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I took an ebay gamble, and the Speedmaster gods smiled upon me

  1. rcs914 May 21, 2016

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    In perusing ebay (dangerous I know) I ran into this auction:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/252373586644Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

    The photos are atrocious, the description is essentially non-existent, and the appraisal they had done was by a jeweler whom obviously had no idea what they were doing as the model number they put down was for a modern 2016 Speedy.

    But there was enough there in the details that I was pretty sure it was a mid to late 70s model with the original bracelet, dial, bezel, and the case didn't appear to be over polished or dinged. So I gambled and put in a best offer of $2075 saying that I couldn't go higher than this as there was no movement shot, and the watch would need an expensive service at the very least. Surprisingly she went for it! (oddly though the auction above states it sold for $3000, which it did not).

    The watch arrived yesterday and it is in far better condition than I thought it was going to be. The case back was only hand tightened so I was able to un-screw it with two fingernails. What awaited me took my breath away - it is absolutely immaculate inside. There is evidence of at least three past services on the inside of the case back, and overall the watch is just in terrific condition to my eye. There are some issues - first of all is that the hour and minute hand are almost certainly replacement. When I hit the dial with a very strong light the tritium plots on the dial and the chrono hand will glow very briefly, but the hour and minute continue to glow for a while. I guess you can't have everything :)

    While I'm new around here, I've been a member over at WUS for almost a decade, and have amassed lots of affordable watches, but my grail has always been first a birth year (1977) Speedmaster Professional. This is what brings me to honestly the most amazing part of my gamble as far as I'm concerned. Based on two extracts I've seen for 1977 watches, mine is about 200 after than one from June 8th, 1977 and about 1500 before one from September 9th, 1977. So I can pretty confidently state that mine was produced somewhere in mid to late June, 1977. So somehow, on a total gamble, on an unknown watch off of ebay, I managed to get exactly the watch I wanted, in terrific shape, for way under current market value.

    There is no chrono-creep, the chrono runs and resets perfectly, and the accuracy while not measured exactly has not lost or gained any apparent time from a comparison to my computer clock. Further testing will be done at some point, but for now it seems fine. I know that it should go out for a service, but it doesn't appear to be quite as immediate of a need as I originally figured it would be.

    Please let me know if I am missing anything when looking at the watch - as I had said I'm pretty certain that at least two of the hands aren't original, and I doubt that the crown and pushers are since the watch has been serviced. The crystal is OEM as shown by the barely visible symbol. I cleaned it up with a couple q-tips, but overall there really wasn't much grime or dirt on it.
     
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  2. Psych May 21, 2016

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    Great looking watch and a fabulous buy - well done. All the hands look over-white, but what the hell, you got a great bargain here and so close to your birthdate too.
     
  3. Tom Dick and Harry May 21, 2016

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    A fine catch and a fine vintage! Here is my birth year 1977 speedy. I've been after a birth year pro for ages and then a friend emailed me with this beauty and made me an offer I couldn't refuse

    Sold June 1977 in the UK (mine is an ST145.022-76)

    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg

    Yours looks lovely and a great price, nice catch and well done!
     
    Edited May 21, 2016
    Ko1892, ahartfie, OMGRLX and 3 others like this.
  4. oddboy Zero to Grail+2998 In Six Months May 21, 2016

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    awesome piece at an awesome price! great pickup!
     
  5. bazamu wincer, not a bidder May 21, 2016

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    Wow, fantastic pickup at an unbelievable price! Incredibly jealous over here.
     
  6. watchthirst May 21, 2016

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    I love a good positive eBay story :)
     
    OMGRLX likes this.
  7. micampe May 21, 2016

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    rcs914 and Tom Dick like this.
  8. Foo2rama Keeps his worms in a ball instead of a can. May 21, 2016

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    Nice pick up for $2075!

    My understanding is that serial number on -76 was not necessarily sequential. I'm in the same boat I purchased my birth year 76 with a 39m serial number but it has the not very common earlier dial small "S" in speedmaster which is on the 74's.

    So I'm not grabbing an extract and going by the stamp, and early dial, and in my mind it's a 76. But using your just as valid reasoning yours is a 77.

    Great watch!!!
     
    OMGRLX likes this.
  9. alam May 21, 2016

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    .
     
    image.jpeg
  10. rcs914 May 21, 2016

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    I just was blown away when I opened the package. If you look at the link above it doesn't really give you a great indication of condition. What fell into my hands looks practically new with the exception of a few dings and the missing paint from the bezel insert and case back.

    What is especially nice is the absence of any overt polishing. The sides are still brushed, the hippocampus has great definition, and the bracelet clasp only has light desk diving marks. From reading Spacefruit's site I know that this is what to look for on these later 70s models, and dial/bezel/hands are less important.

    Overall I am just incredibly happy - it's the culmination of more than a decade of wanting one, and I don't honestly know if I could be happier with the result.
     
    littlesheep81 and Foo2rama like this.
  11. Dgercp May 21, 2016

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    These are the stories I just love to read. Congrats on a very fine speedy :)
     
  12. robocaspar May 21, 2016

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    Good looking watch! I'm sure it will appreciate in value nicely in the coming years
     
  13. Foo2rama Keeps his worms in a ball instead of a can. May 21, 2016

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    Already has. Head only 2500-3000. That bracelet is what at least 400? Doc a few hundred for the replaced hands he did very well.
     
  14. rjwrjw1 May 21, 2016

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    My birthday is 1958 if any one has one from that year for that price let me know.
     
  15. sky21 May 21, 2016

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    Maybe if you multiply that price by 50 you'd have a chance, maybe...
     
  16. rjwrjw1 May 21, 2016

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    ok I'll settle for a 1959 then
     
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  17. Impondering Doesn't actually ponder all that much. May 21, 2016

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    Congratulations! Knowledge is power and being bold definitely paid off.

    Side note: I saw this on Craigslist and crossed it to Ebay. The watch was 30 miles away. I don't know much about Speedmasters. Glad you did.

    As a side not the watch was in Kaplan, LA which is a small town whose claim to fame is country music singer Sammy Kershaw.
     
    rcs914 likes this.
  18. Ravineman May 22, 2016

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    bold move that paid off. Very nice watch. I like the hands too !
     
  19. JesterP May 22, 2016

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    Wow you did very well there mate. Knowledge and a set of large ones. Movement looks great. I could be talking shti here but would you think about doing anything with the damaged bezel or is it best to be left original? Just wondering as i am fairly new to the vintage watch world.
     
  20. rcs914 May 24, 2016

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    Thanks all! I wore it all weekend and even used it to measure my speed yesterday on the way back from Tucson. Turns out the speedometer in my CX-5 is actually pretty accurate. I just love it. I'm not usually the betting type, but in this case using the information I gained here and on www.speedmaster101.com really paid off.
     
    Spacefruit and ahartfie like this.