Yes, I meant looking up the case reference numbers in the Sala book.

I took another look at Bain's pictures... the case #s are on the inside back cover. Sometimes you find them there, more frequently you find them on the outside.

 

So the story on this weird little watch continues...

I just bought a little Tri-Compax from the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. In doing some searching about it, I happened across this thread. Thinking the watch looked very similar to the one I just bought, I took another look at mine, and it turns out it's the exact watch! How it got here to Alabama is anyone's guess!

I'm not shy about saying that I paid $880 for it - about 1/4 of what the seller in the original WUS post was asking - so I'm happy with the purchase despite the concerns brought up in this thread.

What is everyone's best guess about the watch's origins? Refinished inner caseback, total fake, or some kind of franken? I'm happy to take some more photos if there's anything in particular that anyone would like to see closer.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to learning more!

 

I'm not sure I'm following. How did you buy the watch? If it was lost in an airport does it not rightfully belong to its original owner?

The condition of the movement is discordant with the condition of the dial and handset. The caseback also has some unusual wear.

Just some quick thoughts from the airport, myself.

I can only imagine how devastated I would be if I left a watch in the security line or something, only to see someone else pay $800 for it and post online.

 

I think he's saying he bought it from a "lost and found" store that auctions off lost or abandoned items from the airport.

 

Yes, that's close to it. Unclaimed Baggage Center has been around since the '70s. They're basically a glorified thrift store - they purchase unclaimed luggage and freight in bulk from the airlines and shipping industry then sell the contents (though not at auction - items are all priced). I assume that whomever bought the watch from the second seller earlier in the thread either lost it in luggage during travel or in shipping. In either case, I would of course hope that the owner had insured the watch and was compensated when it went missing.

My post wasn't meant to gloat - I was just surprised to find a thread already discussing a watch that I had found in such a strange place. I'd be just as upset about losing a watch as any other collector.

 

That's my thought as well. Hoping, as I said, that the shipment was insured!

 

Well, for me personally, I wouldn't feel right wearing the watch. I can't imagine it would be too hard to contact Bain and track back to the owner that was separated from his prize at the airport.

I've no doubt that the watch is legally your property and insurance is there for a reason... But there's a difference between the legal thing to do and the right/ethical thing to do.

You know which side you'll find me on.

 

This isn't the Bain watch - it's the watch that the OP was asking about from a sales post on WatchUSeek. Another member here purchased the watch from the WUS seller and subsequently sold it himself; I've contacted that second buyer/seller to see if I can get some info about where it went after it left him. We'll see what we can find!

 

It'll be an interesting bit of forensics regardless of what you decide to do with any information that you uncover. I hope you'll keep us posted. Quite the mini melodrama for a single watch.