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Help With a Speedmaster and its box

Rado63
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Maybe some others here can tell you the answer with more certainty, but I am not aware if the blue dial 3523.80.00 was sold on a strap. I have seen them on a strap, but I don't know if that's they way they were originally sold. If it was sold on a strap Omega often has a different reference number for the watch. In the photo you posted I do not know if this is the correct strap for the watch, it appears to be a larger width strap that the owner may have had and put it on the watch, which means there could be a bracelet somewhere. The strap has an Omega buckle, but the watch wasn't made for a strap that wide. It appears forced in between the lugs, but I could be wrong since I am looking at a photo. So where did that Omega strap come from? Selling the watch like this makes it worth whatever someone will be willing to pay. If a nice example of this watch in good condition and correct box and books was worth $2500 - $3000 then how much is a watch head that needs service, with no correct box or books, and perhaps a missing bracelet worth?
 
Archer
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Rado63 Rado63
Maybe some others here can tell you the answer with more certainty, but I am not aware if the blue dial 3523.80.00 was sold on a strap. I have seen them on a strap, but I don't know if that's they way they were originally sold. If it was sold on a strap Omega often has a different reference number for the watch. In the photo you posted I do not know if this is the correct strap for the watch, it appears to be a larger width strap that the owner may have had and put it on the watch, which means there could be a bracelet somewhere. The strap has an Omega buckle, but the watch wasn't made for a strap that wide. It appears forced in between the lugs, but I could be wrong since I am looking at a photo. So where did that Omega strap come from? Selling the watch like this makes it worth whatever someone will be willing to pay. If a nice example of this watch in good condition and correct box and books was worth $2500 - $3000 then how much is a watch head that needs service, with no correct box or books, and perhaps a missing bracelet worth?

The serial number corresponds to a ref. 35135000. It came on a bracelet.
 
acameff
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Archer Archer
The serial number corresponds to a ref. 35135000. It came on a bracelet.
The reference number on the warranty card is 38238003. The serial number on the watch is 5655XXXX. Can you tell me what the original configuration was for it? It was purchased new in Saipan. The strap fits very well in the lugs. It is stamped for 18 right by the lug. The strap actually appears curved to fit the side of the case.
 
Archer
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acameff acameff
The reference number on the warranty card is 38238003. The serial number on the watch is 5655XXXX. Can you tell me what the original configuration was for it? It was purchased new in Saipan. The strap fits very well in the lugs. It is stamped for 18 right by the lug. The strap actually appears curved to fit the side of the case.

EDIT - misread the serial number on WUS from the photo you posted (the last digit is hard to make out), so checking it again:

Serial number: 56558658
Article ref: 38238003

Did come on a blue alligator strap.
Edited:
 
Dan S
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Respectfully, this is a lot of effort to sell a broken watch with a mismatched box. If you are billing for your time, any profit is probably gone by now.

I just did a search for sold 3513.50.500 on eBay, and found that they sell for $1500-$2000 depending on condition and accessories. Since yours is broken and missing the original bracelet, I would personally be thrilled to get $1k for it, including the mismatched boxes. If your friend will pay that amount, the widow will have done well IMO. Since this model is not particularly collectible, the receipt/papers/boxes don't really add a huge amount of value.

The prices for the quartz watches that you quoted sound inflated to me. Perhaps they are asking prices.
 
acameff
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Archer Archer
EDIT - misread the serial number on WUS from the photo you posted (the last digit is hard to make out), so checking it again:

Serial number: 56558658
Article ref: 38238003

Did come on a blue alligator strap.
Sorry Archer, I actually have forgot to check WUS. For some reason it isn't emailing me when there is a reply like this forum does. Maybe I have to change a setting on that. Nice to know I'm not going to have to search my friends place for the bracelet. Their place has mountains of stuff to go through and it would literally be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Thank you for looking this up for me.
 
jaegodylan
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Looking at eBay completed listing it seems $2000-$2500 would be a fair price with a lower $1500 being the floor.
 
Dan S
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jaegodylan jaegodylan
Looking at eBay completed listing it seems $2000-$2500 would be a fair price with a lower $1500 being the floor.

Interesting, I found 10 recent 3513.50.00 sales, all between $1500 and $2000. A full set went for $1725 in an auction. Funny how these searches give different results for different people.
 
jaegodylan
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Dan S Dan S
Interesting, I found 10 recent 3513.50.00 sales, all between $1500 and $2000. A full set went for $1725 in an auction. Funny how these searches give different results for different people.
The reference is 38238003. My search was just Omega triple date.
 
acameff
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Thanks for everyone's advice so far. I am a prosecutor where I live, so I can't charge money or fees for legal work outside of my employment and the owner of the watch was one of my closest friends. Whatever I get for the Omega and the other watches goes right to his wife. I think she would be happy getting around $1000 for it, which seems fair given the fact that the buyer would be incurring the cost of the service up front and the risk that the repair could be more than the $750 standard fee depending on whats wrong with it. I picked it up this morning and it vibrated like crazy and made a noise like something in it unwound. That can't be good. If my GMT ever did that I think I would freak out.
 
Shabbaz
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acameff acameff
Thanks for everyone's advice so far. I am a prosecutor where I live, so I can't charge money or fees for legal work outside of my employment and the owner of the watch was one of my closest friends. Whatever I get for the Omega and the other watches goes right to his wife. I think she would be happy getting around $1000 for it, which seems fair given the fact that the buyer would be incurring the cost of the service up front and the risk that the repair could be more than the $750 standard fee depending on whats wrong with it. I picked it up this morning and it vibrated like crazy and made a noise like something in it unwound. That can't be good. If my GMT ever did that I think I would freak out.
Good of you to do this for your friend's wife. And sorry for your loss.
 
Donn Chambers
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acameff acameff
Thanks for everyone's advice so far. I am a prosecutor where I live, so I can't charge money or fees for legal work outside of my employment and the owner of the watch was one of my closest friends. Whatever I get for the Omega and the other watches goes right to his wife. I think she would be happy getting around $1000 for it, which seems fair given the fact that the buyer would be incurring the cost of the service up front and the risk that the repair could be more than the $750 standard fee depending on whats wrong with it. I picked it up this morning and it vibrated like crazy and made a noise like something in it unwound. That can't be good. If my GMT ever did that I think I would freak out.

This is powered by the Valjoux 7750-based movement. I'm pretty sure what you experienced is "valjoux wobble" which is not a problem, just a "feature" of this movement. The autowinder only winds in one direction and when it starts moving in the opposite way, it will free rotate for quite a while and generate a gyroscopic "wobble."

Lots of people freak out about this, but it is perfectly normal. But since it is not running, there may be an issue with the autowinder as well.

Seems like $1000 for it would make everyone happy.
 
acameff
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Shabbaz Shabbaz
Good of you to do this for your friend's wife. And sorry for your loss.
Thank you. He was a good guy and a true credit to our profession.
 
acameff
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Donn Chambers Donn Chambers
This is powered by the Valjoux 7750-based movement. I'm pretty sure what you experienced is "valjoux wobble" which is not a problem, just a "feature" of this movement. The autowinder only winds in one direction and when it starts moving in the opposite way, it will free rotate for quite a while and generate a gyroscopic "wobble."

Lots of people freak out about this, but it is perfectly normal. But since it is not running, there may be an issue with the autowinder as well.

Seems like $1000 for it would make everyone happy.
That is a weird thing for a watch to do. I've only owned one automatic watch so my experience is limited to that one.
 
Donn Chambers
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acameff acameff
That is a weird thing for a watch to do. I've only owned one automatic watch so my experience is limited to that one.

Not at all weird if it was designed that way. Here's a YouTube video demonstrating it on an opened watch. Suspect this is what you heard/felt.

 
acameff
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Donn Chambers Donn Chambers
Not at all weird if it was designed that way. Here's a YouTube video demonstrating it on an opened watch. Suspect this is what you heard/felt.

That is exactly what I heard.
 
8100_RPM
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The wobble is an interesting quirk but you get use to it. It is part of the charm of owning a triple date Speedmaster.
 
acameff
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I will take your word for it. By the way, just out of curiosity, which bracelet is the appropriate one for this year Speedmaster? I see some for sale with a traditional clasp with an omega, some with the clasp that has an omega and says Speedmaster, and some with what looks like a button with an omega on it.
 
acameff
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An interesting development. A friend of ours who owns an estate sale company wanted to see the watch, and I wanted to experience the wobble for myself, so I put it on and wound up wearing it for a couple of hours before I saw him. I did feel the wobble, and its a lot less noticeable when the watch is on.
I took off the watch, handed it to my friend, and he looked at it under a loop. He commented that it was too bad it wasn't running, and then handed it back to me. When he handed it back, it started to run. He didn't push any buttons or do anything else to it. Maybe wearing it and walking around freed up something in the mechanism.
I set it per a YouTube video I found on this forum and it has been running all night and is keeping good time, although I think its a bit fast. Everything seems to be working, except the big date hand did not advance. Perhaps I haven't completely got it right. I did wind it per the video instructions, but it seems gritty, so it still needs a service. I know my friend well enough that once it stopped he never would have paid to get it done, which is why he had 19 battery powered watches. I really think he just bought another one when the battery died.
 
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