I may have found the one(but have decided it’s not for me): 105.012-63 no T

First off thank you to everyone who helped out with my last post, hopefully if this one is as good as I think it is I won’t be beaten to it.
With each watch I look at I believe I am becoming better at spotting what should and shouldn’t be there along with cross referencing the moonwatch only ebook but with a resource like this available you might as well get all the help you can.
Let’s cut to the chase
The bezel; Slight damage between 400 and 275 but overall looks in good shape.

Hands; Crack in the lume on the minute hand, the rest look good and like a matching set possibly as if they are the original set or have been there a long time.

Dial; Everything seems to match up with the moonwatch only book, it is missing lume where the dial steps down. Ascetically this doesn’t bother me but it does make me think that it could of been done on purpose. That coupled with the two dots beside the 12 o’clock marker not being full and transitioning up the step. I’m not fussed by a relume if it is one but I don’t want to pay all original prices for one.

Case; It looks like a 57 year old case that hasn’t seen a polishing wheel or at least it was very lightly done quite awhile ago. The hippocampus on the case back is really well defined also.

Crown and Pushers; Correct 24 tooth crown with flat feet and the short fat pushers.

Movement; This is the bit that I am hesitant on. There is rust. My lack of knowledge is telling me it doesn’t look that bad and could polished out. However I’m also thinking is this the result of some polishing and the rust spots seen are some deep pits. Or is it just part of the life of this watch and it doesn’t effect its operation in any way as I said earlier it is 57 years old it’s not going to be as if it came out of the factory.

Miscellaneous; Even though I personally wouldn’t wear it with a bracelet it would be nice to have as I may change my mind. Also as of yet I do not know if there is an extract but if it was put together I would of hoped that they would of found a less corroded movement but at least they got it in the right serial range 20.522xx.

Finally the price it’s offered at €14500 which is roughly £12900 or $17700

It is fact that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I think I’m at that stage where I have amassed a little knowledge and I won’t second guess myself. So please correct me as ruthlessly as you see fit and impart your opinions on wether I should part with my cash.

Thanks in advance

Wow, really interesting! Look stunning.

sorry I didn’t manage to explain my thinking as well as I thought I had. What I was trying to say was has someone relumed this dial and purposely not done the area on the inner dial.
I only say this as to me each plot looks too uniform in the way it has deteriorated.

It’s quite possible that I may be looking in to this too much and trying to find flaws where there probably aren’t. As the question you have to ask is why would you chose to do it this way.

IMO the case has definatley been polished, the right side, especially the uper right lug has lost its original shape

I hadn’t noticed that. On the side profile of that lug there also seems to be a different coloured dot as if there has been a repair. I don’t think it’s a shadow as you can see it in two different views.

You do realize the sellers are the authors of Moonwatch Only? My feeling is they will not sell watches that are not kosher (and have the eye to say which watches are kosher). Not sure I would claim any polishing on the lower right lug ... speedmasters are not 100% symmetrical (and even those that are have slight asymmetries w.r.t the lugs...a thing I have oft stared at on my specimens). The only thing that might bother me would be the lume loss on the step of each marker...but then it is 100% uniform on each marker (and it most certainly is not unattractive), and this is such a rare reference/dial that the adage of ‘find another this good’ rings true. \TLDR looks like a very nice and honest super rare piece.

Didn't know that either but I found it:

https://www.watchfid.com/

As said above the watch is being sold by watchfid and as I understand it they are run by the authors of the moonwatch only books. Yes you certainly would hope that all the examples offered by them will be of top quality. I am taking the point of view wether right or wrong that as soon as you are financially involved in something that there will be an element of “rose tinted glasses”. As it’s my own money I’m parting with I’m going to take every step that I can to make sure that I am acquiring exactly what I think I am. Why I am taking this view point is that I acquired a Breitling top time a few years ago from a well know dealer, for all the wrong reasons, who likes to write a very long advert for his watches. That watch went in for service 4 months ago and the watchmaker is calling it an absolute nightmare. Of course I did not do my homework looking in to the seller or even the watch for that matter and I’m paying for it now. So this time as I’m looking at spending nearly 10x the amount of money I’m going to do all the due diligence that I can and assume that everyone is a potentially “dodgy dealer” until I can be sure that they are not. As I keep reading on here and else where “Buy the seller not the watch”.
This is a very pessimistic outlook but I hope it will stop me from paying the noob tax’s twice.

Thank you to everyone for their input so far. As Archer explained the rust that you can’t see is now concerning me. I’ve seen restoration videos on YouTube of far worse so I’m confident that a competent watchmaker can handle it, but do I want to get in to that.

After seeing this thread I looked at Watchfid's offerings. Am I crazy or are their ratings pretty far off? Their descriptions are also very lacking in (honest) appraisals of condition. I know they offer some sort of "report" along with each watch but I did not see it available pre-purchase. Perhaps if you contact them?

Very nice looking watch and thanks for the check point on the pricing. I wonder what it would go for with the correct bracelet & end links?

noooo how can you question the heros of so many .... ? blasphemia

you can have a fun read here https://omegaforums.net/threads/a-notable-change-at-moonwatch-only.115712/page-3#post-1538127 and make your own thoughts

I'm fairly underwhelmed with the continuous description of Speedmaster's " .....sold to the American Military Forces....." .." ....military origin.... , when all these Specialists know very well, that the only ever issued Speedmaster was the FAP Speedmaster. All the rest was privately bought at NAAFI
stores , tax exempt. If you bought a transistor radio at the NAAFI store, why would you label that radio as military origin ? Or your Remington shaver ? This is absolutely unnecessary and not helpful for new collectors. Kind regards. Achim

As the new title says I have decided that this is not the watch for me. I Know i am somewhat looking for a unicorn in the most untouched original as possible but for the least amount of money. I will certainly have to compromise on something at some point to actually acquire one but in this instance the corrosion on the movement and the bent lug are to many compromises for me.
In the mean time I have somehow stumbled soon the skywalker x33 especially the regatta version and as my current sailing watch (timex yachtracer) is not functioning correctly. It would potentially fill the desire for a speedmaster to be on my wrist. Stopping me from spending a vast amount of money in a hurry.
There are two 105.012’s on my radar that may scupper this plan when I know more about those two I will most likely ask everyone on here to impart their superior knowledge once again.
Thanks once again.

Don't hurry, 63 will come up from time to time.