Hi, First I'd like to thank everyone who responded to my previous novice posts. This forum is a great source of knowlegde and patience (for newbies). I find hidden crown quite interesting and stainless steel connie looks very attractive (to me at least). Found this one and feel it could be the one, but... The watch works and it is as it should be acording to the database. The dial looks ok to me, even if it's a redial appears to be a good one. Can't tell anything about the crown just from the pictures. It's not over polished, lugs are sharp, and so is the case back. The problem is with the movement as you can see on the picture and seller wouldn't accept return or paypal. Which adds more questions. Did my homework as far as I could, but left with some doubts mainly around the movement, cost of its repair. Could I ask you to also asses as far as you can from the pictures and advise if it's worth going for? Many thanks Maciek
Hmm, Movement isn't clean and I notice some traces of rust on the crown and ratchet wheels, so the setting mechanism and crown stem may have some rust too. Not an insurmountable problem. Seems to be some rotor scuffing too, and so it would be nice if you sourced an independent watchmaker who may have a few of these movements in his parts drawer. Dial looks original to me: notice how the tritium has gone very dark. Case seems to be sharpish, perhaps sharper than the picture reveals. Crown appears to be worn but original, hence I think this is a fairly original piece. First job would be to have the movement disassembled, cleaned and oiled and replacement of case back seal. The small crowns for these models aren't available as far as I can determine, and so if you were not going to expose the watch to moisture or wrist perspiration, it may be an idea to at least keep the crown with the watch, even if you decide to replace it. I think this watch would scrub up well. I would ask the seller to confirm that the watch is in going order as it adds some protection if you receive it and it isn't. Given the issues mentioned above, you would need to factor in a service and possible rotor replacement if you bid for this piece. Cheers Desmond
Thanks Desmond, Do you think it would still make sense to try to restore it if it's priced around €700-€800? Seller confirmed it works, crown and glass are original. Cheers, Maciek
Euro prices are at least 30% more expensive than global internet prices and so you need to factor that in. I'd also ask the seller if he can hear a scraping noise when rotating the watch just to check if the rotor is still scuffing. I guess I could answer your question this way. If I was living in Europe, and had spares for the watch as I do, and I wanted a tidy 168.004 to clean up which was pretty well to factory specs, I would probably go for it. I would think that once serviced, case cleaned and keeping time, people would pay €1200 for this piece. So, if you buy it your first action should be to get cosy with a good watch maker. Cheers Desmond