Am looking to sell my 69 beater. The watch and I are based in the UK. Price: All things considered. Posting at a very reasonable $6500, nett to me, payable by Bank Transfer. Fully serviced by STS in Oct 2016 and carries a 2 year guarantee from date of service. Can provide many references here both as a seller and a buyer. Why am I selling: I love this watch. The perfect vintage beater that I wear without fear. But sadly unexpected bills mean that either this watch, or another (Yema) I own has to sell. Whichever sells first, means that the other will be withdrawn. History: A bit of a barn find at the time. I purchased the watch from an antique shop in the UK. I know the seller personally and he bought it was from the first owner who wore it constantly from purchase. I was advised that the original owner was a serving member of the British armed forces. Whilst I have no documentation to testify to that, have no reason to doubt this, arguably there was no reason as to why that information would not be correct. Watch was not sold to me with any premium linked to the history. The condition of the watch at the time of purchase was in a very bad, heavy used state. Watch was in good running order, unpolished but very used state. What you should know: The chrono hand was replaced at some time in its past, with an incorrect hand. I replaced this with a period correct chrono hand (sourced here on OF).which was then aged by STS during a full service in 2016. (Happy to provide full details) The original DON bezel, whilst correct, was in very poor condition due to the heavy use of the watch. I replaced with an upgraded DON that still was in keeping with the watch. Crystal was replaced - old one extremely marked and had many deep and light scratches again due to heavy daily use of the watch. Pushers were replaced as part of the service, but, the crown was original and remained in tact. Watch as it looks now post service: (bracelet details further below) Watch being sold is on the left, a comparison shot of the dial next to my 105.012 In the flesh and wrist shot: (please note ding to lower left lug below ( Dial and Lume 'warts and all' close ups: The lume has aged and degraded in a number of areas, but is original. The condition of the lume never bothered me, and I chose not to relume. There was enough still there to enjoy as an original. The dial itself I found very pleasing and changes with the light. Some will enjoy the imperfections others not. Caseback: Movement: All good. Fully serviced by STS in Oct 2016. Watch runs well and chrono functions work as they should. Carries a 2 year guarantee from date of service. Serial number 28425498, which places this as an early 145.022-69: Bracelet: The watch comes with the original 1039 bracelet, complete with the original 516 end links. Date stamped 4/69 Yep you guessed it, the original bracelet was also in poor condition. Namely worn links and a few missing. These were lovingly restored and the bracelet is now in a good tight condition. Another point of full disclosure is that the original owner had a light etching placed on the clasp to remind him or, however found him, of his blood group. In this case Blood Group O Poss. (would therefore suit buyer with the same blood group) During the restoration of the bracelet I chose not to have this polished. New owner of course can decide whether to remove.
Neglected to mention. An Extract of Archives has been ordered and will be forwarded to the buyer as part of the package also.
Bump and new pricing strategy. $4,950 69 DON with leather - without the 1039/516 $6,250 new package price inc 1039/516 Fully serviced by STS in the UK