Checkered minute tracks, orange hands, and subdial numerals printed like sun rays — the Speedmaster's most colorful experiments.
Before the Speedmaster became the Moonwatch in the public mind, it was a racing chronograph — and for a brief window around 1968–70, Omega dressed a small number of dials to prove it. “Exotic” or “racing” dials carry red, orange and white curb-stone-style printing on the outer minute track, designed to make the chronograph readable at a glance.
Three vintage configurations are recognized. The first generation is the 145.012-67 “Red Racing” (1968): red and white outer track with white chronograph hands, known both with and without “Professional” on the dial. The second is the 145.022 “Orange Racing” (1970): white, orange and red markings with orange chronograph hands. The rarest are the grey-dial racing 145.022-68/69s — grey dial, orange and white markers, orange printed Omega logo — estimated at 50–150 pieces across the grey variants.
“Radial dial” means something different: on the 1978 Alaska III prototype, the subdial numerals are printed radially around the subdial perimeters instead of aligned horizontally. The term belongs to the Alaska story, though collectors use it more loosely.
The racing dial went on to a commercial life on the Mark II (145.014) — but the 1968–70 Moonwatch-case examples are the ones collectors chase.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Red Racing | 145.012-67 · 1968 · red/white track · white hands |
| Orange Racing | 145.022 · 1970 · white/orange/red · orange hands |
| Grey racing | 145.022-68/69 · grey dial · est. 50–150 (estimate) |
| Radial dial | Alaska III · 1978 · radial subdial numerals |
These are the Speedmasters that stayed racing drivers' watches — color and legibility experiments from before the Moonwatch identity fully hardened.
The grey racing dials, at an estimated 50–150 pieces, are among the scarcest vintage Speedmaster dials that regularly change hands. At auction: Antiquorum Hong Kong sold a 145.022-69 racing dial in October 2018 for HKD 350,000 (lot 208).
Grey racing production of “50–150 pieces” is an estimate (the Davidoff brothers suggest ~50 grey ones; 100–150 across all three racing variants). No Omega figure exists.