This Speedmaster is one you don’t see too often – it’s a Pre-Moonwatch, e.g. the Speedmaster that was made by Omega before NASA used it for the Apollo 11 mission.
The dial isn’t original, as this is a pre-Professional watch, so that must have been retrofitted at one point.
Anders sent it in, together with the right dial, and the right crown.
You got to love these hand-bitten engravings. Well done, Mr. J. Crook 😉
A first peek at the movement, and all looks pretty good.
Performance is a bit patchy, so we’ll need a service. When testing, I also note that the watch stops just when it’s time for the minute recorder to be pushed to the next minute, so something is wrong there.
I take the case apart for cleaning.
Now I take the movement apart. Some deep scratches on the plates, but that doesn’t affect performance.
The bottom plate with the hour recorder.
All the parts are cleaned and ready for reassembly.
I put the pushers back into the case – with new O-rings and a bit of silicone grease. This is the first case version that has pushers that are screwed in. The previous version had pushers that were just pushed into the case.
The new mainspring goes into the barrel.
As usual, I put the base movement together first so I can check it’s working properly.
That looks pretty good. I will leave the beat error at 0.9ms, as it’s collet adjusted, and it will be hard to get that any better.
Now I can put the chronograph back together, and test and adjust it. The problem with the movement stopping when the minute recorder is pushed persists, and I find out it’s the little spring that presses against the minute recorder jumper that is too tight, so I loosen it a bit, and all is well.
This is now the right dial, without the “Professional” on it. The hands are also right for the watch, as the central second hand is more arrow shaped as on the later movements.
As the case back is marked by Mr. Crook anyway, Anders decides on a crystal case back, which does give you a nice view of the movement.
Back together in all its glory.
What a cracking blogpost. Just wonderful.
I know this is an old thread however, I have a speedmaster like this from my grandfather. It is very special to me. I also put a sapphire back on it. I don’t know last service date but it runs good and I only wear on special occasions. I believe the dial has been repainted in the 1980’s. I would love my options on service, maybe dial replacement, I would like to keep any parts that come out and really I am afraid to do anything as I want to keep it as original as possible. The dot over 90 is great too although very faded. Definitely do not want to polish it. Advise is appreciated.
Best send us an email with some photos …
Even with a service dial the watch has quite significant value. Only the DO90 bezels are trading at GBP1500 alone these days.
Finding an original dial (if yours have been “repainted/replaced”) is also rather tought. Expect to pay GBP1000-1500 also for this.
Hi there,
Nice blogpost, very helpful.
Can you give me an estimate price (maybe per e-mail) for a revision like this?
thanks, Wouter
Hi Wouter, there is a price list link at the top of the page. Usual service price + parts in your case as well.
First time visitor to the website –
Really enlightening information. Thank you for taking the time and effort to post.
Ever since having my watches serviced by Christian, I have to check the blog ever so often. What a wonderful journey into watchmaking we are exposed to. I, (just like Anders, I presume, who has a very eclectic watch collection), was suddenly blown away by wearing an 1960-ties speedmaster. It is an absolute joy to see and learn what Christian can do to make these watches going for many years to come.
Thanks Christian, for doing all this for the wider horologist aficionado!
Regards,
Belgian Bert
Lovely. I didn’t realise the pushers had O rings too. Do you replace those as standard Christian, or only on an older watch?
It’s more a question of being able to take the pushers apart (you can’t on some types), and if I can find O-rings that fit …
It is always a pleasure to see an expert at work! Thanks Christian for a splendid job and all good advice along the way.
I will watch the mailbox several times per day until this one is well in hand!
That dial is pretty crisp… was it difficult to source?
Good choice on the crystal back I think 😉
Cousins still sells them…
Wow! That’s pretty useful 😉
Nice! 🙂