General Description:
The F dials are mostly found as a Seamaster, but can also be badged as a Speedmaster Mark III. This dial has no contrasting color on either subdial and is notable for large luminous painted hour markers. The logo is painted and the date window is closed. The Speedmaster version is very uncommon and may have never been a production dial.
Dial F1: “Big Blue”
Color/finish: Matte Blue with vertical brushing
Product Family: Seamaster
Subfamily: None
Most commonly seen in ref. 176.004ST
How common? Common
F1, the common Seamaster dial.
Other Dial Features
Text at 12:00: OMEGA Seamaster AUTOMATIC 120m/400ft
Text at 3:00: None
Hour Markers: Painted thick lume
Logo: Painted
Date Window: Closed
6:00 Subdial contrasting color/texture: Same as Dial Sunken – concentric rings
9:00 Subdial colors (top/bottom): None – Same as Dial
Minute Numerals: None
Swiss Made Text: SWISS MADE
Notes
The common diver’s chronograph dial, labelled Seamaster. Originals had vertical brushing, but Omega makes a service F1 dial that has no brushing and smoother luminova hour markers. Note the lack of “T” before and after “SWISS MADE” even on original examples from the 1970s. Is the lume tritium, as described by Richon in AJTT? Something else?
Dial F2: “Big Blue Speedmaster Mark III”
Color/finish: Matte Blue with vertical brushing.
Product Family: Speedmaster
Subfamily: Mark III
Most commonly seen in ref. 176.004ST
How common? Uncommon – Possibly Non-Production
Other Dial Features
Text at 12:00: OMEGA AUTOMATIC Speedmaster Mark III
Text at 3:00: None
Hour Markers: Painted thick lume
Logo: Painted
Date Window: Closed
6:00 Subdial contrasting color/texture: Same as Dial Sunken – concentric rings
9:00 Subdial colors (top/bottom): None – Same as Dial
Minute Numerals: None
Swiss Made Text: NONE
Notes
Uncommon Speedmaster Mark III variant. Note the lack of “SWISS MADE”. Possibly a protoype or non-production test variant. It seems that the collector’s community was largely unaware this existed until A Journey Through Time was published in 2007.