ST 145.022

Overview

The ST 145.022 is the first Speedmaster powered by the calibre 861, the movement that replaced the calibre 321 after a decade of service. The family name covers an enormous production span — the reference ran into the late 1980s before becoming the 145.0022 — but this entry covers the three early sub-variants collectors care about most: the -68 Transitional, the -69, and the -71 — and gives the later -74, -76, and -78 their own section below.

The calibre 861, in brief

The 861 is a Lemania-derived hand-wound chronograph (17 jewels, roughly 48-hour reserve) beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour. Against the 321 it replaced, three differences matter:

• Cam switching instead of a column wheel. Flat stamped cams work the chronograph levers rather than a machined column wheel — cheaper to mass-produce, functionally just as reliable. Finishing is visibly plainer than a 321.
• Higher beat rate. 21,600 vph against the 321's 18,000, with a flat hairspring terminal curve instead of a Breguet overcoil.
• The NASA footnote. Every Apollo flight-qualified Speedmaster was a calibre 321 watch. The 861 was only re-qualified by NASA in 1978, for Shuttle-era missions. A 145.022 is Apollo-era, not Apollo-flown.

The three sub-variants

• -68 “Transitional” (1968–1969): the first 861 Speedmasters, visually carried over from the 145.012 — applied metal Ω logo, DON bezel, seahorse pre-moon caseback — with the new movement inside. Roughly a one-year run.
• -69 (1969–1971, sub-categories through ~1974): the first steel Speedmaster with a printed Ω logo and shortened hour plots. The longest and most varied: pre-moon hippocampus casebacks, straight-writing post-moon casebacks, and the rare Apollo XI caseback.
• -71 (1971–1974): introduces the round engraved caseback with the Speedmaster medallion; otherwise continues the -69 formula. Movement serials overlap heavily with late -69 cases, so the -69/-71 boundary is genuinely murky.

Case & caseback

The 42 mm asymmetrical case with twisted lyre lugs carried over from the 145.012 — Omega changed almost nothing except the movement. Screw-down caseback, round pushers, Ω-signed crown. Cases of this era were made by Huguenin Frères, whose hallmark sits inside along with the two-digit date stamp (-68 through -78).

Caseback generations do the sub-identification work in this family:

• -68: hippocampus (seahorse) with SPEEDMASTER text — the “pre-moon” back, making no reference to the landing.
• -69 pre-moon: same hippocampus back; the last pre-moon Speedmaster, though it only went on sale in December 1969, after Apollo 11.
• -69 Straight Writing (1970–): the first back reading “THE FIRST WATCH WORN ON THE MOON” and “FLIGHT-QUALIFIED BY NASA FOR ALL MANNED SPACE MISSIONS”, laid out in straight lines. A second, extremely rare variant reads “OMEGA SPEEDMASTER – APOLLO XI 1969.”
• -71: the “round” engraving — the inscription arranged in an arc around a central Speedmaster medallion.

Dial variants — the identification core

All three dials are stepped — the center is raised, with the step's shadow ringing it just outside the minute track. (A domed or flat dial with these fonts is a red flag.) All are black matte with tritium plots, subdials at 3/6/9, and the four-line signature Ω OMEGA / Speedmaster / PROFESSIONAL, with tritium “T” marks flanking the lower text.

-68: applied logo

Visually identical to the preceding 145.012. The Ω is a separate applied metal piece pinned to the dial — the last steel Speedmaster dial to carry one — and the hour plots run long, all the way to the base of the minute track. Applied logo + long plots + DON bezel + 861 inside = transitional. The single-year applied-logo appearance is what makes the -68 collectible.

-69: printed logo, “Medium S” step dial

The first steel Speedmaster dial with a painted Ω and shortened main markers that stop short of the minute track. The “Medium S” nickname describes the capital S in “Speedmaster” — medium height, distinct from the dials before and after. Note the wide-spaced tritium T's at the dial's base. This one dial spans all three -69 caseback categories, which is why the caseback and bezel do the sub-identification, not the dial.

-71: the same dial continues

Printed logo, step, shortened plots, Medium S lettering — produced roughly 1969–1974, overlapping the -69 so completely that the dial cannot separate them. Separation relies on the caseback (round medallion engraving) and the bezel (DNN standard).

Bezel, hands, crystal

Bezel: early family pieces carry the DON — “Dot Over Ninety” insert: a dot above the 90, the 70's dot sitting diagonal to the numeral's lower right, and TACHYMÈTRE with the accent over the E. Correct on -68 and early -69 pre-moons. Later inserts are DNN (dot next to the 90, dot close to the 70, narrow C), standard from about 1970. Rare -69 pre-moon variants include the “220” misprint bezel (220 instead of 200, reportedly a weeks-long run in fall 1970) and factory telemeter, pulsometer, and decimal inserts.

Hands: baton hour/minute with tritium fill; the chrono seconds hand runs long, through the base of the minute track — a chopped or short seconds hand flags a replacement. Flat-counterweight seconds hands were standardized starting with this reference.

Crystal: hesalite with the Ω etched at center — correct on all three sub-variants, polishable, and frequently replaced (fine if acknowledged).

Bracelet

• -68: 1039 flat-link with 516 endlinks, date-stamped clasp.
• -69: four types documented — 1039/516, 1116/575, 1171/633, and 1175/640 (the last not on pre-moon examples). Early pre-moons most often left on the flat-link 1039; the twisted-link 1171/633 grows common on later production. Check clasp date stamps against the watch.
• -71: 1171/633 standard; 1175/640 also seen; 1039s turn up but are usually later swaps.

The later sub-variants: -74, -76, -78

The early three get the attention, but the reference ran on for another decade, and the later sub-variants are where most surviving 145.022s actually live. After the -71 the formula settled: round medallion caseback, DNN bezel, printed logo, calibre 861. What separates the later sub-variants is chiefly the caseback date stamp and the serial block — so this section runs on serials.

Read the years carefully. The spans below are caseback-stamp years — the two-digit year inside the caseback, the convention used by the published serial tables, including Speedmaster101’s Serial Quick Reference, from which these bands are drawn. Our Toolkit serial tool dates the movement instead, and the two measures part company on the later sub-variants; where they do, both readings are given.

-74: the formula settles

Serials: observed across 31,000,000–39,999,999 — a band that wholly overlaps the -71 block, because these are observed clusters of surviving watches, not hard production borders. Caseback-stamp years 1974–1976; the movement chart spreads the same serials across 1972–1979. The round medallion caseback, DNN bezel, and printed-logo dial of the late -71 carry straight over.

-76: the mid-seventies continuation

Serials: observed across 37,000,000–39,999,999, inside the top of the -74 band. Caseback-stamp years 1976–1978, against a movement-chart reading of 1978–1979 for the same serials. No headline change from the -74 — same caseback, same bezel, same dial family — which is exactly why -74/-76 separation leans on the caseback stamp and the serial together, never on one alone.

-78: the last of the line

Serials: observed across 44,000,000–45,999,999. Caseback-stamp years 1978–1981 — and here the two dating measures split widest in the whole family: the movement chart reads those same 44–45M serial blocks as 1983–1984. Neither reading is a misprint. The caseback stamp dates the case; the chart dates the movement; on the -78 they sit years apart, and a seller quoting one measure against a buyer checking the other can manufacture a “wrong-year” dispute out of thin air. The -78 is the final 145.022 sub-variant before the early-1980s renumbering to 145.0022 — and its first caseback year, 1978, is also the year NASA re-qualified the calibre 861 for the Shuttle era.

What to check before buying

• Applied logo first. On a -68, confirm the Ω is truly applied metal with feet — not glued or painted. The -68 premium makes logo fakes and dial-swapped -69s the highest-risk play in this family. An Omega Archives extract with a matching mid-26M–27.3M serial is the strongest support. Published observation runs wider: Speedmaster101’s serial survey records -68 examples from 26,555,xxx to 27,71x,xxx — an observed range, noted here as observation, not archive confirmation.
• Step dial vs. font mismatch. If the dial shows late “drop S, drop R” Speedmaster lettering it should be domed, not stepped — a step-dial print with those letterforms means the dial doesn't belong to the watch.
• Service dials. Genuine 861-era tritium dials carry T markings and the step. Luminova plots, wrong lettering proportions, or soft printing mean service or redial.
• Logo type wrong for the sub-variant (printed on a claimed -68) is an instant fail; mismatched S-shapes and UV-glowing plots on a “original” dial are redial tells.
• Bezel correctness. The DON is the most commonly swapped part in vintage Speedmasters. Check the dot-at-70 position, the narrow C, and the accent over the E — and give a crisp DON on a worn watch extra scrutiny.
• Caseback swap check. The inside stamp (-68/-69/-71) should match the serial era and the outside engraving style; Straight Writing backs belong to 1970+ serials.
• Chocolate/tropical dials are prized on -69s — and get “helped.” Uneven subdial-to-dial aging is normal; a uniformly brown dial with razor-sharp printing deserves a loupe, not applause.