Hello, After months of research and searching for a 105.012 65 to buy - I am currently thinking of purchasing this one - but before I make a mistake (or hopefully not) I thought I would ask the experts on the OF!!! It would be head only and $8K Any thoughts would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
Case has been polished, crown is a newer replacement. (not sure about pushers off top of my head). Bezel is showing its age. The rest looks decent. Any movement pics? Price seems a little high, but that is the market we're in. Just my opinion!
Ditto above. Lume looks good. Very uniform colouration between dial plots and hands. Not unheard of, but hands may have been relumed? Not a big deal in my opinion. If a relume is done well and cannot be distinguished between original lume, then its a bit of a moot point. Would ask the seller if the lume glows in the dark, as this would be a give away (note that reluming can be done with 'glow' or non-glow media).
Dial looks great and it's a decent bezel, but the case has definitely been polished. Makes it look a bit incongruent next to the scatched but honest bezel
My gut feeling is that case has been very recently refinished and the dial and hands relumed. Better pictures may change my mind, but that's what I'm swaying towards judging by those pics.
I'm confident hands and dial are relumed... fresh lume spilling right to the edge of the markers, and hands match dial too closely. If somehow the dial is original - seller should recognize it has the "relumed look" and be prepared with some super high quality macros.
I think that it's very uniform and also, the lume is solid and thick even over the step. I'd imagine that can happen, but odd to see it on all the plot in the same condition. I could be wrong, but looks a bit too nice.
Hi, Thank you all for your opinion, very interesting to hear about the lume. Sorry it took me so long but here are more - hopefully better - pictures to judge. I am very grateful for any comment and your help in this matter. Thanks!
Much better photos, and I'm certainly no expert here, but I'm guessing the experts will want to see some more focused pics of the movement and the inside of the caseback. Need to clearly see the movement number, engravings on the inside of the caseback, and more detail of the movement parts.
Knowing what @Pianist can do, I agree on the relume. The lume looks "chunky" to me for some reason, especially in the sweep hand, and the consistent and perfect nature is a bit off seeing the polished case. It is a pretty watch, but with a polished case, possible relume, and no bracelet, seems a bit steep. My gut tells me, and I am not an expert, that even in this market, that is a $7k head only. Personally, I would hold out at $8k, and look for a better example in more original condition with a bracelet.
Thank you watchknut - I must admit that I feel exactly the same about it... When it looks to good to be true it probably is...
There are two options about the lume: -It is in damn good condition -It is a relume considering hands and dial have the same color and absolutely perfect decoloration..
Hands are clearly repainted with thick paint and relumed. Lume plots on dial are very consistent to each other and with that on hands. They are too good compared to naturally aged lume and appear too good compared to the bezel and case. Nothing wrong with a good relume, it just has to be declared to make an honest watch. As to value, it just depends on how deep pocket the buyer is.