Omega Speedmaster 105.003: Birth Year Acquisition

G99 shares the deeply personal journey of acquiring a 1964 Omega Speedmaster Ref. 105.003, a watch with significant historical ties to NASA and astronaut Ed White. This post highlights the emotional connection collectors form with timepieces that align with personal milestones and historical events. The author details the meticulous search for a historically accurate and original example.

for a number of years i owned a 1965 Speedmaster. it was nice, but when i realigned my collection it went with all the other vintage pieces.

i soon regretted selling it, but didnt just want to replace it with any old Speedy. the Speedmaster is one of the worlds iconic watches. ask anyone in the street to name an Omega model and i bet they would come up with Speedmaster or Seamaster.

i was born in 1964 and wanted to buy a 105.003 speedmaster made in that year. the 1964 105.003 is more historic than a lot of us think. it was the last round cased model, it was one of the 2 models tested by NASA and it was the model issued to the astronaut Ed White who was the first to complete a spacewalk in 1965(please correct me if i'm wrong). sadly Ed White perished in the Apollo 1 disaster, but his watch survived the fire and was still working when the wreckage was cleared. it was presented to his wife and eventually sold by his son. i think that puts it in the historic bracket.

to own an iconic and historic timepiece made the year of your birth is, i think, a special thing. trying to find a good one is hard and pricey, however, i had an immence piece of luck a few weeks ago. i had previously advertised my Bell & Ross Phantom, but when push came to shove i couldnt sell it....at the time. getting back to a few weeks ago, i was contacted by someone asking if i still wanted to sell it, at a very healthy price. it seems they are a desirable watch. it took me a week to decide and you guessed what the answer was, yes please i'll take your money

so the hunt began and in the end it didnt take too long. i looked in all the usual places and on a particularly good website where hundreds of dealers worldwide, but mainly in europe, advertise watches by brand in alphabetical order and found a few to choose from. i also contacted a friend of mine who is director of Swiss Time Services, Omega UK's vintage service agents. he has a number of pristine speedmasters and other models, but it didnt matter how high i raised my budget he wouldnt sell me the model i wanted. (he firmly believes that as this is the 40th anniversary of the moon landings prices will rise considerably). in the long term that might not be a bad thing as a 45 year old watch in too good a condition can look unrealistic.

anyway, i was very lucky as i found the ideal piece in a dealers in the netherlands. it was in totally original condition with an original JB Champion Nasa bracelet(the one you see in the pics showing the astronauts in civvies), original box, extract from the Omega Archives, nos period speedy leather strap and other docs. it did have a ding on the bezel, but not a bad one( and better still, not a new bezel). it was top of my budget, but all the others either had incorrect centre second hands or something wrong. Nicolas's advice was very good, you pay for 100% correct piece not 95% correct. so the deal was struck, a mysterious thing called a bank wire took place and my watch duly arrived yesterday.

all i can say is that instinct is a wonderful thing. i always had this one at the top of my list. i just seemed to know it was the one for me.

the watch is great, in fact, better than great. yes, the lume has dimmed to nothing, but it could equally be described as beautifully patinated as can the hands and dial. the NASA bracelet is superb(and an extremely expensive addition), its only fault is that the lug ends are not the full 20mm. i think this is common with all JB champ bracelets which is understandable as they werent made specifically for the speedmaster although it could equally be said that once they knew NASA were using them they could have altered the design. it is also quite difficult to fasten until you get the hang of it. the case is in A1 condition, the caseback is so good that i had to ask if it was original and the movement is also A1. the ding on the bezel is insignificant when viewed from the wrist, but looks bigger in pics. i certainly have no plans to change it as it's the same age as me, but looks a whole lot better.

it is a watch that i plan to keep and pass down through the family. everyone should own a watch from the year of their birth.

the pics are not as good as i wanted. i got a lightbox and lights today and spent a long time getting it all wrong. so far my pictures havent improved 1 iota, but given time...........

anyway, enjoy the pics. 

Graham