My comment was not Intended to upset you, but you seems be able to spot a fake just at first sight, you know every typo of each bezel generation , so ... wha are you looking for ?
Why don't you start and show the way by saying everything you know about the 2915 bezels, as @oddboy explained earlier on page 2 of this very-long-for-nothing-thread usually people start with what they know and then the conversation starts, it's not a guess-what-I-know game... I personally don't know more about 2915 bezels than what is written in MWO or already shared in this forum but I am curious to know more and you seem to know way more than most of the participants here so go ahead
5 pages of nothing really s.... So what u wanna know Fonts? Typografie? Dots ? Etching vs engraving? Blank or blacked writing ? Markings ? Measurements ? I make it easy for u just fill the xxxx and here we go I have heard/ think that xxxx on the 2915 bezel is correct/ wrong. What do you guys think about ?
Are these 2915 bezels original? You can zoom in for more detail. I guess Phillips would like to know... https://www.phillips.com/detail/OMEGA/CH080218/114 https://www.phillips.com/detail/OMEGA/CH080218/111
Totally but quite funny with an OP complaining that nobody wants to help when everbody is trying to help but needs to know where it hurts
Was every bezel identical, or was there enough of a hand-made aspect with them that there would be subtle differences over the time of their manufacture?
You can assume that there were no major differences in the production. Even the same imperfections can be seen here and there.
And before you are going to kill me once again: I know a lot about those bezels, but I thought I would find some missing links here. I feel sorry if this thread was inappropriate to you...
2915 bezels are a night mare. I have taken the fools/easy way out and valued all 2915's as having fine, repro bezels (about $4000). I am nearly ready to change this concept in my buying criteria, but I am not in the market for an expensive 2915 so the point is moot. I am getting better at looking for tells, and I am sure the contingent nearer to Bienne than me will have better knowledge. Orchis photos are educational but not certain - though I do note he is correct in his observations that no bezels were made with lasers. As for restoration of 2915's, indeed any speedmaster, it is a project that requires many skills often with different specialists, and the one thing it needs to be successful is a supervising owner who knows what they want, how to get the skilled technicians to do what is wanted, and the ability to keep going until the job is correct. Knowing what is needed is clearly something not many people have judging by some of the watches I see that have been prepared. Not many people can do that, nor do they know all the right people, or do not know what to tell them. Just because James H is the best technician for re lume I have ever met, you still have to tell him EXACTLY what to do or it will not fit the rest of the watch. And of course his work is like any artist, easy for an experienced person to spot. Then at the end of the day, the "restoration" should it appear at auction, needs only one small tell and we will be all over it. This community has such a great body of combined knowledge that one of us, (probably you - i mean someone else) will raise a question and like a small rip in the corner of some fabric, the tear will open to reveal all manner of things we might not have seen. EG suddenly the mismatched bridge colours will worry us, or the hand lume will react in an unexpected way, or a number on the bezel will look wrong. As for information gathering, I have always found sharing everything I know on a subject first, then asking for supplemental information or even criticism is the way for me to learn more. Now that filthy money is involved in my little hobby, we have lots of people motivated by money rather than being motivated by the pleasure of finding, repairing and owning these watches, Now any of are open to be accused of profiteering or even deception - which is why I go out of my way to declare everything I have done to a watch in my possession before sale. (Recently I sold a re lumed watch for more than I thought it was worth without the re lume, though still less than an original watch with good lume. I digress). As a result I find that more and more people with knowledge and information are inclined to hold it close and not share it freely, as this information is considered valuable, and like Golem, they hold it close and dont want anyone to see it. As for giving fakers a chance to learn - they are going to find that information without this forum and its knowledge. Far better to equip each one of us with as much knowledge as we can so that we can make our own decisions. Also knowledge is fun. Share it.
No. They are, apart from the dial, the face of the watch. Don't knowing this face is a night mare, indeed.
Would be interesting to have a better look at the 80 of #111. I checked once again and still believe #111 might be a fake, though a good one indeed. Why do I think so? Because the inner diameter is (partially) too large to match the rest. Have a look at the area between 200 and 140...
Reading this thread is the uttermost frustrating experience. Is this a forum or a secret society? In fact it is not only this thread. Like in other disputatious threads the lack of facs is blatant. Maybe the protagonists should concentrate their efforts towards the secret sessions of the Mason of schnitzel eaters.
Well, here is what I believe to be correct examples of the two steel bezel generations... First generation bezel on Bukowskis watch (please note there are no dots or pointed markers, but just notches and look at Phillips' #111 once again): Perfectly matching this one: Then I think the second generation looked like this: Anyone here who can contribute better images or information?