Posted by After all this time, I’m still spotting previously unknown (to me) 1040 dials.
The other day I spotted a dial I hadn’t seen before on eBay, and have updated the collectors guide with new information about a dial I now refer to as dial D4. This appears to be a service dial with luminova, despite being marked as if it contains tritium.
Similarity to a Mark IV Dial
In a way, this dial reminds me more of a Mark IV dial than a Mark III dial. Back in 2016 I wrote about one of the more interesting dials in the 1040 family, the Speedmaster Mark IV service dial with a “touch of blue”. That dial features a color scheme that no 1970s original dials had, notable because service dials normally replicate as much of the original dial as possible.
That dial is emblematic of the challenges I faced when learning about 1040 Omegas in general. There were anomalies (T but no tritium, the non-original colors), there was a lack of documentation (A Journey Through Time never mentions or shows that dial variant), and there was misinformation (the museum itself claimed it wasn’t a legitimate dial back in 2006). These are good examples of why sometimes the best approach to understanding a vintage watch is to read everything you can find, document it, save images, and then draw your own conclusions.
Like that Mark IV service dial, this one shares all the same characteristics as the black Mark III Professional dial (D3) except for the color scheme of the day/night indicator at 9:00. It also appears to be a color scheme that wasn’t available originally on the Mark III.
Still No Sign of the SPAM Dial
Dial D1, which I refer to as the SPAM Dial due to the unique text ordering (Speedmaster Automatic Mark III), also had blue in its day/night indicator at 9:00. Photos of that dial were used in marketing materials and instruction manuals from the early 1970s, but I’ve still yet to see a watch with one installed other than the Museum’s copy which is shown in A Journey Through Time. So that dial, for now, is still in the realm of prototypes and probably unobtainable for most collectors.
This new service dial though is currently available for a fairly reasonable price on eBay. I found the listing on the Italian eBay site, though the listing is from a German seller. The listing has a Buy it Now price of 1,799 euros, which is around $2,000 usd. Not a bad price for a Mark III with a rare dial.
Service Dial
I’m I00% convinced that this is a service dial, but in case anyone doubts that and believes this might be a rare original variant, let me lay out my reasoning:
- The hands, rotor and caseback are service parts (see my guide to movements to learn how to tell a service rotor from an original and my guide to casebacks to see how to spot a replacement caseback). Yes there are watches with other service parts that still have original dials. But when a watch has had significant parts replaced and it has a fresh-looking dial, it makes me suspect the dial was replaced as well.
- The lume looks smooth and slightly domed – typical of luminova and not typical of tritium. The lume glows too well for 45 year old tritium too. And yes the dial says T SWISS MADE T, but that’s a quirk of certain service dials: capturing a detail that they probably should have left off since it is untrue.
- The fonts have prominent serifs; the originals typically have no serifs or serifs which are less noticeable.
- If the above doesn’t convince you, the seller even says so. Here’s a quote from the listing: The watch was completely overhauled a few years ago by a watchmaker and since then no longer worn. Very nice and rare service dial with the blue 24 hour rim.
So this is without a doubt a new variant, and I’m certain it was a service dial. If it was used on this watch, I can almost guarantee there are others out there. Welcome to the family D4.