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Could anybody tell me what happens to rare but knackered Speedmaster dials?

  1. Psych Jan 22, 2017

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    We see Speedmaster bezels in a wide range of conditions for sale all the time. So frequently in fact and in such shocking states of preservation that we've even thought up a classification system - asteroid, road kill, etc.

    Why don't we see the same thing with dials? Of course, every now and then we do see the unfortunate consequences of attempts to brown dials with heat - but we don't seem to encounter rare dials that have suffered and survived the kind of wear and tear or water ingress that might have meant they were swapped out at a service. Why is this, I wonder?

    I have a selfish reason for asking - I've been trying to find a correct dial for a 2915-2 that I bought through the Forum for nearly 3 years. Here are pictures of it from the original For Sale post and on its return from STS. As you can see, it has a dial from a 2998-3 to 105-002. My guess is that the original dial may have been damaged and the current one swapped in at some early service.

    42292-b6c1814ffc45e34d35457b289c6584ee.jpg howard22 015.jpg

    Much as I love this watch and it is definitely my preferred daily wearer, I hanker for an original dial - even one in asteroid or road kill condition. I would not be fussy. My question to members of the forum (and I apologise to the mods if this looks like a thinly disguised WTB thread) is where are those old knackered dials? Did they get tossed in the watchmaker's bin, are they forgotten at the bottom of boxes of spare parts in sheds or are people hanging onto them in the hope one day of being in my situation and needing the right dial for an incomplete watch?
     
  2. Darlinboy Pratts! Will I B******S!!! Jan 22, 2017

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    Oh, they're out there somewhere. But when a 2915 dial does show up - even "knackered" - it's going to fetch some serious coin.
     
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  3. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Jan 22, 2017

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    You know, the Speedy dials really tend to hold up remarkably well, you've got chocolate dials (I much prefer the term to tropical especially when describing a Speedmaster) then you've got the Castle Bravo, which someone has cooked in an oven:

    [​IMG]

    But other than that and the known variants, these dials are surprisingly resilient to water intrusion and even to physical damage especially compared to the light coloured dress watches of the era.

    I've got one I'll take a photo of later that was sort of eaten / chewed and has had the text Omega Speedmaster Professional scratched off to the point that it looks blank under the Omega symbol yet is otherwise original and intact off a 105.012-66CB, thats about the worst trashed dial I've seen, they're really just quite sturdy.
     
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  4. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Jan 22, 2017

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    There are also the amputees, that have had their dial feet broken off too I guess, there are a surprisingly high number of those floating around in the world which always made me wonder if there the feet were just fragile or if the means of detaching the dial from the movement was trickier or unusual compared to other watches.
     
  5. mac_omega Jan 22, 2017

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    Maybe this is due to the different holding screw system on 321 dials - stupid DIY watchmakers might have tried to get dials off with force instead of knowledge...
     
  6. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Jan 22, 2017

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    Ahk I've long wondered if there was something a bit different about it compared to the others that causes it, I just don't see anywhere near the number of 861s with snapped feet even though there's drastically more in circulation so figured there had to be a reason.
     
  7. Davidt Jan 22, 2017

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    I'd assume dials were changed much less than the bezels? By their nature, bezels are exposed, on the edge of the case and take the brunt of knocks etc. Dials are protected by the crystal, so unless there's water ingress, I assume they're less prone to damage than bezels.
     
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  8. Kringkily Omega Collector / Hunter Jan 22, 2017

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    Well ur Search is someone who sent it in for service who had no idea and a selfish watchwaker who swapped it for a modern dial and would be then selling it separate but even then anyone with knowledge of what they had would figure putting it into a watch missing the correct dial would yield maximum value. The other aspect is the movement was damaged by corrosion or something beyond repair and being sold for parts but typically if this is the case the dial is ruined already. Tough pinch it is especially a 2915 dial
     
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  9. oddboy Zero to Grail+2998 In Six Months Jan 22, 2017

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    I'd hazard a guess that many got tossed in the trash. Imagine a 2915 in for service 20 years ago with a "degraded" dial. Off it comes, and into the garbage to be replaced with something handy or available that fits and says Speedmaster on the face.
     
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  10. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Jan 22, 2017

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    105.012-66CB with teeth marks on it and the words scraped off, this one is properly rooted.

    13902041_1364516030229396_662057090_o.jpg
     
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  11. M'Bob Jan 22, 2017

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    They end up here, and if a Pre-Pro, after considerable tears have been shed, and cheeks dabbed with tissues:

    graveyard.jpg
     
  12. jaguar11 Jan 22, 2017

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    Send them to me☺☺☺☺☺