2998 with an awful description! Looks to have original 7912 and will scrub up just fine. It had bids to around £11k last night and ended overnight.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1970-Omega-Tachymetre-Speedmaster-Cal-321-17J-Mens-Wristwatch-EM306-/371737285098?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&nma=true&si=mDDePMQ188djgZXix0Xi41%2BYHY0%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=ncPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Oh man.........what a crazy deal

 

I was watching. Wished the auction would last to the end.

 

Someone swooped in...probably for a good price.

 

Nice understatement from the seller,``This watch I believe is quite valuable to someone who has the time to get it serviced`` who really doesn´t sound like he knows exactly what he´s got.

I´m sure the penny dropped when those bids started rolling in though and it wouldn´t surprise me to see it back with a top heavy BIN

 

There is another discussion going on about this watch. Apparently offers went as high as $30K+
Check last page of Recommended Vintage Omega Watches On Ebay (not Inquiries) thread

 

Wow I hadn't seen those posts, last comment mentions almost $40k! Nice surprise for the seller!

 

Tulipmania...... It's not a $40K watch, I accept that the price is driven by what someone is willing to pay but the hype of the market driven by a number of individuals cornering the Speedy market and pumping it (including the museum) has created a bubble, will it burst? I don't know but I do know that as a result speedmasters are now becoming unobtainable unless you are a wealthy 'investor/ collector' who is more interested in them as part of their 'portfolio' and not part of their collection.

I fear we have all become too driven by prices and values than why we actually enjoy and collect these wonderful machines (and I mean our own collecting community), no where has this been more evident in recent months than the vintage watch discussion section, it's full of price and value based posts which out number the informative/ information sharing posts 10/1........

Just look at this weeks posts..... where a recent post in relation to the the price of a speedmaster attracted such a whirlwind of responses which is now 10 pages plus.

It's a sad day for me as something we all love has now become unobtainable for the overwhelming majority of time served collectors and there are people sitting on huge stock piles of speedmasters, it will only take one person to release a bunch to market to burst the bubble.

I had a great discussion with a true friend who is the most informed man I know on vintage omegas who's opinion I trust completely. We have both discussed if the bubble bursts and the fact the collector community has now swelled with 'speculators' with no knowledge, no real passion but want the next big money earner.......... That is not good for those of us who are passionate about it as a hobby, a pastime and a calling.

I just pesonally think it's a huge shame prices have become so ridiculous and I genuinely believe it is a detriment to the community as speedies have now become unownable and when they are brought they are brought as 'investment items' not as a vintage watch to wear and enjoy.

We have become obsessed by prices, you say not? The evidence is in technicolor all over this forum and the vintage watch section

My two pennies worth

 

Yes, and vintage Ferraris/911s are also out of my league... Or 60ies Les Pauls/Stratocasters... Or oId apple computers...

Never understood the sense of entitlement... There is a bunch of stuff I cannot afford in my life... But I exactly lose sleep over it...

Having said that. I do get your your point

 

I lose no sleep over it, I have my health, my family and the things that fulfil my life. I have a humble collection of omegas, including a variety of speedies (so by that account I like many have profited from the current mania) which I enjoy not for their value but for other reasons

My point remains though and I still feel it's sad that speedies have become and are becoming things that average collectors can only admire and not own (without re mortgaging their homes)

 

Well said TD - that's exactly how I feel too. I understand that like a lot of other matters of change, there's not much that can be done about it, but I do regret that on this Forum there are a few posters who are obsessed by values and their increment and who seem to lack any understanding of the spirit of those of us who like these things for how they look and work and the history of their manufacture.

 

but isnt it that ONLY ON A SPEEDY you can still pick up a very nice 70ies, 80ies or 90ies speedy for cheap and still get 95-99% of the real thing ? try that with a Rolex sub

and cheap i define as 1/3 - 1/2 of the price of a new Omega chrono toolwatch. Heck, even brand new /GM/LNIB the speedies must be one of the most-bang-for-the-buck watches there are ... if one manages to put a couple of hundret bucks aside every month, - voilá within a year you can call a really nice vintage piece your own ...

so I dont really get your rant in the context of a speedy...

 

Let's not get personal please, I am not ranting I am offering an opinion on what I feel is the obsession with values of watches and specifically speedmasters of the vintage variety at the moment which seems to be overwhelming the forum (no criticism of the OP BTW) and how the vintage speedmaster market has been hyped and I feel is temporarily over inflated. An economist I am not and wouldn't pretend to be.

The very reason I have no interest in Rolex is I do not see the value in them (I accept I am amongst the minority and they are certainly better than money in the bank)

I agree re post 70 speedies but even they are rising. I was very fortunate to be offered recently a birth year 77 in nos condition with all the box and papers for a song from a friend, I brought it and am delighted but didn't buy it as an investment I brought I because I love it and always wanted a birth year.

 

Shouldnt the thread title be changed to '2998 sells for more than $30K on ebay"?

 

Until primo Speedys reach parity price-wise, and then if they happen to surpass their Daytona brethren, then I will think bubble. Up until then, they just have been severely undervalued, and are simply catching up to where they should be, given the comparable quality.

And do I feel bad that the good ones are now out of reach of the average collector? I think it's a very gracious and compassionate perspective, but given the dogs I've invested in both in the stock market, and other collecting venues, I'll take my Speedy appreciation with humility, but without looking back either.

 

It sucks for me, I couldn't afford them two years ago, I deffinetly can't now..
I really don't want a 90's one and even a birth year '81 is out of my range now..
But oh well, live and let live, and I am waiting for connies to come back in style and I can show off my baby once again!!
Plus speedies have delicate bezels and tritium falling everywhere and the markers can turn black and get ugly.. Too delicate for a "tool watch" for me.. I don't really need all of that in my life.. Let others have their time to shine.. It all goes back in the dirt in the end anyway..

 

All I want is to be able to find one speedy with stepped dial that I dont have to mortgage my house to pay for. I understand that for a lot of sellers this is business, and their goal is to make as much money as they can, but it drives me insane when I know what they paid for a watch, and then see it listed for 200%+ markup. I missed out on 1 watch (well 2) by couple of minutes, and now they are listed for double the price person paid. Yes, it goes back to what people will pay and all that, but I just get jaded knowing I was so close to getting one, and now that same watch is way out of my price range.

I should start looking into MKII's before their price gets astronomically high.

 

Persistence and optimism are both traits that pay off handsomely in the world of vintage watches. Don't get discouraged. If you carve out time daily to scour the forums, eBay, etc., you'll find one. Guaranteed.

 

Oh I know. I do that all the time, multiple times a day when I am border at work (which is majority of work day lol) I did see few great deals that others snagged, that were available when I found them, but due to lack of knowledge I didnt bite. Part of learning process, or at least that is what I chalk it up to. Sooner or later it will happen, that I know.