[jmsrolls]

eighteen (I say count'em again and read the engraving on the bridge) jewels is currently listed on the famous auction site.

Will wonders never cease?

Fr. John+

 

[jmsrolls]

I contacted the seller and inquired as whether the brake was metal or Delryn. I could not tell from the photos of the movement in the listing.

Although the movement has the extra jewel, the brake is still synthetic.

Fr. John+

 

[eptaz]

They're always keeping us guessing

I think this brings up a couple interesting points. First, accurately dating a Speedmaster is still an imprecise proposition. The example John references has a 4835xxxx SN. Omega's table dates this to around '85, while Roman Hartman's table places it much later, to '98. Of course, we believe that the c.861 became the c.1861 around '97. So, what does this tell us?

Well, the tables aren't dead on, and neither was Omega. If I had to make sense out of this, I would favor Roman's table and guess that this is a very late c.861, with an added jewel. The finish appears to be more yellow gold than coppery, which supports a manufacturing date into the '90s.

As we've seen before, Omega did not have definite deadlines when transitioning one part to the next, from bezels to hands, from bridges to jewels. Here again, we're seeing Omega mix and match new pieces, while continuing to use up whatever is on hand, clearly with the intent of stymieing we Speedy fanatics.

eric