About this watch

Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.022-69ST Pre-Moon 'Tropical dial' 42mm 1969 Case & Bracelet The 42mm asymmetrical steel case is in very good condition. Light hairlines are visible across its surfaces, the fine marks that build up on steel through ordinary wear, but there is no major wear to speak of. The crown guards and twisted lyre lugs, the features that have defined the Speedmaster Professional case since the mid 1960s, present well. The watch is fitted to a 1069 flat link bracelet. It shows light stretch, as is to be expected on a bracelet of this age. Dial & Hands The dial has turned a very strong tropical brown. The effect comes from the coating Omega applied to black dials of the period, which in some cases reacted with the dial and allowed it to fade in sunlight rather than protecting it. No two tropical dials age in quite the same way, and on this example the change is pronounced, a deep brown rather than a faint shift in tone. The hands have oxidised with age, and their darker tone sits alongside the brown of the dial.