Here I look at the early case backs fitted to early 1970’s speedmasters starting with the smooth “Pre-Moon” back.
This page is a companion page to Episode 4
In the next photo I show a 145.022-69 with a DN90 bezel, and a smooth back. Here we see the back shows a hippocampus that has almost disappeared. This happens in normal wear as the engraving is very light.
The next case back is the “Apollo” Straight Writing. This is the same layout as the 18kt Yellow Gold version and is extremely rare. The steel version is rarer than the gold version.
Here is the more common Straight Writing Case back, the “Flight Qualified” version.
This is the very rare and much underestimated “NoNasa” smooth medalion caseback which is stamped -71 inside. Produced for a very short time.
Finally the “Moonwatch” back seen on all post NoNasa Speedmasters. This one has a non original Chrono hand.
