OMEGA. A RARE AND HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND TROPICAL DIAL

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Tropical DialsIn the world of vintage wristwatches, the dial, quite naturally, is the main focus of the collector’s eye. Desirability is judged on both condition and originality, but also and perhaps most importantly, on one other less scientific criteria – beauty. The unique variations to be found in the patina, and changes in the original dial colour acquired by certain watch dials over many decades, has resulted in some of the most visually appealing and sought after wristwatches among vintage Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Omega, Patek Philippe and many other brands. Such colour-change dials were christened ‘tropical’ by collectors who relish the tonal differences that elevate each individual example to the status of a unique artwork.In the 1990s, watch aficionados began to notice and appreciate naturally occurring changes to the original colours of dials of some watches made in the mid-20th century. Curiously, this phenomena only occurs on a small number of dials even among watches of the same brand, year, model and reference. As late as the mid-1990s, a few Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ‘Zenith’ reference 16520s were discovered to have ‘tropicalized’ subsidiary chapter rings. The name ‘tropical’ originated from the belief that the dial colour changes that had occurred over time were the result of many years exposure to the sun and heat in tropical climates. This is certainly partly true, however, some watches that had been stored away for most of the time also exhibited the ‘tropical’ effect. In fact, it is thought that tropicalization occurs due to the instability or degradation of the very thin transparent layer of cellulose nitrate lacquer, marketed under the name ‘Zapon’ which was used by most dial makers as a protective coating for their dials. The immense appeal of tropical dials to collectors is twofold, firstly, they usually represent the most untouched and naturally aged examples of their type and secondly, a rare watch model with a tropical dial is likely to be the only one of its kind in the world, which elicits an almost primal emotional appeal, an evocation of history, heritage and exclusivity rolled into one. Because no two watch dials age in the same way, each individual watch has its own unique character and appeal to the collector. Some dials exhibit only partial tropicalization, for instance only the minute ring or only the subsidiary dials or only the centre might be tropicalized. Watches with tropical dials are among the most prized of all vintage timepieces, their spellbinding beauty never failing to captivate. OMEGA SPEEDMASTER TROPICAL "PRE-MOON", REF. 145.022-69 ST

OMEGA. A RARE AND HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND TROPICAL DIAL

SIGNED OMEGA, SPEEDMASTER, PROFESSIONAL, MOVEMENT NO. 29'113'086, CASE REF. NO. 145022-69 ST, CIRCA 1970

Details

OMEGA. A RARE AND HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE STAINLESS STEEL CHRONOGRAPH WRISTWATCH WITH BRACELET AND TROPICAL DIAL
SIGNED OMEGA, SPEEDMASTER, PROFESSIONAL, MOVEMENT NO. 29'113'086, CASE REF. NO. 145022-69 ST, CIRCA 1970
Movement: Cal. 861, manual, 17 jewels, signed
Dial: Signed
Case: Screw back, metal dust cap, 42 mm. diam., signed
With: Stainless steel Omega bracelet with deployant clasp stamped 1039 and 2.70, endlinks stamped 516, overall length approximately 170 mm.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Alexandre Bigler SVP, Head of Watches, Asia Pacific

abigler@christies.com +852 2978 6759

Lot Essay

Increasingly sought-after amongst collectors, the present Speedmaster reference 145.022-69 ST features a highly desirable tropical dial, an original "dot over 90" bezel, a correct bracelet and deployant clasp stamped 1039 and 2.70. Furthermore, preserverd in very good overall condition with a stainless steel case of strong proportions.

Nicknamed "Pre-Moon" amongst Omega collectors, reference 145.022-69 ST is the last Speedmaster model where the case back makes no reference to the moon landing - it had the Hippocampus engraved on the case back which was later replaced by the engraved inscription "first watch worn on the moon". This model is also the first to have a painted Omega logo, rather than an applied metal one.

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