zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Speedmaster Pro Bang for Buck: 321 or 861? Posted By: allen st. john Date: 3/23/07 19:53 GMT

I'm completely sold on the idea of a vintagey Speedmaster Pro as a daily wearer's watch (as opposed to an investment watch to keep in the drawer)

OK...

But which one?

Preferably the one which best suits your particular needs.

I like the idea of the 321, pre Pro or pre Moon..

But an 861 is all but identical in outward appearance.

All but... Yeah, but the devil's in the details, isn't it?

It's going to be many hundreds of dollars cheaper.

If not thousands...

And there's less of an issue with potential fakes.

I would suspect the probability of fakes would be similar between Moonwatch style c.321's and c.861's to be honest. The most commonly used fake movement looks closer to a c.321 than a c.861, but...

Is there a compelling reason to pay extra--both in cash and non-cash costs for a 321?

Less common, more historical interest, more appealing looking movement, greater resale value, Knowning that you're wearing the same watch and movement worn by the NASA Astronauts on the moon.

Among 861s are there substantive differences among watches of different vintages--is a 1970 SP better (or worse) than an '85 or a 1999?

Well, the movement plating have switched from Gilt (Coppery Golden color) to Yellow Gold to Rhodium (silver) during that timeframe. Omega's switched from a steel brake to a Delrin brake in the mid-1970's (and has switched back in more recent years, and Omega/Lemania added a jewel in the mid 1990's at the same time the switch was made to Rhodium plated movements.

Bottom line: if you were buying a used/vintage Speedmaster Pro to wear (most likely on a strap rather than a bracelet) how would you narrow your search?

It would really depend upon where (what kind of environ's) the watch would be worn. In a academic or office environment a moonwatch cased movement would be fine. However, I personally consider the Mark II Pro to be a sturdier watch and much better suited for a [for lack of a better phrase] blue-collar environoment. Additionally, if I planned on spending any or some time in or near the water, I'd be looking at a Seamaster Pro of recent vintage [sorry Speedy, but that's not your forté]. If Day-Date is a need, then you're going to have to move beyond the moonwatch and Mark II models to a c.1040/1041 or 1045 based Speedmaster.

In fact, I did a write up on "The topic is rugged chronographs made by Omega" a couple of years back in the TZOF and I re-cycled those posts in my blog about 10 months ago...

The good news is that with the exception of the SeMPC [SeaMaster Professional Chronograph], the Mark II Professional and the c.1045 based 176.0012 are among the most economical Speedmasters to purchase on the used market. The next most economical model is probably a mid-1970's era Speedmaster Moonwatch, and if you wanted to stick with a moonwatch, that's the direction I'd probably point you considering I don't know any more about your needs and wants.

What's going to offer the best value overall, taking into account reliability, future value, and service costs, the whole magilla?

The c.861 is going to have the easiest parts availablity and lowest cost to maintain in my opinion. If you're wanting to maximize future value then you're going to want to go with a more exotic variant. The Mark II is going to be the less expensive to maintain, spares are plentiful and it's a more rugged watch than the moonwatch, but it's not as attractive [in my opinion] on a strap.

thanks in advance and pardon me if this one's been covered a million times--I'm a newbie.

You're asking it in an interesting way. That helps!

Allen

Cheers and Good Hunting!

-- Chuck

Chuck Maddox

Chronographs, like most finer things in life, only improve with time...

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