Description
OMEGA SPEEDMASTER Professional ref. 145.022-69 “Chocolate”
Very rare Omega Speedmaster Professional ref. 145.022-69 Pre-Moon from 1969. Fully original tritium dial, aged to an beautiful light-brown color (milk-chocolate). Original tritium-hands and DON bezel. Omega cal.861 movement is just serviced. Watch diameter is 42mm.
Watch comes with original Omega 1039/516 stretch-link steel bracelet, stamped with II/70. You can also purchase the watch with a leather strap of your choice (-1000). This is one of the most beautiful Omega Speedmaster models we have ever had in our collection.
Watch has 24-month service warranty.
Chocolate dials
Jean Singer & Cie manufactured nearly all dials for Omega in the 1960s. The back of the Speedmaster dials was made of brass that was first puched into shape, cleaned and primed before coating. The black color was a zinc/nickel alloy that was attached to the brass back in an electrolyte bath. A protective varnish was applied to the black-coated dial to prevent the oxidation of the nickel coating. Singer has later confirmed that the varnish used at that time was not of uniform quality and did not always protect the dial from oxidation.
Early dials made between 1957 and 1960 have almost always oxidized to a light brown color (milk chocolate). This is mainly due to the combined effect of temperature, UV light and sweat/moisture. Browning can be detected in a small number of dials made in the early 1960s, but the color is rarely strong.
Due to a mistake in the varnishing process in 1969, a small number of dials underwent a strong change of color. Oxidation caused the dial to take on a strong dark brown color (dark chocolate). Sometimes the color is just black-brown, but in rare cases, it may be lighter (milk chocolate), making brown the predominant shade of the dial. When the error was noticed, the process was altered and the nitrocellulose varnish was replaced with a synthetic varnish, stopping the oxidation. There are no known Omega Speedmaster models made after the 1970s that have a brown dial caused by oxidation.
In 2007, Omega introduced the Speedmaster ref. 311.30.42.30.13.001 model that has a brown dial by design. The model was an homage to the original watches made in the 1960s.