As some of you know, I bought the Christies Lot 36, the 1995 20th Anniversary Apollo-Soyuz Speedy, in 18kt gold. Now that it has arrived, I'd like to share my experience. This is partly because I am still excited over it, partly because there is good and not so good here and that it may be beneficial to others, and as always, I seek to consult the collective wisdom of the incredible members here who have been so helpful to me and everyone else.

Like most, I was very interested in this auction.. I emailed Eric hoping to encourage him to bring the pieces out to the west coast USA so we could see them here before the hammer fell. I knew I wouldn't be able to travel to NYC as I had a conflict that day, so my only hope of eye balling anything was at a road show. Thankfully, Eric announced they would be coming to LA, and you can go to the thread I made for that GTG. What was noteworthy to me, is that the two pieces I liked the most and thought about bidding for, one was in LA, the stainless 1975 Apollo-Soyuz, and one was not, the 1995 gold Soyuz. It was clear to me early on, the 1975 Soyuz was going to exceed my $$ ability, so I quietly focused on the 1995 gold edition. There isn't a whole lot out there folks on this piece. I looked over the images that were posted by Christie's and generally observed the following key characteristics:

1. It was part of Riccardo's collection, so that was a good thing
2. It was absolutely complete, inner/outer box, gold medallion, extract, papers/warranty card, the papyrus Italian note that comes with the kit. This was really good.
3. The strap and buckle: the strap looked like a new brown alligator, and it was really hard to tell anything about the deployant other than it was gold. This was not so good
4. Condition looked reasonably good, not absolutely mint, but honest. Of concern, there was some tarnishing around the crown/case-guards, which although unusual for 18k gold, is not unheard of..see more on this later. The pictures just weren't good enough to know everything for sure.

But, after some thinking and research, I decided I was going to make a go on this one. I may have neglected to tell anyone this plan There were several gold watches in the auction before this one. The estimate was $12k - $22k, but Christie's estimates aren't really worth a whole lot other than divining the reserve was $12k.

The day of the auction I was at the San Jose International Airport, waiting for a flight back home to San Diego, but my timing was good, as I would be able to be online for the entire thing before my flight left:


While bidding was going on I was posting hammer prices and txt'ing madly with @Taddyangle. As expected, the 1975 Soyuz went for $30k hammer, I didn't even get a bid in. When Lot #36 came up, I went dark on @Taddyangle and focused in... The gold pieces were selling in range and I anticipated this to be the least expensive of the gold pieces; bids started at $7k, and slowly moved to $10k, finally reaching $11k and stalling out. I knew the auctioneer would give it time given the reserve, so I was patient and put a bid in at $12k, at which point the auctioneer said "thank you California, $12k is the bid... last and final at $12k... sold". OK, didn't quite expect that, but I can confess now, $12k was pretty much my limit, given you have to add commissions/taxes/shipping. I was really excited and a bit freaked out but had to celebrate the moment alone in an airport. I txt'ed Taddy a few mins later and told him I was the winning bid on that lot I paid up the next morning and the box showed up two days after that:



Strap is a new brown alligator, and clasp is a rose gold Omega deployant. Omega folks tell me they sold those clasps for $3500. If its worth anything near that, or even half, I made out pretty good there. Does anyone know anything more about that clasp... its definitely for sale

First things first, I put a black alligator and a yellow gold buckle on the watch straight away. I think this is most likely the way it came originally:


Now, for case condition.. definitely tarnishing of some sort around case guards and back side of lugs on that side of the watch, otherwise, case is in good shape overall, honest and clean, certainly not pristene. Here's some close ups of the tarnishing:


I could really use some advice here... and will seek out additional expert opinions... should this be cleaned up or left as-is. I know the P word (polishing) is blasphemy, but I want to make sure over the long run, this is dealt with the correct way, I intend to have this watch a very long time.

 

Oh, and I almost forgot.. the really sexy part:

 

Well done I say.

And not at a crazy value either.

Personally, I'd leave it the case just as it is.

Enjoy!

 

Well done.
I too think it was cheap. A rare watch.
Too late in the production for me .....

Says to self ; focus focus focus!

 

Congratulations on a rare find! Was just talking about you at the San Diego Boutiques today regarding your Speedmaster collection. Amazing. Well done sir.

 

Thank you @sensui We should get together for lunch down there sometime soon. I'm sure @Taddyangle would be interested in joining as well.

 

Thanks for sharing repoman. I can say that it was surreal being there on the floor watching the bidding. I wonder how many of those lots made it to OF members. Anyone get that 11000 cal.1045 prototype?!

Oh, and I think your wrist shot pic must have got deleted or something. I can't see it!

 

I'm still in a bit of envious disbelief... You may be a Jedi Master ...

Whereas most items up for bid seemed to go for prices above expectation, (and in some cases above current market value -even before auction premiums) you managed to walk away with this one at what I would consider a bargain!!

I've always said that you forget about the price you paid within a few days, but the enjoyment of the watch lasts for a lifetime...However, THAT has to feel good!!

 

I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you focus on vintage (while I focus on modern).

 

Incredible looking at this one Friday night. An amazing watch. No need to buy another speedy

 

Absolutely gorgeous!
Congratulations and enjoy that special beauty!
-GW

 

Simply brilliant! The watch, the bid, everything! And I cannot think of a better place for this special piece to land. Congratulations

 

Yes, I noticed that! Well done. Though given your enthusiasm at the GTG, if this one had been present, I'm afraid your plan would not have fallen so well under the radar.

I seem to remember several other references to California bidding during the auction. Since you only bid once, who else? Or is my memory bad?

 

I bid a couple times on a couple watches, but there was definitely at least one other California bidder.

 

Love that color combo.

 

Yeah... So those marks... The best way to deal with them is to send the watch to me...

 

congratulations beautiful watch...

 

Congratulations on the beautiful piece @repoman. I'm sure you're going to enjoy this for years.

Regarding the tarnish, if its bothering you, I would suggest showing the watch to someone that specialises in gold and see what they say about it. Perhaps they could use some sort of tarnish removing solution to restore the gold to its former luster - obviously they shouldn't be submerging the watch in that liquid but I think it could be done by hand. From what I recall, this isn't anything like a polishing job - you shouldn't lose case material. I think this is probably the best way to keep the watch as is while fixing an issue that's bugging you. Sending the watch back to Omega, well, they'll just do a full service/polish which will tank the value of the watch.

Max

 

Well done on winning that lovely piece. Congrats and wear in good health.
Would look fierce on a black Gasgasbones Velcro NASA strap.

Cheers