Goodwill Vintage 2914 Railmaster

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Fess up, who is the lucky man today?
This looks completely unmolested and after a good cleaning should look spectacular. Great buy imo
 
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Original Mercedes crown, case appears crisp. A good cleaning, new crystal and movement service and you have a very nice example with all the original lume intact. I think we will be surprised how nice this looks in a few weeks.

Clearly not a steal...but a great buy in that its an unmolested early example that you don't see that often.
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Barn find for real... Amazing the things that end up at Goodwill. It definitely didn't go under the radar at $9800, but that makes for a funny story when you can tell people you got your collector's grail at Goodwill
 
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not to rain in your parade but I wouldn't call that a "goodwill" find. Especially at 9k. Either way, congrats, and cant wait to see the end result. 👍
 
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not to rain in your parade but I wouldn't call that a "goodwill" find. Especially at 9k. Either way, congrats, and cant wait to see the end result. 👍

I think the OP meant that the eBay seller is literally Goodwill of Maine. Amazing how this thing ended up in the hands of the Goodwill.
 
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I think the OP meant that the eBay seller is literally Goodwill of Maine. Amazing how this thing ended up in the hands of the Goodwill.
To us, yes- but to many this is just an old crappy looking watch they found in grandpas sock drawer after cleaning out the house to get it ready for sale. Just think of how many like this go to the dump in a box of underwear and desk drawer crap.
 
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Is that... cheap? 😕

you tell me. Find another original and early unmolested example. I'll say this, if I was the high bidder at that price, I would be happy.
Cheap? No
is it worth 9K? yes, absolutely imo
 
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you tell me. Find another original and early unmolested example. I'll say this, if I was the high bidder at that price, I would be happy.
Cheap? No
is it worth 9K? yes, absolutely imo

It was a honest question as I don't follow high priced Omegas. I am genuinely surprised.

From my own amagnetic Certinas I know how prone the iron dials are to bubbling, rusting and having the lacquer lifting, so I would be reluctant to go for one without having confirmed that the dial was okay.
 
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It was a honest question as I don't follow high priced Omegas. I am genuinely surprised.

From my own amagnetic Certinas I know how prone the iron dials are to bubbling, rusting and having the lacquer lifting, so I would be reluctant to go for one without having confirmed that the dial was okay.
More likely to have radium damage on this reference rather than bubbling but I’m with you, at that price I’d like a clear view of the dial please.
 
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I’d been watching this RM for a few days, bid on it but not to the level of some. This RM is certainly unmolested by service but I fear the dial did not hold up as well as some might think. Sometimes, the beatup, original crystal, hides a pristine dial. I don’t think this has occurred here. Early Railmaster’s had deep recessed wells of radium lume. In this example it appears that the dial plots are far from pristine, the lume potentially wandering over the dial, burning and scarring its way thru the decades. But, since this RM is returnable, the buyer isn’t at risk if the dial proved unattractive or the inner caseback or movement have issues.
 
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It was a honest question as I don't follow high priced Omegas. I am genuinely surprised.

From my own amagnetic Certinas I know how prone the iron dials are to bubbling, rusting and having the lacquer lifting, so I would be reluctant to go for one without having confirmed that the dial was okay.

radium burns are typical...never seen this dial bubble.
Here are two that looked identical to this ebay watch when I found them, after a bit of tlc:
Edited:
 
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I’d been watching this RM for a few days, bid on it but not to the level of some. This RM is certainly unmolested by service but I fear the dial did not hold up as well as some might think. Sometimes, the beatup, original crystal, hides a pristine dial. I don’t think this has occurred here. Early Railmaster’s had deep recessed wells of radium lume. In this example it appears that the dial plots are far from pristine, the lume potentially wandering over the dial, burning and scarring its way thru the decades. But, since this RM is returnable, the buyer isn’t at risk if the dial proved unattractive or the inner caseback or movement have issues.

Agree...exactly the same reasons I wasn't the high bidder. But there is always the chance it could be a 2914-1, then it would be worth the risk.
 
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Agree...exactly the same reasons I wasn't the high bidder. But there is always the chance it could be a 2914-1, then it would be worth the risk.

As it has a seamonster, probably a 2914-2,3 or 4.
 
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Here are a couple of 2914-5 PAF Seamasters to illustrate the dial concern.

I’m the 3rd OF member to own this beauty, and I’m glad I waited for this example to become available. For a 60+ year old RM, the dial is truly pristine and very attractive.



In comparison is a very nice PAF I passed on 3 years ago. A fine piece but the speckled damage caused by the radium burn in is very evident.
 
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As it has a seamonster, probably a 2914-2,3 or 4

Maybe there's an exception as I have seen a 2914-1 case back with Seamonster.