I saw this E-Bay listing of a nice looking Straight Writing Speedy:
https://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/292600044879?ul_noapp=truePurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

I have uploaded some pics here from that listing.

I decided that everything looked good and correct and I made an offer pending assessment by Christian (the watchguy) in the UK. He offers this service here: https://watchguy.co.uk/buy-with-confidence-service/

The seller shipped the watch to Christian, who opened the watch and had a look here:
https://watchguy.co.uk/cgi-bin/library?action=show_photos&wat_id=3116&tk_id=148764176

As you can see, there are some mayor problems with stuck screws and glue and scratches and what-not all under the dial!

I'm posting this here to alert would-be-buyers for this risk in general and in particular be careful of this specific watch in future!

I believe the seller probably didn't know about all these problems as he's only had the watch for about a year and probably wouldn't have agreed to the assessment by Christian if he knew.

Oh, and I didn't buy it in the end

UPDATE: The seller wants to sell full disclosure and I‘ll try to hlp him.

 

OH MY GOD !!!

Happy you did not pull the trigger on this one...

 

Wow, has someone cleaned and repaired the movement with acid and black glue ?
Poor watch...

 

What a hatchet job. Holy shit! At least you found out before purchasing and glad your fingers are OK!

 

All those problems and yet it was running -2

 

Wow great call. The movement didn't look that good, but it would have been very tough to guess the state it was really in without diasassembling it

 

That's what's most worrying! Next time I buy a vintage watch I'll be worried as hell.....

 

£51 bargain for a check!

 

48 as shipping was within UK! Money very well spent I‘d say!

 

Thanks, I'll never feel confident in a purchase again now...

 

Actually I thought (as did Christian) the movement looked pretty good with just the case back removed!

 

Yes, unfortunately that‘s the message.

 

What happened here? Did you buy it off of eBay after people had already bid on it?

 

E-Bay does allow stopping of an auction and selling to the highest bidder.

Edited because the seller wants to sell full-disclosure which I'm fully supportive of.

 

This check is a smart idea! thank you!

 

A good reminder that, even it some watches look nice on the outside, they might have major problems inside

 

That was a good suggestion - he should have listened to you.

 

Yes, we determine the value of a watch especially by what we can see, like the dial, hands and case. We think the watchmaker will be able to sort out the movement but Christian told me it was a mess. If you have to start replacing half the movement and sourcing the vintage parts in the movement, like plates etc it should reduce the value enormously! At the very least it will be very expensive and the watch not all-original anymore.

I think this service Christian is offering is a great idea! It certainly saved me a lot of money.

.....and as you've seen a movement-shot is not good enough!

 

hello everyone i own the watch and to say im dissapointed is an understatement !! i put the watch up for sale in good faith and did not realise that it had these problems that joseph pointed out . (i would never have sent the watch for inspection if i would have known ). if i had have known i would not have put it up for sale without fixing it or highlighting the problems to potential buyers . i have been wearing it for the last year with no problems so as far as i was aware it was fine . thankyou for all your comments . if anyone would like to purchase the watch at a reduced rate knowing the faults then please contact me through pm , thanks to joseph i doubt anyone will want to talk to me and for the record im not a con man trying to get rid of a suspect watch , cheers

 

Kudos for being honest & up front about owning it. I'm glad you're offering it now at a reduced price.