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.
