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Does have a lot of originality going for it and some people really dig the chocolate dial look

 

Final price $11,100

 

That... seems rather high...

 

2 high feedback bidders contested it in the end. Not really shocked as the 2998-1 and -2 models command a premium over the later 2998s and while the condition of this one wasn't great it still had the right parts including the correct serial number range for this case reference.

 

Someone liked the chocolate dial!

 

What happens when two Ashleys bid....

 

There will be when the MSNWatch collection hits the market. Prices will plummet because of the ensuing glut. It'll take twelve Speedmasters just to get a tank of gas....

 

Won't happen for the very simple reason that there are far fewer of them. The sea dweller was made in much larger numbers than the cal. 321 speedmaster. I've given this some thought - the cal. 321 was made in relatively small numbers - ~40,000 were installed in many different models over a period of over 20 years. The speedmaster that carried the 321 was produced and sold over about 10 years so I would say less than 20,000 of these movements made it into speedmasters with the vast majority of these being installed in the "twisted lug" case references - 105.012 and 145.012. I would guesstimate there were probably 5-10,000 straight lug speedmasters sold with the majority of these being 2998-3 through 105.003. That leaves maybe 1-2,000 for 5 case references - 2915-1, 2915-2, 2915-3, 2998-1 and 2998-2 and furthermore, the number of these 5 case references that survive over 50 years later with all the correct parts - dial, hands, bezel and appropriate serial number on movement for these 5 case references is probably a few hundred at the high end so if anything these watches are UNDERvalued rather than OVERvalued.

Look at chrono24 right now - there is a single 2998-1 or -2 there and it doesn't have the original bezel and there are 2 2915s one has many wrong parts and both have modern bezels. Meanwhile there are over 20 rolex double red sea dwellers for sale.

Here's another one - how many 2998-1 and -2 watches have been auctioned off at Antiquorum? A grand total of 4 - and only 1 of the 4 had the correct base 1000 bezel. That one wasn't in great shape either and also had the chocolate dial and sold for $22,000 in a non-omegamania auction. And BTW, AQ has auctioned off over 60 double red sea dwellers!

 

Hopefully not any time soon! Here's my version of the tropical dial - a 2998-1 wish the bezel was in better shape but you can't have everything.

 

This is a well thought out argument, but undermined IMO by the sheer arbitrariness of a collectors market. Compared to Rolex, EVERY vintage watch is undervalued. Yet the demand fro Rolex stays high, with no sign of the scales falling from Rolex collectors' eyes, for no other reason than that's where the interest is. There is a good chance it will generalize a bit to other manufactures - and I'd say Omega is first in line - but not because of any inherent scarcity in pieces but rather because that's where collectors' attention is likely to go next, driven by available expertise and publicity (I don't mean deliberate publicity, but rather dissemination of information, as happens on this forum and others). I could point out other chronograph models that are scarcer still than the early Speedmasters that have yet to attain even Ed White Speedmaster prices.

Lovely 2998-1 by the way - far lovelier than the one in this thread.

 

You're certainly right Lou about the market being arbitrary. Huge plus point though if supply is quite low to begin with and unlikely to be replenished. Helps relieve some of the downward price pressure. And as long as the modern day omega continues to rise in popularity then the vintage omegas will continue to go up in price. That being said, my fingers are always crossed!