Many thanks to all who answered questions, making this research possible! Thanks to Omegaforums.com for being a great place. All picture credits are due to their original owners.
THE STORY
How one of the rarest Omega watches stayed under the radar until now.
The 145.005 is a classic reference among Omega Seamaster enthusiasts, featuring a case with straight lugs, pump pushers, and the well-known caliber 321 movement. The 145.005 was originally designed to provide an all-round watch that could be worn while being active as well as sitting in the boardroom.
The 145.005-67 had a special dial version which I’ll cover today. It is an extremely rare variation and it is believed that just a couple were produced. The Seamaster Reverse Panda with an Ultraman-like orange chronograph hand comes from the same timeframe as its Speedmaster counterpart. However, I haven’t found any evidence that the hands are exactly alike. The production numbers are estimates at best; all we know for certain is how many appeared on the market over the years – only around ten examples.
On this page, all known examples are listed alongside the information that’s available on them.
Ultraman or Olympic Games?
What we know:
- The Reverse Panda dial was common in that era, many manufacturers of racing chronographs produced watches with either Panda or Reverse Panda dials (Rolex Daytona, Heuer Autavia among others).
- The Omega Museum has an example in their collection (more on this below)
- Multiple watches with the “Ultraman” hand were part of Omega’s 1968 collection, such as the Chronostop and multiple Geneve models with coloured dials (the 166.041 for example).
- All previous online Ebay listings and the extracts known show the USA as the delivery country.
What I expect:
- In 1968 the Olympic Games in Mexico were held from October 12 until October 27. Omega was the official timekeeper. At least 2 of the known examples of the Reverse Panda 145.005 were produced on September 24th 1968, just before the start of the Olympic Games. As we know from the one “untouched” full set known to exist, the official box for the 145.005 from 1968 is a special bakelite box. Produced to commemorate Omega’s involvement in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, these boxes are extremely hard to find. They were produced in a few different configurations. This leads me to think that at least some of the 1968 watches with sporty orange hands were produced to commemorate the Olympic Games of that year. I’ll nickname this watch “Mexicano” for that reason.
Example 1
This example appeared on Ebay in 2017. It has the same thin hand as the Omega museum piece which led me to believe that there are 2 orange hand variations for this model. On which later more.
After a closer inspection, I am 99% sure that this example is the museum piece!
I tried sharpening the serial number on the movement and expect it to be: 26,547,964.
Example 2
This is the Omega museum piece. It has the same thin hand as Example 1. At first I thought that there would be 2 variations for the orange hand. However, after researching the shape of the hand and other examples on the web I am pretty sure that the hand used to be white (i.e. belongs to the normal version 145.005) and is simply painted orange. Did you see that they kept the strap that accompanied it on the Ebay listing?
Attached is another “normal” example that has a painted red hand, so it wasn’t an uncommon practice. Notice the shape and length of the normal version’s hand?
Example 3
The one that makes things complicated.
This example has the same hand as Example 1 and 2. Would this mean that my hypothesis is wrong regarding the painted orange hand?
I’ve put them next to each other and I am pretty sure that it’s the same watch. The crown has been replaced by an original one and the box was added.
Example 4
The benchmark.
This example was posted by Omegaforums member KOV. He wrote a detailed post about the remarkable story of how he acquired his Reverse Panda. Link below.
His example is believed to be untouched, hence showing the original parts, optional steel bracelet, original box, original orange hand, and the place of sale.
The info:
- Produced on September 24, 1968
- Purchased on June 10, 1969
- Delivered to: USA, Florida based Jeweller
- Serial number: 26,547,9xx
- The 145.005 could be delivered on leather or a steel bracelet. Deriving from this example the optional steel bracelet reference should be a 1039/570 BOR bracelet.
KOV’s example shows a flat feet crown, which is different than the other known examples. His watch was sent to Omega once for a movement overhaul, either this type of flat feet crown is the one belonging to this watch or it’s possible that the crown was changed during the service.
We know the crown from the above examples was changed once, that one is not a flat feet crown.
Example 6
For this one I used web archive wayback machine to find the pictures again.
The serial number is unreadable unfortunately.
Ebay seller is from the USA
Check the yellowish “stain” on the bottom subdial and the a4298 inscription on the inside of the caseback. This is the same watch as Example 5.
Example 7
From OF member @Kyle L
A nice looking example. The serial seems to be in the correct range: 26541264
Kyle remarked that his right subdial hand looks to be replaced as it’s thinner than the others.
Example 8
A great looking example with a perfect dial. The serial is somewhat unclear but let’s check out the next example…
Example 9
This one is from Alex from Vision Vintage Watches. When I asked him where he acquired it he told me he bought it off eBay while driving in Switzerland. A lucky find!
The serial number is: 26541243
Note how the dial looks the same as the previous one. The serial number is also very similar… Seems to be the same watch.
Alex has put it on a 1039/570,70 BOR bracelet which is believed to be at least period correct.
Example 10
This example is from OF member duffy7 (massive thanks for the effort!):
“Unfortunately I don´t have an EoA but your serial number (should be 26,547,996 if I am correct) and mine 26,547,9xx) match perfectly.
I found my Seamaster Panda Chrono with a watch dealer in New York. Kovs example also came from the USA and if I remember correctly the eBay auctions were all situated in the US.
Because of this and the OXG engraving on the movement (for the import to the USA) I am sure this was a special patch for the US market. (maybe for the Navy as the former owner of kovs example was a Navy guy – I can`t prove this at all)
The correct crown should be a flat feet crown. (have only seen kovs with flat feet)”
Example 11
Another example I found on OF.
The serial is 26550517
With this one, it’s unusual it is a 105 and not a 145. The serial is still reasonably close to the others if we compare it to the others. The case back might have been swapped.
Example 13
The watch we sold and the one that sparked my interest in investigating this special piece.
The serial is 26547996.
I ordered an extract that shows the production date: 24 September 1968
This one was delivered to the USA as well.
Concluding Remarks
How one of the rarest Omega watches stayed under the radar until now.
There are 9 examples, of which one has a different reference number, known.
The serial numbers:
- 26,541,243
- 26,541,247
- 26,541,264
- 26,547,964 (Omega Museum)
- 26,547,983
- 26,547,996 (Extract)
- 26,547,9xx (Extract and first owner set)
- 26,547,9xx
- 26,550,517
The above list leads us to believe that these watches were produced in 2 or 3 batches. It would be cool if extracts were available for the outlier serial numbers.
Thanks for reading!
