A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing, and I have just a little bit of knowledge , so when this popped up with a buy-it-now price I figured why not have a go. I had some positive support via PM yesterday so I think I got away with it, but any extra comments would be gratefully received. It's in the post and should be with me within a week, so I'll add better pictures and a movement shot when it arrives. Here are the only seller pics...
Yes... I didn't spot it myself (I was too busy clicking furiously on the make-an-offer button), but a kind forum member vetted it for me and mentioned it. I think there's something there, but it's probably not long enough for a spring bar to hold securely. It was a bit if a funny sale, in that I saw it, I thought a bit, I decided to buy, then went back and it was already sold. I checked and it was bought with an offer. Then 30 minutes later it was relisted, so I offered the same as the first buyer and it was auto-accepted. I asked the seller and he said the first buyer changed his mind and requested a cancellation. A bit strange but the seller had great feedback, and now the watch is with eBay GSP so I guess they checked the contents. Hopefully I'll have it in the next few days, then if course I'll add pictures here.
So it arrived today safe and sound. With the nights drawing in I couldn't get any nice daylight photos, but I wanted to post it when it turned up and can't wait for the weekend. So sorry but the pics aren't great. It's 36.5mm with a 20mm lug width and wears much bigger than I expected. Certainly much bigger than the other UG I have which is 33mm. It seems to run fine, although I'll get it serviced before playing with the chrono functions. Case back marked 128 indicates Jung and Cie ( hat-tip to a recent post from @Carlton-Browne ). Interesting for me is all the hand-scribed text on the case back and movement. It says "seventeen jewels unadjusted Swiss" on the perimeter of the plate down by six o'clock. Is that normal ?
That bottom lug, spring-bar thingy doesn't look as bad as the seller's picture; are you planning to get anything done about it? Otherwise I'd say that was quite an astute purchase .
It's pretty bad, I would guess it's no more than 1mm long. Are you looking at the right one, it's the top-left lug in the first of the two movement shots. And any idea about the hand engraved text on the movement. there's even writing on the bridge which could (at a stretch) be the UOW import code. Is this normal ? Edit to add: If it really is too short then I'll get it worked on. I have a couple of cases in with Adam right now, and if they come back with good work then I'll probably send this UG case there too. It works quite well for me as my regular service guy is in the UK too, so he can do the movement whilst the case is with Adam.
Watch looks like a crystal polish and a service would set things right. We’ve discussed the relatively low cost of lug pin repair here. Much as I hate female spring bars i guess repair would be an option I’d go for.
I'll ask for a quote, but based on the cost of replacing a complete lug I would expect it to cost no more than 100-120 euros including materials. Does that sound in the right ballpark ?
I have no idea about the manual scratches - have a vague recollection as well about the UOW thing that but that's just anecdotal.
I hope that my watchmaker or my goldsmith are not on this forum or they will tremendously increase their prices !