Hvad er det der gør Speedy ref. 376.0822 til "Holy grail"?

[baun]

Jeg kender jo ikke historierne der åbenbart knytter sig til de særlig eftertragtede Rolex ure, men det er vel altid sådan at der kan være flere elementer der gør et ur til noget "særlig ønsket" i en samling"

Falde i manges smag (fx. Speedmaster og Rolex sub.)
Begrænset fremstillingsperiode (fx. Omega Ranchero)
Begrænset fremstillings antal (fx. Railmaster)
Et mærke som tiltrækker mange samlere (fx. Rolex)
Urets/modellens generelle historie (fx. Speedmaster serien)
Modellens særlige historie (Rolex explorer 1969 (tror jeg nok )
Let at identificere og genkende (Rolex red sub)
Nævnt af "ur-guruer" (fx. den vi taler om her)

Der er sikkert flere, men jo flere uret opfylder af disse forhold, jo mere samlerur - og jo højere pris, sammenlignet "hvad det som "bare" ur er værd"

Andre kan sikkert nævne ure som eksemplificerer ovennævnte - Heuer Monaco falder i flere katagorier - og Breitling Navitiner også osv.


vh Baun

[kox]

Da jeg er den "heldige" ejer af sådan et eksemplar, må jeg vist heller gi' mit besyv med. Mit eksemplar kan ses i denne tråd.

Der er ingen tvivl om, at jeg er glad for uret - også når jeg ser bort fra samlerværdien, hypen og værket:-) Om jeg heller vil ha' dette ur, fremfor en pre-pro eller den første pro moonphase eller den første pro i guld. Nej, det vil jeg ikke. Men den kommer lige derefter! Men for mig er det heller ikke et spørgsmål om enten eller - det er både og:-) Den kommer på en klar 4. plads på min hitliste over Speedmasters og på en klar 1. plads over dem med automatik. Den har meget mere "sjæl" end f.eks. et almindeligt broad arrow m. cal. 33xx. Sjæl er så i samme boldgade som religion og vi har alle vores trosretning. Jeg har fulgt Maddox indlæg i mange år og jeg tror, at mange har gjort ligeså. Der er ingen tvivl om, at hans indlæg har været medvirkende til mit køb og heller ingen tvivl om, at han har "talt" modellen op. For ham handlede det blot om kærligheden til robuste chronografer, en forkærlighed for især Speedmasters og Lemania 5100 værket og frem for alt også JAGTEN.

Og så er den som så meget andet, langt federe i virkeligheden end på billeder. Synes JEG. Den er hverdagsduelig, ekstrem nem og enkel af aflæse og bruge (hvis man altså faktisk hører til dem der bruger chronograf funktionerne) - så i den virkelige verden beviser den, at den er gennemtænkt og funktionel. Helt i tråd med den oprindelige ånd for Speedmasteren. At den så er sjælden gør blot det hele ekstra sjovt.

Men for nu at gi' Mads et korrekt og konkret svar, så giver Maddox nedenfor forklaringen på hvorfor uret for HAM er "the Holy grail". Indlægget fra 2005 på TimeZone er LANGT, men jeg har klippet selve svaret på spørgsmålet ud forneden. Jeg synes det taler for sig selv.

/Kim

Actually, I'm the one to blame for "the Grail Watch" moniker...
My first Vintage Omega eBay purchase was nearly a 376.0822 out of Germany in January of 1999. Because the 376.0822 was in Germany, I didn't know any German (hell anyone in Germany at the time), I went instead for a 176.012 (the most common of the 7-8 Speedmaster c.1045 variants which sports a Mark II/IV style case) out of Iowa for around the same money (about $600 USD). I had owned my Mark II for 15 years at this point, that style case was a known quantity to me, and if I had a problem with the watch I figured I could gas up my Explorer and drive out to Iowa if need be, I couldn't really do that with the German watch.

About a month later I realized I wish I had bought both examples... So I stared looking for another example to purchase. And I searched, and searched, and searched. The only one I found was listed at over $10,000 on a Japanese website and there wasn't a speck of English on that site aside from "Omega Speedmaster" and Arabic numbers. It took me a year and a half to find another one (aside from the Japanese origin one) offered for sale and it was on eBay out of Philadelphia. I got into a three way shootout for it with a fellow TZOFer and one of the well healed Japanese collectors and came out in 3rd place with an winning bid well north of $2,700 (this is summer 2001). I finally tracked one down about six to eight months later with the help of another TZOFer and brought home my example. During this quest I searched with the intensity that King Arthur searched for the Holy Grail and I began calling this model "the Grail" because I was that obsessed with it.

I also had a long struggle to find the Gray dial Teutonic (Germanic market) Speedmaster c.861 and I call this model "Moby" as a reference to Ahab's obsession for the Great Gray (dial) Whale (Speedmaster). Some of my watches have nicknames. Some of them stick and become the commonly used names for that watch. Ever hear of the "Darth Vader Seamaster"? No one ever called it that before I did, and the watch was discontinued 2-4 years prior to Star Wars. But if you say "Darth Vader Seamaster" to a watch collector and s/he'll know exactly what you are talking about...

I know at least a half a dozen collectors who now own the Grail who can tell similar tales of the hunt, the near miss(es), the disappointment, the despair and the final joy of getting one. Hence, "the Grail"!

As for the 376.0822 (Grail) itself...

It is considered one of the rarest of the c.1045 Speedmasters(only the Mark V comes close to the Grail's rarity).
It is the first time Omega offered a Moonwatch case styled Speedmaster with:
an Automatic Movement
Day
Date in a window aperture (the 345.0809 had a date pointer)
24-hour indication
It also utilizes the 1450 bracelet, which was by far the best bracelet Omega had used with the Speedmaster up until that time and is highly coveted by collectors
It is easily sports the most readable dial of the c.1045 Speedmasters. (frankly, the other c.1045's dial readability isn't even in the same league as the Grail. I've had owners of other c.1045 Speedmasters scoff at this assertion until I pull out my 376.0822 and bit tongues and cheeks rapidly occur) For these reasons it is in very high demand by collectors and avidly sought when offered. I have my example which is mid-90's or higher in terms of condition, and I'd love to have another example at a somewhat lower price. Who knows... In a year or two when I've revamped my desktop computer setup and done the new car thing I might be in the market again.

I (and other owners) believe that were NASA to conduct a Chronograph contest like the one's that resulted in the adoption of the moonwatch the watch most likely to topple the moonwatch would be the Grail. Unfortunately that won't happen because Swatch/Lemania has stopped production of the c.1045.

[hannover_dk]

Jeg forstår dig, og ville let placere den ind ved siden af en 321 pre moon - Nok ind efter en pre pro, men det er der jo delte meninger om. Jeg ville gøre det for sjældenhed, jagten, men jeg synes også den er OK at se på.

Om værket kan der siges meget. Det kan der også om motorer i veteranbiler, det bliver let lidt skrøbeligt, men jeg tror det holder, og Omega KUNNE ha været først ude med en automatisk krono (lang tung snak i anden tråd) hvis deres ledelse ikke havde forkastet grund tanken og ideen hvor Albert Piguet allerede havde en prototype så tidligt som 1946. Det ville ha givet Omega et forspring mod andre, men selveste Paul-Emile Brandt forkastede ideen, idet han mente en automatisk kronograf var inderlig overflødig den gang

Fra Omega Vintage kan man læse mere:
Calibre 1040/1041 and 1045, 1970
Date: 1970 and 1974 respectively
Designer: Raoul-Henri Erard (Head of Project: Albert Piguet)

Description: The 1040 is the first OMEGA self-winding calibre, with a high frequency (28 800 A/h), to be manufactured at Lémania. It was fitted with a rotor mounted on a ball-bearing, invented by Marius Meylan-Piguet. The calibre 1040 had a date indicator, a 24 hour indicator with day/night reading and a fast day setting device, but was not the first self-winding chronograph calibre in the world. The Chronomatic, manufactured by Dubois Dépraz (for Büren Watch, Breitling and Heuer-Léonidas) and the Zenith El Primero had already prededed it in 1969. However, it is worth noting that Albert Piguet had already designed a prototype as early as 1946. This revolutionary project, which would have given OMEGA a considerable advantage over its competitors, was unfortunately scrapped by Paul-Emile Brandt, who believed it to be superfluous at the time. More than 120 000 units would be produced, including its derivative the 1045 with day/date calendar.

As for the 1041, launched in 1973, this was the world's first self-winding chronograph-chronometer. It was in fact the "official certificate" version of the calibre 1040, with exactly the same functions. It was used in the famous Speedmaster 125 created to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the company (1848-1973). 2000 models were produced.

Jeg forstår i alle fald godt du er glad for uret. Sjældenhed betyder noget.

vh