Hey guys. Without going into the story too much I managed to pick this one up with a one owner provenance. She was in a poor way having had a hard life and then put away in a drawer for some 40 years. Decisions had to be made re the hands and glass which are original as to keep or change/re Lume. The dial and case are excellent as are the pushers and crown. Lovely Lume. The glass is quite badly scratched and the hands Lume cracked as you can see. She went away to the watch spot guy Richard Askham in the UK who did an amazing service job and cleaning of hands. The second hand was non original having been changed and so the race was then on to find an original. Fortunately chronocentric came up trumps and one was sourced at a pretty penny as they are getting rare now. The strap used had fallen to bits so once again a trawl around was done. There are some available on the bay by a guy called squinky but at top dollar. So i had one brilliantly made in buy a guy in Italy. Just a buckle now needs to be sourced. These are a big old case and wear big but fortunately I have big wrists so not a problem. They were re issued in 2010 ish I believe but not the Bordeaux or red as it's known. She is a keeper and a lovely addition to my collection and I'm a happy man.
It's been a long, hot day and after reading your post I was gazing at the photos thinking "I've never seen a Monaco with that sort of case ... it looks more like a Silversto ...", then read the dial. It's beer o'clock. Nice watch!
Thanks guys. Yeah it has been a long hot day. More to come here in the UK too for a change. This ones gonna sit in rotation with my mk2 speedy, 69 glycine GMT and explorer 2. Hard work but Someone's gotta do it lol.