The new owner of Ralph Ellison’s UK luxury fake Omega Speedmaster 145.012-067SP is the Omega Museum in Biel. The museum will display it beside an impressive line-up of special Speedmaster from noteworthy owners.
Its first owner, author Ralph Ellison, wrote the Invisible Man novel of 1952. It received the prestigious National Book Award in 1953. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Invisible Man #19 on its list of 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
Ralph Ellison’s Speedmaster 145.012-67SP
No one knows exactly how Ralph Ellison obtained the 1:1 fake Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.012-67. Whether he purchased it himself or received it as a gift remains a mystery. Swiss made replica Omega’s Extract of the Archives indicates that the watch had been produced on March 15th, 1968. That still doesn’t indicate when Ellison acquired the watch, as there can be quite some time between production and sale. However, Phillips indicates in the listing that Ralph Ellison can be seen wearing the high quality copy Omega in a picture from the summer of 1968.
Reference 145.012-67SP
UK AAA replica Omega Speedmaster reference 145.012 was the watch on the wrists of some of the NASA astronauts during the Apollo program in the 1960s and ’70s. Together with the cheap fake Omega Speedmaster reference 105.003 and Speedmaster Professional reference 105.012, Omega sent these watches to NASA for Apollo astronauts to use. The 145.012 is the successor to the 105.012. The only difference between the top Swiss super clone watches is the pusher construction (screwed into the case and having taller caps) and a case back with a single bevel instead of two.
Generally speaking, there’s a little bit more demand for the luxury fake Omega 105.012. This is mainly because it is the reference that was on the wrist of Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. The Ellison 145.012-67 is the ‘SP’ version of this reference, which stands for “special pushers” (Special Poussoirs). According to Swiss movement replica Omega, it had better water resistance, but of course, this distinction is a relative one. Of the Omega Speedmaster fake watches for sale with caliber 321, reference 145.012 is the easiest to find on the market. However, finding one in good condition has become tough in recent years.
With a little help
Ellison wore this watch for approximately 25 years until he passed away in 1994 at age 81. Various photographs spanning those years show him wearing the perfect fake Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.012-67SP. In some, it was evident that the upper pusher was missing. After his wife passed away in 2005, the watch was offered in an estate sale. Before the Phillips auction, it ended up with a collector who was just looking for a exact copy Omega Speedmaster Professional 145.012 in original condition.
The sale indicated it came from the “Ralph and Fanny Ellison Charitable Trust”, but there was no further indication that either of them wore it. The buyer spent quite some time searching for definitive proof but for a long time was unable to find indisputable evidence. His high quality replica Omega also had the upper pusher missing when he received it, but that could have been just a weird coincidence.
Earlier this year, however, the owner — with the help of copy watch UK journalist and author Michael Clerizo — received paperwork that belonged to the Ellisons. It included an insurance policy listing all sorts of items. Among them was the Omega Speedmaster Professional replica for men with a serial number. This number corresponded with the one on the movement of the 145.012-67 in his possession, and of course with the Extract of the Archives he had previously received.