OMEGA Speedmaster Professional 105.012-66 CB Unpolished

The Omega Speedmaster was introduced in 1957, initially created for drivers in automotive racing. However, it would reach iconic status by eventually reaching spaceflight qualification by NASA amongst several of the highest grade chronographs of its era.

This is a very cool reference 105.012-66. The watch dates to circa 1966. It is powered by the iconic calibre 321, which was recently re-released and garnered great reception and excitement from a large portion of watch collectors. The 321 movement famously accompanied the American astronauts to space and the Moon in the 1960s through early 1970s.

The case of this example was made by CB (le Centrale Boites) and it is unpolished. The CB cases are my favorite Speedmaster cases ever made and were only made in circa 1966-1967 for a brief period of time. The CB cases have an interesting bevel on top of the lugs and these lugs are nicknamed twisted flat lugs (or TFL for short). The watch is in phenomenal condition and remains unpolished. The dimensions are 42mm in diameter with a lug width of 20mm. It has the original Dot Over 90 (DON) bezel as well, which is slightly faded to grey and matches the greyish look of the dial. My own personal Speedmaster is nearly identical to this one and features a greyish dial and bezel in a CB case with a very close movement serial number.

The watch features its original crown, which is uncommon as most were replaced during service. The pushers are also the original flatter/stubbier pushers for the reference 105.012 and from before OMEGA switched to the longer pushers found on the reference 145.012 and later examples. The tritium material on the dial and in the hands is all original and an attractive and warm tan. There is a touch of lume loss in the minute hand, which is common with these models and could be patched at some point if the buyer would like for a minimal additional charge.

It is paired on a rare newer reference 1450 President-style bracelet with 808 end links from the 1980s that was found on the Speedymoon models. This bracelet is worth thousands by itself and highly prized by collectors.

To learn more about the Omega Speedmaster, you can watch ‘Reference Points: Understanding The Entire Lineage Of The Omega Speedmaster’ video I made with Ben Clymer in 2015 (and corresponding article).

The watch does not come with box and papers. We do not know the service history but it is running well.

I remember a time this watch would have been $16,000 to $18,000 and I still think this is one of the most beautiful and important chronographs ever made. I am confident that whoever purchases this one will be a happy owner of the watch for many years.

PRICE: (Item SBUXYT3892)