‘Blueberry’ Ed White 105.003-64 Omega Speedmaster

Omega’s classic DON bezel can exhibit some of the most varied ghosting you’ll find on any vintage watch. I’ve seen their palette age naturally to bright burgundy, green, and blue depending on the environment. Anyone who’s bought a box of crayons can tell you, those three are nowhere near each other on the spectrum. There are a handful of rules surrounding which productions often go which colors and which references should have them, but there are also many exceptions. Rolex isn’t the only watchmaker to have a ‘Blueberry’. Omega’s is just a bit less famous. Surprisingly, just as fraught though.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve seen thousands of Speedmasters. The ones that stand out in memory do so most often for their character. If you don’t drink coffee, the most lovely and expensive flat white will just taste of coffee. However, if all you drink is coffee, you’ll be able to distinguish between arabica, robusta, and possibly geography or climate. Similarly, when you scour Speedmasters like Charlie Sheen scours Hollywood Boulevard at 3AM, all you see are the small differences. Even though it’s just one difference, the blue bezel is so jarring that your brain takes a second to go, ‘wait, is that original?’ It is. Just anodized aluminum that’s aged in a funky way, but the difference is enough to command 10K or more if the market and auctions are any indication.

Blue bezels are accepted mostly in 105.003-64 and 105.012-64, though it’s possible to appear in other references. Generally, serial ranges run from 2208XXXX and 20527XXX, mostly in -64 references. Interestingly, if these go blue they tend to really go blue. You only ever see vibrant blue or black, with very little in-between. But because they’re metallic, in various lights they can look black. It’s actually entirely unknown if this is an anodization defect or patina induced by wear. The all-or-nothing blues we tend to see in the market would indicate the former, but it’s hard to say. From a few databases on forums, excellent work by Bazamu, and market research from Phillips, it’s thought that around 25 examples of these are known to the market split 50/50 between Ed White and 105.012, with one known 2998 as well. For what is just a bezel, they usually trade hands around double the value of a comparable ‘normal’ Ed White. Maybe that pure arabica I grind every morning isn’t so expensive after all.

Importantly, this bezel checks out on every level, the tone, patina, and 90 are just right. Its dial is quite well-preserved, with no damage and great even tritium. The hands have slightly darker tritium, quite a normal thing here, all still present which isn’t always the case. Its lugs have seen a polish, but it’s a little less of a big deal here than say a Sub because the lugs were rounded over to begin with from factory. They’re still even, just worth noting. It comes on a Forstner BOR with an Extract of Archive noting sale in 1965 to the UK.