the preference may edge towards the SM300.

Submariners are literally a dime a dozen (well, not quite, but I'm sure you know what I mean), so I decided to hunt for a rather famous variant of the Seamaster 300, the 'Big Triangle ' variant of the ST166.024 - first released in 1967.

Now these SM300s are frequently faked, so potential buyers will do well to exercise some careful due diligence - there's many online resources to help you sieve out all junk - this blog post by Arne Rasmussen is particularly comprehensive.

Also, as these were often actually used for their intended purpose (ie. diving), rather than the Submariner which were often more treasured and pampered, many of these vintage SM300s show evidence of having lived a hard life, fully exposed to the elements.

This ad showed up one afternoon just as I was heading off to work...coincidentally, it was a local sale, and I even knew the seller! Problem is - I really really had to leave for work, and I knew that if I hesitated, it would likely be gone in the next couple of minutes.

So I frantically contacted the seller, and thankfully he was nice enough to agree to hold it for me for a couple of hours. By the time I managed to find a few minutes away from work to get back to him, he had been inundated by an avalanche of offers, but to his credit, he held firm - he had given me a verbal promise, and he steadfastly kept to his word - what a gent!

So after cross checking a few minor details, the deal was done - thank you Jack!

This Big Triangle was by no means perfect, it did show it's age, and it most likely had a service (but all correct - down to the little dot on the Big Triangle and the 6 o'clock lume markers) dial; but it was honest, reasonably priced, and had a serial number dating to 1969 - the way I like my watches - wooohoooo!

In the flesh, it is indeed a handsome watch - tough, professional looking, without being excessively chunky or overbuilt.

I am very much a bracelet guy, but I found that I definitely preferred this watch on a leather strap.

What I couldn't accept, however, was the mismatch between the lume of the hands and the dial, but this was nothing that a quick visit to the renowned James Hyman couldn't fix!

So after the hands were relumed to match the dial - it's all much better - still not perfect mind you - I would prefer the lume and dial to show more patina, but no worries - that will develop over time! =)

Seiko 5 Speedtimer 6138-0010 'Yachtman' from 1970 - three of 'em!

Wow I can't believe it's been so many months since I last blogged!

I guess the harsh reality is that with alternative social media platforms readily available for one to share their thoughts and such to the wider world, blogging has become, sadly, passé!

No matter...better late than never right?

Anyways, let's not waste time cos I got a bunch of new watch acquisitions to plough though!!!

So although I love the historical achievement of the Seiko 6139 as possibly the first commercially available automatic chronograph, I intensely dislike the fact that I cannot wind the watch, and that I had to wear it on a daily basis to keep it wound.

I suppose it could have been Seiko's sly trick to 'force' the owners of these watches to constantly wear them, but hey, I'm a watch collector, damnit, and I've got more than one watch to wear!!!

So that got me looking at the Seiko 6138, a movement that came towards the end of 1969, a few months after the introduction of the 6139, but with one crucial feature (well, two, to be precise - it's also got 2 subdials instead of the solitary dial of the 6139) that sets it apart from the 6139 - the ability to wind the watch!

One of the earliest (and most popular) models of the vast 6138 lineup (See Jasui's awesome collection above) is the 'Yachtman', or 'UFO' as it is more widely known in the watch world.

These UFOs are not uncommon - a search on Ebay will reveal a million pieces - but most of these are for the international market - they're just simply labelled 'Seiko Automatic Chronograph'.

Since I like to keep things difficult for myself, and of course to keep within my collecting theme, I chose to hunt for the rarer JDM 'Seiko 5 Sports Speed-Timer', 'Proof' dial, 'Proof' caseback version.

When I was looking for 6139s, I used to come across these periodically, but had stupidly ignored them.

Then when I finally began hunting for them, they were nowhere to be found.

So this was the first one that showed up after some months - I hastily bought it despite the fact that it had the 'fatter' or 'blunt' arrow hands. Though correct, I preferred the variant with 'narrower' or 'pointy' arrow hands.

When it arrived, I had to replace the badly scratched crystal and the bracelet that was in terrible condition, but the rest of the watch was fine - the dial was in particularly good condition, and overall, this UFO from Oct 1970 was a wonderful watch - bright, colourful, and had great wrist presence!

So as with these things - the moment you give up and settle for a piece that is almost, but not quite perfect, a better piece will immediately show up.

Usually I wouldn't bite the bullet the second time, but I had to for this second one that came by, cos not only did it have the nicer and narrower arrow hands, but it also had the original Seiko 5 Speed-Timer bracelet, AND it was earlier - dating to March 1970 to be precise - and it had the necessary patina on the dial to proof it!

When it arrived, it had a unpolished case, which was a nice bonus, but internally it was a total train wreak - not only was it not functioning, it couldn't even be wound - the movement was all gummed up with gunk and other unmentionables!

But these 6138 movements did not earn a stellar reputation for being reliable work-horses for nothing - after a stint at my watchmaker, this little baby came back all cleaned up and ready to party with his younger twin and his 6139 cousins!!

And make no mistake - these are all JDM Proof Proof Seiko 5 Speed-Timers!

Addendum 8 July 2016:

So I unexpectedly came across another nice JDM Proof dial Proof back UFO recently, but what particularly piqued my interest is that it dated from Feb 1970 (one month earlier than my existing UFO), making it one of the earliest known Seiko 6138-0010s around! *** If anyone knows of any UFO/Yachtman dating to Jan 1970 or earlier, please contact me - I would be very interested to hear from you! ***

As an added bonus, it had a cleaner dial than mine, with the silver subdial free of the blemishes that mine had, plus it had been recently serviced and thus was good to go the moment it showed up - no visit to the watchmaker necessary....woohoo!!!!

In the flesh, these guys are dope with a capital D!!! Big, chunky, full of character and wrist presence. If you haven't tried one on your wrist, you owe it to yourself to do so!

Trust me, you will not regret it!