Buying an ST 145.022-68

The reference in brief

In 1968 Omega replaced the calibre 321 with the cam-switched 861 and changed almost nothing else. The first 861 Speedmasters kept the outgoing watch’s applied metal Ω, long hour plots, DON bezel and seahorse caseback — and the run lasted roughly a year before the -69 redrew the dial with a printed logo. Every -68 was built before Apollo 11: it is the last Speedmaster reference completed entirely in the pre-Moon world, and the last steel Speedmaster with an applied dial logo. Scarcity here is structural — a short run, a fragile identifying dial, and a steady attrition of originals into dial-swapped assemblies.

What sellers are asking

Every Saturday, the Glass Case check records the verified 145.022-68 listings on the board and computes the median asking price. Here is the complete recent run — medians of asking prices for USD-denominated listings, with the sample size and the full observed spread, because on this reference condition lives in the spread:

Price bands updated October 31, 2026

Source: the Saturday Glass Case checks that feed this site’s Price Trends page for the reference. Asking prices are what sellers hope for, not what buyers paid; listings are counted once per check, in USD only, with no currency conversion.

Read the band, not the week. The seven Saturday medians sit between $8,798 and $9,925 — a narrow shelf, held all season — and the latest check (October 31, 2026) printed $9,597 on 9 listings, across an observed spread of $6,243–$10,574. The house board tracked about 102 -68 listings at the November 6, 2026 close; the living board, with each listing’s movement, is part of the members’ dispatch.

What the record shows: realized prices

Two records, kept apart on purpose. The house’s verified realized archive counts a sale only when the venue’s own page explicitly states it sold, at what price, and when — re-verified against that page before it is counted. For the -68 it holds one stamp-verified sale: the eBay result, $5,500 realized, sold August 24, 2026 and verified September 22, 2026 — out of 14 verified sales across 8 reference groups house-wide. The public count, by reference, lives on the comps page.

Beside it sits the sourced auction ledger: 8 published results, 2007–2026 (Antiquorum, Bonhams, Catawiki), each traceable to its lot page and printed in the currency the sale was actually made in:

Sources: the venues’ own published results as recorded on the Price Trends ledger for this reference. These rows are sourced, not stamp-verified; the archive above applies the stricter standard, and the two are never blended.

One stands for the set — Bonhams, New York, December 4, 2017: $8,125 realized for an all-original transitional with its Extract from the Archives. And one line is labeled for what it is: a no-reserve online result in October 2026 printed €3,100 (Catawiki) — a single condition-led sale far below the band, recorded, not extrapolated. A disappearance is never entered as a sale in either record; a bid is never an asking price.

Which one to buy

The true Transitional

Applied metal logo on feet, long plots running to the base of the minute track, the stepped dial, and an 861 in the mid-26M–27.3M band — all four together, or it isn’t one. The documented end of the shape is the Bonhams 2017 watch in the ledger above: all-original, with its Extract from the Archives, at $8,125 realized. An Omega Archives extract with a matching serial is the strongest support a -68 can carry, and at the top of the band it is close to mandatory.

The bracelet question

Period fit is the 1039/516 flat-link with era clasp stamps — realized examples surface on it dated 1969, and the 2024 Geneva ledger watch wore one with box and warranty. The expandable 1506/16 is also documented on a -68 (Antiquorum, Geneva, 2023). Anything else is a later fitting and should be priced as one: bracelet correctness moves money inside the band; it does not move the band.

The dressed-up -69

The reference’s one expensive mistake. The -68 premium makes logo fakes and dial-swapped -69s the highest-risk play in the family: a printed logo or short plots on a claimed -68 means a -69 dial, whatever the caseback says. The checks below are written in that order — dial first — for exactly this reason.

What to check before buying

• Applied logo first. The Ω must be applied metal on feet — not glued, not painted. The -68 premium makes logo fakes and dial-swapped -69s the highest-risk play in the family. An Omega Archives extract with a matching mid-26M–27.3M serial is the strongest support.
• Long plots, stepped dial. Plots reach the minute track’s base; the step rings the dial center. Printed logo or short plots on a claimed -68 means a -69 dial, whatever the caseback says.
• The movement is an 861 in the band. Serials in the mid-26M–27.3M archive-supported range (published observation runs 26,555,xxx–27,71x,xxx). A 321 inside a -68 case means assembled, not born.
• DON bezel, honestly aged. Dot over the 90, the 70’s dot diagonal, the accent over the E in TACHYMÈTRE. A razor-crisp DON on a worn watch gets scrutiny, not applause.
• Caseback, both sides. Seahorse outside; -68 stamp and Huguenin Frères hallmark inside, consistent with the serial. Moon-text backs belong to later watches.
• Tritium that agrees with itself. Dial and hands aged together; UV-green glow on an “original” dial means Luminova — replaced parts at minimum.
• Bracelet priced as found. Period fit is the 1039/516 flat-link with era clasp stamps; anything else is a later fitting and should be priced as one.

The full treatment — case, dial variants, serial archaeology, disputed points — is in the ST 145.022-68 dossier. The trend line itself is on the 145.022-68 price trends page.