Very hard to verify these. Tiffany wont respond - and I used to have some pull there, but no help. So the nearest I have is that this has an extract showing it went to the states. I have had it a while but the extract is recent.



Another bonus on extracts - this one showed this 145.012 as a genuine Ultraman. Unfortunately I don't have the correct hand, this one is a new one that I distressed. What is it, 1mm too short? I am such an idiot for caring.



This little Seamaster came back from service, lovely.


This one is still un-serviced, and I am wondering how to replace that re dial



I always like to show this, so rare I have accounted for about 10 seen.



A nice thing - bit of dial decay, and probably service hands - bezel is undetermined but presumed repro (its safer financially to assume that)


Bought at auction, why you do not send a lovely old 105.003 to Omega for service. (Parts were all in the box, unlisted, ignored by all the other buyers- ha!).


Something I like to wear, and Unusual MKII with its bezel.


I noticed a while ago, several watches out of Australia with grey bezels. When I asked the vendor, he said sun was pretty strong here in Oz. So I tried a new bezel in bleach. Looks pretty Australian to me. Took a while to start changing, but once it started it went quick - I was checking every 30 seconds.


Nice triangle lume on a 2998


Later speedmaster dials, that arrived in early watches, Look at the blotch on the left hand.



Every Speedmaster collector needs to own one of these little gems



More later when the wife lets me.

 

As usual incredible watches

 

Awesome.

 

OMG....Amazing 2017 for you Mr. Fruit. Love that racing dial!

 

Where’s the funny one with the upsidedown text?



(Edit : stunning stuff as usual. Was fortunate enough to be in a room with 2 black dial racing’s last year and )

 

the Mark II and tanned Seamaster would be my picks gorgeous samples..

 

I didn't even know such a thing existed!

 

Replacing the dial on that Seamaster (4th photo) will give you a chance to better align the hands.

 

What a desirable and interesting selection. How interesting too, that you can enjoy such variability in condition and completeness/originality, yet be bothered by that 1mm on the chrono hand!

Thanks for your posts, for 101 and your generosity in sharing your learning.

 

Awesomeness!

 

I want one of these so badly it hurts. Fabulous stuff.

 

I want to be like you when I grow up. Thanks for sharing

 

Wonderful stuff William. Thankyou for your informative and interesting contributions to the Forum.

 

So onward now I have returned the hell that is Costco before into another hell, Mrs Fruits Oscar party here in Fruit Towers, that apparently I do not get a pass for.
Here is a little pair of gems, so rare I dare not tell you what I had to sell:


And here is what it is destined for - note the service dial(!) I kid you not, frightening eh? Easily identifiable if you are looking, but how many of us would think to look closely?



So with all the talk of Ultramans, this is one that has had regular wear this year. It is a 145.022 from the days when they cost a little more than $1000. This one had a broken chrono hand, and I put this on long before there was any fuss about Ultramen. I thought it easier than trying to match a white hand. It is a great watch;


There has been some disappointments too. This 145.012 failed to get an extract - which means we have to assume it is a movement transplant, OR the Museum really cant find it, OR (and this really happens, but rarely) the records are mistaken - I assume that as they are hand written, a clerk enters the wrong serial or reference on a Friday afternoon after too much Schnapps. So now we can appreciate it only for the dial. It came from a portuguese dealer about seven years ago, and it has real character.

Here is a gratuitous shot of an early dial (not the same watch as in the OP). Showing a Round Omega



I bought a case too. Mainly to go to Time4APint, but then thought its a bit showy. I like the case and always been a sucker for nicely made leather.



I said goodbye to a couple of things. This set was sold twice, then returned after six months, then sold again. I hope its finally on a watch now. I have to say, these frankens look great but the cost of parts makes them very expensive. I got them from Watchco when they were in Australia selling loads of parts on Ebay. Those were the days.



Said good bye to this too. A wonderful brown dial but took the Australian buyer 8 months to pay, having given very good references. Turned out he didn't even have a PayPal account, nor any worldly experience sending money. However, he had an encyclopedic knowledge of Rolex. Anyway after all that, this watch ended up for sale with an LA dealer for twice what I sold it for. I tell you when I sell I sell too cheap. He did offer it back to me, but I just didn't want to work with him again.


More watches that left me were two of these - after all, how many BA145.022-69's does one man need?



And here is a shot of a very nice 105.002 that has been getting some wrist time this year. It is staying. 105.002's are so rare, and in my opinion undervalued.



Finally, some battery watches. I love them, but because I spend long periods away the batteries need to live out of them, so then its hard to enjoy them. So these will probably go this year. What I mean by that of course is I leave the batteries in them, but have to change them often to make sure they don't leak.




There is a small inkling of what goes on in Fruit Towers. They did not all come to me this year, but something happened to them, or I re awoke them into regular use.

There might be a few more things I remember happening, as I go through the hard drive. Mostly little interesting occurrences, not valuable but fun.

And I am learning those can be the most satisfying.

 

Great review of 2017. I would love to see the exhaustive version

 

Awesome history in pictures. I remember you saying you had to sell off quite a bunch (including a 2998 IIRC) for a watch you had won halfway around the world at auction or something. Had us all frenzied over what you may have bought. It was right around the Philips Newman auction. Is it one of the watches above? Is there gonna be some big reveal?

 

It’s not there it’s with me but the camera isn’t

 

It’s a FO Acquisition.

I’m haveing to sell a couple more soon.

 

what does FO mean? First Owner?

 

Your 2017 acquisitions alone would make an important collection, with their variety they also demonstrate why you could never tire of collecting vintage Speedmasters. Great stuff.