1964 Omega Speedmaster "Ed-White" Faded DON Bezel 105.003
Ref: 105.003-64
Specification
Lugs : 19mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold “Watch Only” and therefore without its original Omega box or paperwork. The watch comes paired with its well-suited 19mm leather strap. The watch is from Circa. 1964 and is sold in worn, vintage condition, as you can see from the photos, with “ghost” fading to the DON bezel insert, even patina of the Tritium on the dial and professionally relumed original hands. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Krjj1r7czEP570zsWRt8NoPTWizdp2gy?usp=drive_link
4K YouTube video, skip to 2:37 - https://youtu.be/qSy6XUbJOZ4
The Watch
Here we have a rare 1964 Omega Speedmaster "Ed-White" Faded DON Bezel 105.003, a pre-professional Speedmaster that went under rigorous testing by NASA. The 105.003 was famously worn by Lt. Col Edward White over his Astronauts suit on June 3rd, 1965, he was the first US Astronaut to complete the very first extravehicular spacewalk (EVA) on this day during the Gemini IV mission, this was just 3 months after Omega was Officially Certified to be used in the NASA space program. The 39mm stainless steel case curves over your wrist with tapered straight-ended lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 47.5mm and a case thickness of 12.5mm ensure a comfortable fit. Down the right side, we have the short piston-style chronograph pushers and a signed crown in the centre. The fixed stainless steel bezel has a Tachymeter scale insert that has “ghost” faded over time and has the characteristic “Dot Over Ninety”. A domed acrylic crystal sits above a black stepped dial, an outer minute track sits lower than the centre disc and is precisely executed with Tritium indexes marking the hours, at 3 o’clock a recessed 30-minute register, at 6 o’clock a recessed 12-hour register and finally at 9 o’clock a recessed continuous seconds register, each with a stick hand and precisely printed markings, slender original baton hands have been professionally relumed and complemented by an arrow paint chronograph hand, at 12 o’clock we have the applied Omega motif and Omega Speedmaster” printed underneath, on the bottom edge, you find “T Swiss Made T” completing this stunning historical chronograph. On the reverse a lightly engraved “Speedmaster” and Hippocampus that represents Neptune the God of the sea, it was conceived by Pierre Borie after seeing a picture of Neptune riding a chariot pulled by seahorses, it is the reason why the seahorses are wearing a bridle. Inside a manually wound Omega Cal. 321, 17 jewels, beating at a leisurely 18,000 beats per hour, column wheel chronograph based on a Lemania 2310. The watch comes paired with its well-suited 19mm leather strap.
Personal Note
I have been fortunate enough to have purchased and sold a few "Ed-White" Speedmasters over the years, but this is the most interesting one I have had yet with the heavily faded bezel that has gone a ghostly tone and in certain lights disappears completely and in others gives off a beautiful blue hue, it truly is something to appreciate in the metal. I love the latest Speedmaster with the re-introduced Cal. 321, but for me, the vintage will always be my choice. Don't hesitate to book an appointment to see this gem yourself.
The Brand
Formerly known as the La Generale Watch Co. in 1848, it was founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds. When he died in 1879, his sons carried on his dream. In 1880 they moved to 96 Rue Jakob-Stampfli where they remain today. The brothers produced their first mass-produced calibre, the Labrador In 1885. Just a few years later in 1892, they produced the first minute-repeater. In 1903 they renamed the company Omega until 1982 when they officially changed their name to Omega SA. During WW1 Omega watches were used as official timekeepers for the Royal Flying Corps and the US Army. In 1930, Omega and Tissot merged together to form Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère (SSIH) In 1931, another group was formed - Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG). Where SSIH was primarily French-speaking, ASUAG was founded by the more German-speaking members of the Swiss watch industry. In 1948 they introduced the first edition of one of its most symbolic watches: the Seamaster. Omega first introduced the Constellation in 1952. At the time it was Omega's flagship timepiece. The first models had a Cal. 354 bumper movement in them. Later in 1955, Omega introduced the Automatic Cal. 50x, followed in 1959 by the Cal.55x (no date) and 56x (date) versions. Many of the Constellations came with pie-pan dials, diamond indexes, and fancy lug configurations. All the gold Constellations of that time have the Observatory of Geneva's hand engraved on the back. The stainless steel and stainless steel/gold versions had a gold medallion on the back with the Observatory of Geneva. The eight stars above the Observatory stand for the many exploits of Omega in the world Chronometer competition. Celebrating the fact that all Constellations are Chronometer Certified. In 1962, when astronaut Wally Schirra wore a Speedmaster on his Mercury Sigma 7 Mission, making it the first Omega watch to enter space. After rigorous tests, NASA used Omega for all their Apollo missions including the 1969 Moon landing of Apollo 11. Today Omega is still an astronaut's first choice. In 1969 President Nixon famously said it was “too valuable” and turned down the first-ever all-gold Speedmaster Professional Deluxe. As a response to the ever-growing threat of electronic watches to the manufacturers of mechanical watches, Omega and many Swiss brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe formed Centre Electronique Horologer (CEH). Prototypes began to appear in 1967 with their production starting in 1968. Then In 1972, Omega introduced the reference, 198.030, which included the Omega calibre 1250, a ‘tuning-fork electronic movement which was made under licence from Bulova. Later we saw a merger of SSIH and ASUAG into SMH, or Société de Microélectronique et d’Horlogerie. This merger took place in 1983. In 1992, the company acquired Blancpain, and in 1998 it officially rebranded itself from SMH to the Swatch Group. Then, in 1999, they purchased and integrated Breguet into the Swatch Group.