zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Hi John,

I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune.

I've checked you numbers & they sound like they COULD be ok. I have stressed could here because ( as usual in life ) nothing is black & white.

I'll present some Info first & then try to show how it could be correct.

OK, the numbers you have given us are great. enough to identify a watch.

I'll go through your points & provide some links to internet sites backing the Info up. ( or quote books )

Case 145022-69-st - This indicates the model.
Sometimes the case Ref # is just written as 145.022 ( 69 is the year of manufactrue of the case & ST denotes that is is a stainless steel case )
It's a speedmaster professional (WITH the word professional on the dial ) , with a twisted lugs case (earlier models had a simpler case design ), as I just said, the CASE was manufactured in 1969.

Cal 861 - This is the caliber type & is 100% correct for this case.

All of these above points are shown here - Chuck Maddox Speedmaster history page
The information for the above link came from Marco Richon ( Curator of the Omega Museum ) so there is no better source.

It is also backed up by the Book :- Omega SAGA which is published (in French only ) by Omega themselves.

"The First Watch to be worn on the moon" inscription - Your description is close enoough for me. This is also correct for a '69 - '71 watch.

I reckon the case back should have looked like this .

Again Chuck has some info on this Here

If this is your caseback, you should know that this case back is one of the more sought after variations & will increase the value of the watch by at least $150 ( In My Humble Opinion )

You said the bracelet had the number 366 or 633 on it. 633 is the number stamped on the endpieces that were fitted to watches issued after 1971.

Chuck's bracelet history table, in French. Again the source of this Info is Marco Richon.

& Finally the Movement number 31319785. According to various tables this would be a movement that was made APPROXIMATLEY in 1972.

Again backed up by one of Chuck's web pages Roman/Chucks Speedmaster movement dates.

HOWEVER !! The Omega Saga Book dates 31,xxx,xxx movements as 1969.

So, as you can see there is no 100% certain way of dating the movement... BUT see below....

There are other sources of backing up this info ( various books etc ), I have just chosen various pages from Chuck's Internet site to "prove" the numbers/features of the watch.

So, up till now, we've shown that the numbers all match within a couple of years.

The late 60's / early 70's was a time of constant changes for the speedmaster, with Omega trying cash in on the "Moon"/"NASA" publicity. there are examples of watches that left the factory using whatever parts were to hand. It is possible that your case was made in '69 & finally got fitted with a movement/bracelet in '71 or '72.

Is it also possible that the movement was swapped early on in the watches life ?

If the watch was sold in/after '72 it is VERY likely (almost certain) that the bracelet endpieces would be marked 633 ( & the bracelet is an 1171 ). Or could it be that the original bracelet broke & was swapped for a more modern version ?

From the info that you have provided, your watch sounds to be genuine. ( I wouldn't bet on it being a fake ) It's obviously difficult to be 100% certain without ever having seen the watch or pictures of it. But usually a fake doesn't have a correct ( or even close to correct ) movement number/markings. You have convinced me that the markings/numbers are from a genuine watch.

Finally, Omega will provide certain information for vintage watches. If I were you, I'd write to them & ask if they can help.

One of the services that Omega provide is to provide a "Certificate of Authenticity". Bascially you provide Omega with the numbers that you listed in you post ( & above ) and IF these match exactly their records, they will send you a Certificate ( I think it costs 50 Swiss francs ). I'm sure this will convince any insurance firm that the watch was genuine. Omega may not want to provide you any Info over the phone / per E-mail, but if you order a Certificate, the Info is on there.

Included in the Info that Omega provide on this certificate is the date the watch was shipped to the Omega dealer & to which country it was sent.

If, for any reason, any of the numbers don't match, Omega simply state that they cannot issue the certificate ( eg the movement was swapped at some stage ).

Feel free to E-mail me or repost here if you need more info /help

I hope this helps.

Steve