Show me your 376.0822 Speedmaster!

[XF-56]

a great tread, so much wonderful Grail's
and now its time to show you my 2 Grails, the "Liberace Grail" is that one from tonez76.
normaly i dont like gold on watches, but on the Grail its just incredible and i must have it

[Pascal S]

That REALLY is a lovely pair!

I also see that you've managed to put your hands on an original replacement dial. A good thing to have now that Omega is routinely defacing Grails by putting the ill-suited "Mark 4.5" dial in place of the original. Someone in Bienne deserves to be beaten with sticks for coming up with such an idiotic idea!

[XF-56]

thank you

yes, to get a NOS dial for the Grail was a really lucky thing and i'm very happy to have one.
i also can not understand why OMEGA is using the Standart 4.5 dial. To have a Grail with
a nice and clean original dial and hands is a priceless advantage.

cheers
patrik

[Aska Chee]

The dial on this dummy (this watch has no movement, as indicated by the position of the hand on the 24 hour subdial, which should indicate 10:00 PM and not 12:00 PM) is probably a prototype. Its layout is correct, but the luminous marker at 3 seems to be missing, and so does the "10" next to the luminous marker at 2. But what shocks me most on this watch is not the slightly weird dial but the incorrect hands: these are the ones used on the other calibre 1045 watches, as they are a bit chubbier and shorter than the Grail's originals, and the chrono's second hand should have a luminous diamond.

This picture is of the example that is on display at the Omega Museum and I know for a fact, through correspondence with Marco Richon himself, that some of the watches exhibited are not complete and are just meant to look like the real deal. What bothers me is that this seems to extend to such an authoritative book as Mr Richon's one, basically allowing Omega to do whatever with the aesthetics of this rare chronograph during service. That's a pity...

Hi Pascal S,
I think the dial did used on some 376.0822. Very similar but abit different from Bienne Re-furb, No shaded area from 6 to 8 on the 24 Hour Dial.
According to the previous owner, the watch was serviced in Germany in 2010. All the original parts like dial & hand with me..
Pls find the pic:

[Pascal S]

The post of mine you quoted was replying to a post showing a Grail with a dial that was undoubtedly a prototype, as it is the right size for this watch but without the "10" marking next to the index, and therefore completely different to the one you posted a picture of. The latter has already been seen on several occasions in this thread, including on its first page and the issue is that the dial size is obviously unsuited for this watch.

OK, back on topic - a fellow German WIS decided to part with his like-new
376.0822 and 1450 bracelet and I was the lucky buyer. The seller just had
the watch serviced at Omega Germany where a new SL dial was installed
and some minor parts were replaced. Omega also returned all old parts.

Sorry, couldn't post earlier - this is the original dial with crystal and ring...

It appears that Thomas' Grail is not the only one to have received an incorrect replacement dial from Omega.

Have a look at this listing from Antiquorum's Omegamania auction!

To summarize, the only original dial for the grail is this one:


Photo credit: Watchco


In the mid-2000s, Omega unfortunately started replacing dials on the Grail during service with two versions of the same dial design:


Photo credit: Watchco

The first one is unknown in origin, though I had seen it on two distinct occasions on a "Mark 4.5" 176.0012. This dial is the one mounted on the Grail that was sold during the 2007 Omegamania Auction:


Photo credit: Antiquorum

The second one is simply the original dial for the "Mark 4.5". And to add insult to injury, Omega is also replacing the original long thin hands with the shorter and stubbier ones that were used on the 176.0012 to 176.0016 series of chronographs.

Frankly, I think whoever at Omega came up with the idea of defacing the Grail with these parts should be beaten with sticks!

[Aska Chee]

Hi Pascal, opps. My bad for missing that out , i thought i have discover something.... :P

[Pascal S]

No worry. I really blame Omega for making a mess of things since the mid-2000s.

One thing that really doesn't help is the original dial's propensity to have its luminous indices turn to dust. It appears that at least a production batch of these dials, if not all of them, doesn't age all that well.



My own example pictured above is missing two indices (at 3 and 4 o'clock), and it took me years to unearth a correct NOS dial.

[XF-56]

and it took me years to unearth a correct NOS dial.

i think whe have the NOS dial from the same source..

[Pascal S]

That's more than likely. Not that many people have those lying around...

[mt1tdi]

You guys are killing me! I still want one of these. :)