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145.022-68 Transitional
Produced in 1968 and early 1969
This is marked -68 in the back. If it does not have 68 in the back then I do not consider it a transitional.
These are worth more than the much more common painted logo 145.022-69. They are very rare, and when one comes on auction there are many buyers, especially for fine examples. While prices are higher, there are so few traded that pricing them is not easy to be precise – also sometimes they can get sold accidentally by unwitting sellers, especially from estate pickers or smaller auction houses. If you look with $8000 (January 2020) in mind, you could go up or down from there, but it is essential it carries all the Transitional elements.
Some people have recently been lucky and paid less, but these watches often have a glaring imperfection that allows the lucky buyer to get a rare watch, if they can live with that imperfection.
These early calibre 861’s carried a dial with a identical design to the 145.012. These dials have an applied metal Omega logo, and long hour indices. The dials look the same as the one fitted to the 145.012, but they have different size feet, although in the same position. If it does not have this dial, it cannot be a “Transitional.”
A 145.022-68 Transitional.
This watch has an extremely apealing dial that is fading to brown, especially at the step. The lume is present, but a little patchy and the hour hand is losing some lume material. The DO90 bezel is correct, and a little tired. The case is slightly better that I would expect given the state of the bezel and the dial. The attraction in this watch is that it looks like all the parts have aged together and the patina it has aquired is attractive.
The word “Transitional” here is used to describe this specific reference. It is the transition between the 145.012 and the painted logo dial, 145.022-69.
Confusingly the word is often used as an adjective elsewhere – for example when discussing the straight engraving case back, and even when discussing the 105.002 – as a “transition” between the 2998-62 and the 105.003. When used here as a noun, the term Transitional describes a 145.022-68 with the following attributes:
- Applied Metal Logo Dial with long indices
- Low serial number calibre 861 (26m to 27m)
- Date stamped -68 in the case back.
- Dot Over 90 Bezel
- Square end Chrono hand – I have seen drop end fitted, but I cannot be certain it was original
I have see a Transitionals with -69 stamped in the back. I now believe that if a watch has the rest of the characteristics, including the serial, then if it has a -69 back it has the incorrect back.
145.022-68 Transitional
This example is more of a clasiically fine watch, with a black dial in very good condition, though the plots are a little white and slightly degraded. The bezel and case are excellent.
145.022-68 on 1039 Bracelet
Finally, here is an excellent example, celarly showing the stepped dial with long indices, slightly fading on the step. The hands are all correct. The DO90 bezel has a tiny imperfection that knocks it out of “Excellent” in my opinion, but the rest of the watch is so strong, that it would be a mistake to downgrade on that alone.
Otherwise specification is as for the 145.022-69, see these links:
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