Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022-69 Pre-Moon with Brown Tropical Dial -SOLD
A small handful of reference 145.022-69 pre-moon Speedmasters are known to have their dials turn brown, speculated to be either manufacturing errors or the use of different materials in two "batches" of dials installed in watches with 29.1 million or 29.6 million serial number ranges. The quality, intensity, and shade of these brown dials can vary greatly, from just a shade of dark brown on the edge of the subdials or the dial step, to having a splotchy or dirty appearance, to an unmistakable bright milk chocolate brown. Finding an attractive pre-moon Speedmaster is becoming difficult already, and finding an attractive tropical dial example is quite the tall task.
Thankfully, we've found an absolutely killer example of an all-around attractive tropical dial pre-moon Speedmaster. This watch is in the correct 29.6 million serial number range, with a sharp case, dot-over-90 bezel, and original vibrant tropical brown dial and hands with an excellent warm, matching patina.
Take a look at the photos and our condition description below:
Case: 42mm stainless steel case in excellent condition. The case is extremely sharp as pictured with only minor surface wear. The polished area on the twisted lugs remains bright and the grained horizontal brushing on the case sides is still very crisp as are the case edges.
Bezel: Original dot-over-90 "DON" tachy bezel in excellent condition with only minute areas of wear on the bezel surface as pictured.
Dial/Hands: Dial is original tropical brown as outlined above. The brown color is a vibrant "milk chocolate" in direct sunlight and slightly darker yet still unmistakably brown in darker lighting. The brown fading is even and throughout the entire dial surface. The dial is in excellent condition and damage free with intact original tritium lume plots and a pleasing even patina on the hour markers. Hands are also original tritium and slightly darker, common with Speedmasters.
Caseback: Original pre-moon caseback in very good condition as pictured with legible intact engravings.
Crystal: OEM Omega hesalite crystal in excellent condition as pictured.
Movement: Caliber 861 manual wound chronograph movement. 29.6 million serial number dates production to circa 1970. The watch runs great, with all movement functions working as intended, including chronograph start, stop, and return to zero. Service history is unknown.
Bracelet/Strap: Brown leather strap in like new condition as pictured.
Accessories: None, sold as watch only.