OMEGAMANIA

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, Apr 15, 2007

LOT 214

MARK III ?DEEP BLUE?

Omega ?Speedmaster Professional Mark III?, Automatic, No. 34246228, Ref. ST 176.0002. Sold on November 13, 1972. Fine and rare, large, self-winding, water-resistant, tonneau-shaped, stainless steel gentleman?s wristwatch with date, round button chronograph, 12-hour register, central minute recorder, tachometer, 24-hours with night/day indication, and a stainless steel articulated Omega bracelet with deployant clasp. This watch is sold with a box, a Certificate of Authenticity, and a 2-year Omega guarantee.

CHF 1,500 - 2,000

EUR 1,000 - 1,300 / USD 1,200 - 1,700

Sold: CHF 8,260

C.Two-body, ?Pilot-line?, brushed, screwed-down case back with engraved ?Seamaster? logo, hooded lugs. D. Satiné blue with faceted black painted indexes, luminous dots, inner Arabic five minutes, outer minute/fifth second scale, outermost tachometer scale graduated to 500UPH, subsidiary dials for the seconds and the 12-hour register, the 24 hours with night/day indication by means of an arrow on a revolving disc, 60-minute register by means of a orange and black central ?jet? hand, aperture for the date. Luminous white ?baton? hands. M. Cal. 1040, copper-colored, 17 jewels, straight line lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock-absorber, self-compensating flat balance spring, micrometer regulator. Dial, case and movement signed. Dim. 40 x 52 mm. Thickness 16 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 1

As new
Movement: 1

As new
Dial: 1-01

As new

HANDS Original

Notes

Ref. ST 176.0002 was launched in 1971. This watch holds a unique place in the Omega collection of the 1970?s. Its case is from the ?Pilot? line of cases which was used for the ?Flightmaster?, as well as on ?Seamasters?, making it the only ?Speedmaster Professional? to share its case design with both chronograph and non-chronograph models. It is also the first self-winding ?Speedmaster Professional? (patent CH 558.556), pre-dating by two years the famous ?Speedy 125?, the movement of which is a certified chronometer version of this caliber. This reference was made with two distinct dial designs, the first black with luminous markers, the second satiné blue with applied indexes. It is interesting that the Omega advertising for the ?Mark III? states, ?After six landings on the moon, there was only one thing we could teach the Speedmaster. To wind itself.? Ironically, had the Speedmaster been self-winding in 1962 it probablywould never have passed NASA?s stringent tests. This is due to two things: first, self-winding movements do not wind in zero gravity environments; second, these movements tend to be less robust than manual winding ones.