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MtV
·Good evening everybody,
today, the DHL guy had something rather special for me and I felt like sharing it.
A few weeks ago, on a Monday evening, @seekingseaquest (who I am very, very grateful to) sent me an eBay link to an auction that had just come online. The title only read Vintage Omega Seamaster bumper 2577 and the pictures were, well, horrible. Nevertheless…
Through the blurriness, a certain structure of the dial was recognizable. It was a no-reserve auction with the option of suggesting a price and had only been online for a few minutes. I made an offer, the seller - an antiques dealer from Venezuela - instantly returned a counter-offer and I accepted. I figured if this was what I thought it was, this wouldn’t stay online for long and that it was worth taking the risk regarding originality and condition. Then the waiting began. The parcel was held at customs in Caracas, made its way through Panama, Costa Rica and a few stops in the US before the doorbell rang today. And boy do I feel like a lucky bugger. 😁
It’s difficult to show in the pictures in what good shape the dial actually is, as the plexi has a lot of small tension cracks and dust on the inside. The dial itself is a deep black, though, and fiddling around with a loupe for a while I was stunned by its condition. I thought it’s outter edge was dirty, but it seems to be almost exclusively on the plexi. Completely unexpected, I’m all of a sudden a happy owner of what seems to be an original black hobnail dial SM. 😀
Despite the plexi, I tried to take some close-ups:
What a lovely, lovely piece and I’m glad I did pull the trigger on it.
It does have a few issues, admittedly: The fat decagonal crown is incorrect, of course - but I already have a flat foot clover example ready to be installed and don’t really complain about adding it to my parts drawer for a Constellation that might need it.
Then, there’s the movement. It works, but it’s obviously very tired. If I’ll simply have it serviced or possibly replace it with a donor one I have is yet to be decided. I’d love to keep it, actually, assuming it might be the one it was delivered with back in the early fifties. Should I find a replacement rotor with the plating intact that could also be an option.
The hour hand might have paint instead of lume in it and the minute hand has a gaping hole where there used to be radium:
Adding to that, most of the lume plots from the chevron indexes is gone - some have vanished altogether, some are at least still visible. Initially, I took this as a possible warning sign for a repainted dial, but those doubts are gone. After the service I might send it to James Hyman for a vintage-style relume, as the dial does deserve as much perfection as possible.
Anyway. These small niggles don’t lessen my happiness in the slightest.
The case is another plus in my book. Yes, it has obviously been worn, but it’s thick and in a condition that’ll allow me to wear the hell out of it without feeling bad about it. Even the case back is still pretty sharp:
And finally, of course, the obligatory wrist-shot. Please excuse the reflections.
I’ll make sure to post another picture when it’s as close to former glory as possible and would be curious about your recommendations regarding reluming especially. Excuse the rather lousy pictures you’ll have to live with for now, I just couldn’t wait.
Most of all, though, I want to say thank you.
Thanks to the guys running this place - I wouldn’t have found something like this without the connections and the knowledge gathered from all the helpful contributors here which allowed me to be quick enough to score it.
And again, a very warm thank you to Phil for being awake enough to spot it and the generosity of sharing and discussing the auction with me.
Expect to see more of this in the WRUW quite regularly! 🥰
today, the DHL guy had something rather special for me and I felt like sharing it.
A few weeks ago, on a Monday evening, @seekingseaquest (who I am very, very grateful to) sent me an eBay link to an auction that had just come online. The title only read Vintage Omega Seamaster bumper 2577 and the pictures were, well, horrible. Nevertheless…
Through the blurriness, a certain structure of the dial was recognizable. It was a no-reserve auction with the option of suggesting a price and had only been online for a few minutes. I made an offer, the seller - an antiques dealer from Venezuela - instantly returned a counter-offer and I accepted. I figured if this was what I thought it was, this wouldn’t stay online for long and that it was worth taking the risk regarding originality and condition. Then the waiting began. The parcel was held at customs in Caracas, made its way through Panama, Costa Rica and a few stops in the US before the doorbell rang today. And boy do I feel like a lucky bugger. 😁
It’s difficult to show in the pictures in what good shape the dial actually is, as the plexi has a lot of small tension cracks and dust on the inside. The dial itself is a deep black, though, and fiddling around with a loupe for a while I was stunned by its condition. I thought it’s outter edge was dirty, but it seems to be almost exclusively on the plexi. Completely unexpected, I’m all of a sudden a happy owner of what seems to be an original black hobnail dial SM. 😀
Despite the plexi, I tried to take some close-ups:
What a lovely, lovely piece and I’m glad I did pull the trigger on it.
It does have a few issues, admittedly: The fat decagonal crown is incorrect, of course - but I already have a flat foot clover example ready to be installed and don’t really complain about adding it to my parts drawer for a Constellation that might need it.
Then, there’s the movement. It works, but it’s obviously very tired. If I’ll simply have it serviced or possibly replace it with a donor one I have is yet to be decided. I’d love to keep it, actually, assuming it might be the one it was delivered with back in the early fifties. Should I find a replacement rotor with the plating intact that could also be an option.
The hour hand might have paint instead of lume in it and the minute hand has a gaping hole where there used to be radium:
Adding to that, most of the lume plots from the chevron indexes is gone - some have vanished altogether, some are at least still visible. Initially, I took this as a possible warning sign for a repainted dial, but those doubts are gone. After the service I might send it to James Hyman for a vintage-style relume, as the dial does deserve as much perfection as possible.
Anyway. These small niggles don’t lessen my happiness in the slightest.
The case is another plus in my book. Yes, it has obviously been worn, but it’s thick and in a condition that’ll allow me to wear the hell out of it without feeling bad about it. Even the case back is still pretty sharp:
And finally, of course, the obligatory wrist-shot. Please excuse the reflections.
I’ll make sure to post another picture when it’s as close to former glory as possible and would be curious about your recommendations regarding reluming especially. Excuse the rather lousy pictures you’ll have to live with for now, I just couldn’t wait.
Most of all, though, I want to say thank you.
Thanks to the guys running this place - I wouldn’t have found something like this without the connections and the knowledge gathered from all the helpful contributors here which allowed me to be quick enough to score it.
And again, a very warm thank you to Phil for being awake enough to spot it and the generosity of sharing and discussing the auction with me.
Expect to see more of this in the WRUW quite regularly! 🥰
