145.022, SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL, BLUE BEZEL

A ref. 2763-1130-55, the Blancpain Léman Complete Calendar in steel. The black dial carries a full calendar laid out with restraint: day and month in twin windows beneath twelve, the date read by a slim pointer around the edge. A small seconds subdial adds a quiet rhythm at the bottom of the dial, and the 100-hour power reserve is noted right there in print, a promise made in plain sight. The Léman case is round, sporty in proportion and finished with care, more relaxed than a pure dress watch. It is a complicated watch that never feels fussy. This one wears on a black textile strap, which leans into the Léman's sporting side.

The 145.022 is the reference that ushered the Speedmaster into the calibre 861 era, taking over from the 321-powered 145.012 at the end of the sixties. It is the Moonwatch as most people picture it: asymmetric 42mm case, crown guards, black dial, tachymeter bezel. The reference ran for many years in different sub-versions, and its early dials carried the stepped profile collectors chase today. NASA had already flight-qualified the Speedmaster by then, and the 145.022 was the watch in production as the Apollo program reached the moon. Its long run makes it the backbone of the vintage Speedmaster world. It is the reference most collectors start with, and many never stop.

We sourced this watch because it does something a vintage Speedmaster almost never does: it surprises you. The blue bezel takes a design everyone knows by heart and gives it a new temperature. Underneath, it is all the right things, a step dial with real dimension, aged lume with warmth to it, and the 861 ticking away. That combination of a proper vintage core with a bezel that breaks the rules is what made us want it. On the bracelet it wears like a Moonwatch that dressed up for the weekend. Nothing else in the vintage case looks quite like it. Curated with intent.