Donor case logic?

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iosist

·Sat. 7:40pm

Hey gang,

I came across this solid 18k Constellation on eBay and it stood out to me as a really sharp case despite the broken crystal, redial, and missing (?) bezel. Does it ever make sense to buy a watch like this to combine with another example with a good dial but polished case? If so, is it reasonable to think of an opening offer price as 30 grams x gold spot price + $200 for the movement?

I've gathered that these kinds of projects often end up costing more than finding a good example off the bat. That said, the market for solid gold pie-pans in good condition seems very inflated right now. Do you think there is ever value in trying to get creative like this? Or will it just be a costly diversion?

Thanks guys!

 

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SOG53

·Sat. 8:11pm

The bezel is present.
Fair amount of wear on case but exaggerated by closeup pictures
Is there inside caseback photo? Looks like 14393 which is nice reference with the lyre lugs
Hard to fully assess dial with all the cracks and scratches on crystal but looks ok- the minute ticks are a bit far off the edge at the bottom but I dont see any other dial issues.
Movement looks clean
Is there crown photo on end to see the logo?
I do not think you need to swap out case on this- but it wont be cheap if 18K
Will probably clean up nicely.

 

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iosist

·Sat. 8:47pm

SOG53

The bezel is present.
Fair amount of wear on case but exaggerated by closeup pictures
Is there inside caseback photo? Looks like 14393 which is nice reference with the lyre lugs
Hard to fully assess dial with all the cracks and scratches on crystal but looks ok- the minute ticks are a bit far off the edge at the bottom but I dont see any other dial issues.
Movement looks clean
Is there crown photo on end to see the logo?
I do not think you need to swap out case on this- but it wont be cheap if 18K
Will probably clean up nicely.

Woah okay interesting. I asked for inside caseback photos but haven't received them yet. I also love the lyre lug references... But you don't think the dial looks off at all? I'm a beginner looking at these references but felt fairly confident that the minute markers and piepan facets looked sloppy.

 

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iosist

·Sat. 9:15pm

Is it even a piepan, or is it actually a dome dial? I think this discussion yesterday has totally mixed up my understanding of what a proper Connie dial even looks like lol 😵‍💫

 

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AG77

·Sat. 9:30pm

The minute marks, especially between 7:00 and 9:00, look really wonky. Not right. This is a dome dial made to look like a pie pan from what I see.

 

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SOG53

·Sat. 9:52pm

The enlarged photo really shows the iffy minute markers I agree.

 

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sheepdoll

·Sat. 11:32pm

iosist

Or will it just be a costly diversion?

They are always costly diversions.

When I look back at what I tend to spend, hindsight says 'could have got a nice example, If you only waited.' ... what is the fun in that the impulse is ever so exiting. Then the anticipation for the wait.

Not to mention another attempt to straighten a tangled hairspring. While the complete watches just sit, lazy happy and grow fat.

 

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theluckyluke

·Sun. 2:27am

Could it be ref 14393?

The minute markers look iffy but bear in mind that scratched crystal distort a lot of things. At first glance, I can’t really see anything off with the script or the crosshair personally.

 

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MtV

·Sun. 2:55am

The case will be more like 20g, not 30 by the way.

21 IIRC

 

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SOG53

·Sun. 8:00am

theluckyluke

Could it be ref 14393?

I thought the same.

 

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Peemacgee

·Sun. 8:12am·Purrrr-veyor of luxury cat box loungers

I think it most likely is a pie pan - these two tone dials do appear on 14393s - they don't appear to have a hard edge to the pie pan central plane but you could only really tell with the watch in hand or much better photos.

In saying that, IMHO there is something not quite right about the dial.
I don't have the same aversion as @hoipolloi to all dials where the minute haches are away from the edge - especially if the hour haches are hard up against the indices. (there are a couple of examples on these two tone pie pans, in this reference, where the minute haches are away from the pie pan edge)

However, in this case, the minute haches on this dial are a very long way from the edge and look too long for my liking.
Juts my opinion but I wouldn't buy it as complete watch sight unseen.

 

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gatorcpa

·Sun. 8:30am·ΩF InvestiGator

iosist

Does it ever make sense to buy a watch like this to combine with another example with a good dial but polished case?

Generally no. The parts that you will need to restore the watch are the same parts everyone else needs which means the demand far outstrips the supply and they become very expensive.

Regarding this watch, the case seems to be in decent condition. Crystals should be available for a price. However, I have questions about the dial. Even if you can find another dial out there, they are not necessarily interchangeable between different models.

Better to pay more and get more.
gatorcpa

 

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hoipolloi

·Sun. 11:31am

Not too long ago, I bought a 168.006 18k dial and movement unit (561) for 2100 usd with the hope to find the case for it some day. In the mean time, it is inside the shell of a 168.005 14k goldcapped and looks like it will be in there for the next 10 years.
If I am lucky, I can buy a good case for it with 3.000 usd and that is what I don't recommend.

Talking about the OP dial, I would say it is a nice redial.

 

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Dan S

·Sun. 12:16pm

I think that 30g x 18k gold spot price +$200 would be too much for this watch. That would be more than $3500 USD.

I do like the case, though, and if you could get it for a fair price, it could be useful for a project.

This also depends a lot on your opinion regarding the future of gold. Is it going to continue to go up, or are we in a bit of a bubble?