Evening all I wanted to show off a watch I picked up recently, it wont be one I am selling here on the forum and this isn't a covert advert but its not often I pick something up which takes my breath away and as such one I felt warranted being shown off here in the vintage watch talk section. The piece is a recent purchase from the original owner, it is totally untouched and exactly as it left the factory, it comes with all of the relevant provenance and has just come back to me from Simon Freese watchmakers (Simon does amazing work) So............. this story began when I picked up a new edition of Moon Watch Only and saw the additional section at the back about other Speedmaster variants, two caught my eye. Firstly the LCD Speedy in the Moon Watch style case. My good pal @Tom Dick has a few so he brought one over last time he was over my way, stunning but a little small for my (as Tom put it) gorilla wrists. The second watch was the RAF Speedy, the page made a really interesting read and I was really keen to discover more. By chance I got an email from a great guy called Tom as an enquiry through my site wanting to sell his Speedy. Long story short we had numerous discussions and it transpired he has served his career in the RAF (as a active serviceman/ navigator). We discussed the watch and agreed a price, from his description I offered him what is a good chunk above market value (I believe in paying the right price for a watch) as he said it came with the original band and papers. He sent me some pics to my site account but accidentally emailed them to another dealer, who jumped right on it and tried their best to snipe the watch away from me. I had a very nervous 24 hours before driving from Cheshire to Newcastle with a case full of cash. The next morning I drove up to Newcastle, spent a really pleasant couple of hours with Tom and secured what I feel is one of the nicest and most special Ed Whites I've ever owned, one owner, all the papers, original bill of sale and a 63 to boot. Certainly one worthy of a little face time in the Vintage Watch Section, so here she is Best wishes Tony
Mmmmmmhhhhhhh it's alright I guess, I know you really want the round LCD and whilst you do have wrists like king Kong it really didn't look like a ladies cocktail watch on you...... honest! With this in mind I will do you a straight swap, you got far too many nice speedies now and you need to vary your tastes, LCD is the way forward, get rid of that nasty mechanical stuff!
very nice ! as long as you do not call that an issued watch , all is correct. these were private buys and used for whatever reason . apart from the NASA watches, the only ever military issued speedmaster is the peruvian one. FAP. kind regards. achim
Jeeeez! ... That is a beautiful watch Tony! Tropical dial and that lovely flat link bracelet. Very nice mate... Well done on that one!
Many thanks for the kind words guys , I take on board the not military issue comment however the owner was an RAF Navigator and this was used in Borneo were he was stationed by the RAF during what was an interesting part of early sixties history but not the place for history lessons . The point of the post was more to show what still lurks in peoples drawers and that near perfect pieces can still turn up in the most unexpected places. Lets enjoy it for what it is please all the best Tony Oh an lastly anyone that knows Tom Dick or has bought a watch from him would know that when Tom describes a bracelet as full size it is actually only suitable for an 8 year old girl as that's about the size of Toms wrist!
Ha ha ha ha, yeah yeah, just because I don't swing from Empire State....... all kidding and joking aside it's a bloody stunning watch and I hope you have it long enough for me to see it in the flesh
Wow, this is something I would let one of my Alaska prototypes to go for Congratulations, amazing find ! Tempted by an eventual trade ?
What a great find and great story. Nice that such a nice watch has landed with someone that appreciates it the way it should.
Wow, amazing story! Congrats on the purchase! Well done for paying a fair price to someone who might have taken much less, it seems obvious, but I imagine it's much harder to hold to your values when the moment actually comes.