THE OMEGA
SPEEDMASTER
A.C.P.
(JULY 2, 1964)
Everyone knows the Speedmaster today as the Moonwatch.
But before 1965 and its unfailing association with NASA,that was another story.
Keep in mind that the Speedmaster chronograph was designed in 1957 as part of a project that aimed to introduce a Professional line of OMEGA watches, along with the Seamaster 300 and the Railmaster. This high-precision chronograph, easy to handle with a great legibility was created for automobile racing teams.
We do not have a lot of proven records of automobile racers using a Speedmaster, only a few pictures, but at least we know such a famous customer: The Automóvil Club Peruano (ACP).
The ACP was founded in 1942 as an association to promote the development of motorsports in Peru in all its aspects. The most important motorsport competition in Peru (and organized by the ACP) is the rally called Caminos del Inca.
Neither OMEGA, nor the ACP have kept records of a specific Speedmasters order, but in 2014, one of the club’s founding members confirmed to us that such an order had been placed at that time.
Fifty Speedmasters Professional left OMEGA on July 2, 1964, destination the ACP in Peru, exactly 53 years ago.
50 Speedmasters ref. 105.012-63 (s/n between 20.520.740 and 20.520.839) were delivered to the ACP in July 1964.
These watches are immediately identifiable because they bear the additional inscription A.C.P. on their dials beneath the word Professional. This is the only known case of such additional inscription for a customer on a Speedmaster dial.
These dials (classified as B1. type) are also particular because they are the only Professional tritium dials devoid of the letter T flanking SWISS MADE.
All these watches have a movement number between 20.520.740 and 20.520.839, and fewer than 10 of them have been located to date, mostly in Europe.
For all these reasons, the ACP is a model that his highly sought-after by collectors.
Thank you for yet another fascinating piece of speedy history!
Felice proprietario dal 2007 quando ancora in pochi sapevamo dell’esistenza di questa personalizzazione, una delle tre conosciute, del quadrante dello Speedmaster, ho in collezione anche un 145022 68 Meister.
Nice collection, congrats.