Ed White Speedmaster With Replacement Dial and Hands?

Personally I would stay way away from this hodgepodge’d piece. Bezel is also a modern replacement and from the proportions of the chamfers, case might also have seen a polish. Would need to see a photo of the back for other comments, but so far big pass on this one.

The dial is an incorrect service dial. The hands, bezel, crown and pushers have been replaced. The case has been fully refinished to (incorrectly) mimic the FOIS, not the true form of the 105.003-65.

3k in what - £, €, $US, $Aus?

If you could get it under say £3k and we’re ok with the service items, I don’t think it’s a bad buy as a beater.

This kind of service updated watch is the kiss of death, in my opinion. I would never consider buying this watch except to resell as parts. it simply is no longer a vintage watch, to me. If you want the real thing, this is not the right choice. There are plenty out there to be found with original dial and hands. At least get one with a nice, attractive orig. dial. Hands can be found or aged.

I would not expect it to do well at all on ebay. It is no longer desireable. I honestly feel a little silly for commenting in this thread after reading all the posts above. Please disregard everything I have typed.

I haven't checked in recent years, but a nice, legit 321 movement has to be worth a couple thousand clams (US clams). The case and back are worth more than 1k, likely. The service parts altogether...maybe 500? I should have been more clear when I said it would not do well at auction. Well would, to me, be over 5 or 6k. (usd) Of course that's still well below what a nice orig. brings. There are plenty for sale, but I suspect they sit for months and never sell at 12k to 17k.

One of the first 105.003s I owned I bought in about 1990. The owner had sent it to Omega for complete overhaul, but he had no idea that the update would kill its collectible value. Fortunately, he kept every part, dial, hands, worn bezel, pushers, everything. I put all the old parts back on and sold the service parts. Good luck finding the right watch.

At today's rates, €3k is about $3,500.

If the movement is clean, and the number is close to known examples, then at that price it could appear to be a bit of a no-brainer.

You can make the watch look a lot better fairly easily. Fit some new hands and distress them, perhaps do something with the dial, and fit one of the repro DO90s. You then have a watch you can wear and do a rolling restoration on, picking up a genuine dial, handset and bezel over time as they appear.

Right now, my thinking on an Ed White with "Good" components would be roughly:

Movement - correct number and clean: $2,000

Case - no serious dings, properly seating caseback and pushers: $1,000

And I suspect the OP watch may actually have more valuable parts than simply "Good".

Then the things you don't have:

Bezel: $2,000

Dial: $3,000

Handset: $500

So let's assume you buy it for $3,500.

Then spend another $6,000 on parts and a service. You could certainly do it for less if you are patient.

You are now at about $9,500.

What Ed White is out there for $9,500? They are there, but not many are attractive.

However...

Now the initial excitement has bitten, we can go back and be ruthless and look for the details that might derail this whole train of thought.

The movement number looks to me to be 2052xxxx.

That is not a range I have seen in -65s. It is seen in early Ed Whites, and also in late 105.002s.

So before getting excited about the price, that is the first thing I would want properly resolved.

Next just check the pushers - they look incorrect, they might have been butchered into the case. Check if they are screw in of push fit. Ed White pushers are the smaller ones and its not always easy to see on photos.

The Dial - This may not be a service dial. It could simply be a later dial, modified, (Or not - you can just slap an 861 dial into a movement, it just wont be secured by the feet).

So my conclusion: If the movement is good, I am tempted, then check the case for damage. Offer $3000 and I would be in.

Where did the jump to suggest this was a -65 come from? The pic above shows a HF mark. It is deffo not a -65 with a HF caseback. If this is remotely original (not necessarily so) it is a -63 not -65 and the 20.5m serial also suggests this. I'd take a FOIS 1 or 2 over this all day long personally but as noted, with the right hands it would look ok I guess.

The very first line from the OP says it's a -63. (The caseback pic is not clear enough to verify).

If it is a -63 thats great news. I saw this its pretty hard to judge



From OP above - could be a 3, I saw a 5.

If its a 3 then the movement no is corresponding