Once again we’re bringing you the latest edition of our Omega chronograph series. This time we dive into a couple of rare Seamasters from the early ’70s — two variants of the reference 145.023. These peculiar timepieces, like many other Omegas, got the Chuck Maddox treatment, and are commonly known as the Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Each variant has a large angular case — almost helmet-like — with the classic manual winding Caliber 861 movement also used in Speedmasters of the same period.
The case is a unique octagonally-shaped, two-piece construction; the main portion houses the movement, which is stainless steel and then covered in either a polished silver or gloss black tungsten metal shell. The gloss black shell is actually thick enough to add an extra half-millimeter to the diameter, and a millimeter to the thickness of the case.
Despite the endless amount of chronographs released during this time period, Omega wasn’t simply going through the motions. Adding tungsten to the mix greatly increased the durability of stainless steel, further pushing the 145.023 into tool watch territory. What’s more, the venerable caliber 861 was held in place by O-rings on either side, increasing shock resistance.
Anakin Skywalker Seamaster - courtesy chronomaddox.com
Not for the timid, Anakin and Vader clock in at 44-millimeters and 44.5-millimeters in diameter, and 14-millimeters and 15-millimeters in thickness, respectively. It also features integral pushers and screw-down crown — without the latter, the Seamaster badge would make considerably less sense. Omega chose to go with hidden lugs, not unlike a number of their other references at the time. Although the strangely shaped case is par for the course for an Omega chronograph from the ’70s, and the movement is the tried and true 861, there’s just something about these examples that intrigue us and have created a cult following. The rarity of each is likely an influence, and nicknames certainly don’t hurt the cool factor either.
Neither variant is an easy piece to come by or acquire. If you happen to stumble across one and have the means, they would be one of the more unique pieces you’ll ever see, and a good investment. It’s hard to nail down the true value since they are seen on the market so rarely — it’s one of those cases where rarity doesn’t always equal high value. In our opinion, since it’s powered by the ubiquitous 861, it really shouldn’t be touching anywhere near five figures. With that said, the Anakin in good condition can reach anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 and the Vader has in fact fetched up near $11,000 (but that was at Omegamania; not a trustworthy data point). The odds of finding either of these are about the same as Lando not leaving the party with your girlfriend, and they’re just about as cool as him too.
As always we have to thank the late great Chuck Maddox at chronomaddox.com for his Omega expertise. Featured photo at the top courtesy of Sieko & Citizen Forum member Elveez.
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Wally Pacman
This type of article makes me wonder whether you actually ever held in your hands or wore the watches featured. This reads like Internet research, not real life experience or anything written based on more than a few google query results.
I say that knowing it very unlikely you’ll approve this comment.
Chris
Wally, I think you’re being a little unfair here. Neil put together an informative pieces on a few interesting, related watches that most people in this hobby would otherwise know nothing about. It’s not realistic to expect that they’ll be able to get their hands on every piece. I’ve never seen these before in the metal, despite having been in this hobby for the last 16 years, even havomg dinner with Chuck Maddox, spending much of the night talking about his Omega collection and seeing his latest finds.
Neil Wood
Wally Pacman,
This is a “Lesson in Wristory”, not a hands-on “In the Flesh” review. I personally don’t think having the watches in my hands matters in this case. The point of the article isn’t to necessarily prove to our readers we’ve held one, but to shed light on a lesser known, but still interesting vintage Omega. It would be damn near impossible to have our hands on a watch from the Boer War, Oliver Shepard’s custom Rolex 1655, or Chuck Yeager’s Submariner 6538, which are also featured in our Lessons in Wristory articles. Of course a lot of it is based on research, how else would we learn about it? What would holding it in our hands tell us about the history of the watch? What does “real life experience” even mean in this instance? I know plenty of folks who have “real life experience” with their watches, but they don’t know the first thing about them. We’ve already held the Anakin in our hands but perhaps you have a Vader you’d like to send us for review and we’ll be happy to update the article if it is of such great importance.
If you detected any snark in this response, that’s because I don’t understand why you would take the time to write your comment, especially considering you didn’t expect it to be approved. As much as “internet research” articles don’t seem to impress you, the same goes for me and “keyboard warrior” comments. I won’t make excuses for minor errors or less-than-robust coverage, but frankly, we’re a small handful of passionate watch guys who stand this blog up entirely in our free time (and make NO money from it).
Thanks for reading, and consider your comment “approved”.
Wally Pacman
I am sorry but I don’t think it’s unfair to criticize an article without much substance, content other than what can be regurgitated from a google search. If that’s the goal of this column, then I do not condone that goal either.
I do not think that there is much value in an opinion without actual experience in this watch world. These specific watches do still exist, I have seen them for sale and I have seen one so I would expect a serious blog to figure out a way to procure them, if temporarily, to be able to actual write about them. Holding the watch doesn’t inform you on its history but is mandatory nevertheless. We know that photos don’t do watches justice often, others they make them look better than they are. Holding them in your hands, on your wrist has no substitute.
Call me troll, keyboard warrior, this is the world we live in and the medium you chose, that’s the medium I can answer through. This article is great for SEO reasons and will draw a small amount of traffic to your site but offers little to the reader, IMHO.
Shane Griffin
There’s no need for an apology, no matter how insincere it is. I believe there absolutely is value in pulling together information into one easily digestible article. That was the goal of the article, whether you condoned it or not. We told you we’ve had hands-on experience with an example, but I still don’t see how it’s “mandatory”, as you say. You speak so matter-of-factly that it makes me laugh, so thank you for that. And dude, chill out. We do our best to provide content in our spare time. We all have full time jobs (plus one full time college student), how would you expect us to get our hands on a privately owned watch from someone we don’t know? Why would anyone send us their personal watch? Do you want us to fly around the country hunting down private collectors so we can review their watches? That’s insane — literally no one does that. You can keep on fighting the pointless fight, and we’ll let you comment, but it’s your time you’re wasting.