Hello dear forum members!

I have a question about the 2998 dials.

Attached is a photo of a 2998-3, which, apart from the strap, came out of a watchmaker's estate as it is. Serial number is 17.76 ....



I don't know why the white / chrono hands are missing, but that's not really important for now.

The watch seems to be in very good overall condition and the colour of the hands is matching the dial. Geiger counter tells me it's radium.

Now my question comes: The dial actually belongs rather to -1 or -2?

Has anyone seen this combination before? I know there a lot real experts here...

I would be very thankful for help!

 

Unfortunately I don't know. But that dial looks amazing, and is worth a chunk of change regardless of whether it is correct. There's is at least one member here that has been searching for this dial for months.

 

Buy it!
Dial is correct for a 2998-1,2 and probably early 2998-3
Irregardless, you could trade/sell that dial for way more than a 2998-3 “proper” dial

 

Hi @Winston 1984 ,

I won’t comment on the dial, as I have to learn a lot more about 2998‘s before I can comfortably comment on this matter. But I‘d like to address something else:

I think the hands are not original. The 2998 anoraks please correct me if i‘m wrong but I thought the minute hand should reach the minute track?
Service hands or seamaster Hands (they also came with radium) ?


Also the bezel is eating into the numbers way more than I would be comfortable with, look at 80 75 70 etc.

These watches are in the serious money territory and everything that could raise concerns needs to be addressed.

You can find more information on the dials here

Www.speedmaster101.com

Cheers,

Max

 

This could be a -1 dial as there are short markers in minute subdial. This would have to be confirmed.

sub hands should be leaf hands, bezel should be a base 1000 scale, minute hand is too short to me (could be a seamster hand ?), lume seems almost too clean (relumed ?)

 

Case looks polished too. Seems to be a put together.

 

I think a lot of us could learn from the answers to this one. At first glance: short minute markers; medium middle line on the E; correct "r"; and so much more ...

.. but then, the top of the S caught my eye and the spacing between the AML and "OMEGA" ... so, I'm with the rest so far ... let's see what those who have actually held dozens of these have to say.

 

I am pretty sure that this dial has not been relumed. I think it doesn't match the rest of the story and that it's radium.

 

The case looks really nice. This is just one photo...

I know that the crown is a service part. Rest looks original to me.

 

A Geigercounter could tell

 

Yes, it tells. I stated that in my post.

 

Ah didn't read well…Sorry

 

My earlier answer only addressed the dial, as that was your actual question. To be honest, that dial really interests me - purely from an acedemic point of view. If we're to take the watch as a whole, I think it's safe to say that this was a long term project that the watchmaker was doing. The entire watch is put together. It was probably his own little bit of fun to make himself a "2998-x" from parts he found over the years. Hence the cut off bezel; the mismatched hands; the somewhat polished case ... but, now that these watches are reaching ridiculous price levels, just the parts alone are going to be worth a chunk of change.

 

I'll like to point out that reluming a watch using old radium lume to deceive would be the easiest thing in the world. Ground up old lume from a different watch add binding agent and you are good to go.

 

The bezel: I have at least two other pieces looking the same.

The hands: What is wrong with them? Still don't understand why the minute hand should reach out to indices of the minuterie...

 

Do you think this looks like a relume to you?

 

A lot of Speedmaster have been equipped with Seamaster hands. Seamaster hands are slighty shorter. look at my 2998-4's minute hand, it goes up to the edge of the dial. This is how it should be.

 

I still think this is kind of a put together. Where are the missing subdials?

 

Take a look at the 2998's on Speedmaster101 or search this forum for posts of 2998's that are believed to be all original. You will find that the minute hand is longer and reaches the outer minute track. Original 2998 hands are hard to come by, and in some cases hands from early Seamaster references such as the 2907 are used as replacements. Those older seamaster hands also featured radium lume and are of the same style as the 2998 hands (alpha) but are a bit shorter in lenght.

Cheers,

Max

 

It came from a watchmakers estate. Clearly an unfinished product. If you trust the story, (and you can meet f2f to get a sense of the seller) then buy it.

Of course, OP still hasn't told us if this is something he has opportunity to buy or already owns.