I'm talking to a UK based chap selling his brother's Speedy. A one owner jobby, he bought when a lad in '67 whilst serving in the British Army (UK members will notice it was bought in Andover, Hampshire: back then at least, this was the heart of Army country). Original box and receipts are provided. It has had a overhaul and service, with a load of original parts replaced, but sent back with the watch. I spotted this and thought depending on the state of the original parts, it could be put back together to make a decent original Speedy.

Question is, where these parts are replaced, e.g. the Crown, is this purely for cosmetic purposes, and therefore would I be able to get it put back on and it work as it should do? Basically, is my hope that I can get a watchmaker to reassemble the original parts and for it to work as well as it does now it's been serviced? I'm assuming so, as it's the mechanism that matters, surely? And this has had the service and is covered by warranty.

The next question is whether OF thinks this is worth the £7,600/$11,500 being asked for it. I think this is a bit steep given the quality, what do you reckon?


And here are some close ups of the original parts I requested.

The DON bezel - admittedly looking very beat up, a bit beyond used:

Hands, pushers, and original hesalite

Crown - doesn't look original though he confirms it is smaller than the one on there now. What do you guys think from this picture?

The strap and end links (note no numbers at all on the end links - I've asked him to confirm what number is on the inside of the strap)

 

I've just noticed a whole other bracelet and another set of end links in separate plastic bags in the top picture...I'll ask for more details of *this* bracelet. Maybe it's an original?

 

Could be nice but £7600 is a huge price. Especially if the case has been refinished and the original hands aren't included.

 

Depends on the condition of the original parts in my opinion. If everything but the bezel can be put back on the watch, and assuming the bracelet is original, I'd say the value could hover around US$10k because of the box and papers, but you'd still be looking at a pretty sum for a correct DON bezel...

 

For a 105.003 with a poor to average bezel? That's putting a value of around $3k on the box and papers, depending upon the condition of the case and bracelet.

 

5th picture down: hands there, look correct for the model to me, and look like a really nice colour.

 

Ah yes. Is the lume missing from the minute hand? I think the loose crown is also a service replacement.

Have you seen this in the flesh? Has the case been refinished? It's a nice package but it needs to be all original, very good bezel, unpolished case etc to be anywhere near £7600.

 

Steep for an Ed White on private sale, though some dealers are asking that sort of price. It's nice that the original parts are included, but you'd probably want a better bezel - neither the original, nor the service replacement are all that pretty, and the hands would need a little work.

as always, it depends on how much you want it. There are some nice original ones without box and papers for around the $7.4K range here on this site. There are some pretty crappy ones on ebay/chrono24 for around $5K. So maybe somewhere closer to the $8-9K range would be more appropriate?

end links look like 617's - modern 19mm replacements. they're not bad, but not original.

 

You're all kind of confirming my initial suspicions, so thank you. I'll go back and tell him it's not for me. Though I do love the original box and paperwork. The brother was in the Royal Engineers as was my father, so I think I was trying to justify going for it when my head was sending me alarm signals.

On a separate note, at what point did the crowns go from looking like this:

To this:


Speedmaster101 isn't clear. I'm assuming that the 105.003 would have come with the top one originally?

 

True, I haven't followed the market for these all that closely but they all seem to be going up in value these days. Though I'd think if all other parts were original (added back to the watch), and it still had its original bracelet, the crappy bezel would take $1k off. That would still probably land you close to around 9 or 10k I'd think, but again, I don't follow closely!

 

Update: had a confirmation email overnight the original bracelet is a 7912 with 6 endlinks.

 

I'm pretty sure those are not #6 end links in the pics

 

Checking MWO, both have 24 teeth so first is up to '69 and the second is from '70.

 

To be fair, this guy doesn't know anything about vintage Omegas, he's just trying to sell his brother's watch, and I just asked him to tell me what numbers were on the original strap and end links. This is what he can back with unprompted (in fact to quote him on the endlinks, he said, "fixing has what looks like a 6 or 9"). These aren't the ones on the watch, you'll notice in the top pic he has a spare strap and endlinks in plastic bags.

He lives reasonably local, and when talking to him on the phone yesterday, he was keen for me to have a look. I said I would go see it in person before handing over money, so can't think he's trying to pull the wool on this or any other point.

 

So an original 105.003 crown should have the original logo on? Meaning the one he's providing as having come off the watch at its most recent service is itself likely to be a service replacement somewhere along the line? Is that right?

 

Yes. I can't see an original crown in those parts.

 

11.500 $ for a 105.003, even with box and papers, is expensive. For that price the watch must be really really nice, with a beautiful patina and a perfect bezel. Do you have better pictures of the dial ? I'm not sure the tritium is still there.
I think you could find a more interesting watch with your budget... why not a 2998 ?

 

I'm just trying to find the best watch I can for my budget, 105.003 reference at the newest. I was drawn to this one (which was stretching the upper bounds of my budget) because of the story, the B&P *and* the promise of the original parts still supplied. Having spoke to him before seeing these parts, it was clear he didn't know the importance of original parts, so there was a hope he'd swapped out what to a collector would be just what we would be looking for. The plan was to reassemble and have an awesome original Ed White, with B&P, military history, etc. But then the pics came through...

Trouble is, having done the research (though still a novice in this area, I concede) and made the decision on what I'm looking for, I'm now chomping at the bit, and maybe losing a bit of objectivity along the way. I think that was why I posted this one on here: to be either talked into or out of it! I think I just need to be patient, and selective.

But yes, a 2998 would also be great. If you - or anyone - knows of a decent example of either looking for a new home...pass them on!

 

Bottom line, it's too expensive.

 

That's pretty rare, and depending on condition could be worth $650-1000 I think (anyone can feel free to correct me of course). If I had it in good with a watchmaker (or had the skills to put it back together myself) I'd be comfortable enough with between 9-10k US.

Now, if he's willing to part with that bracelet on its own - DIBS
Seriously, please direct him to me if he's willing