It's not that I don't want to but the realisation has just hit me that, in all truth, I'm never going to buy a 321.

What's made me come to this conclusion is the 2998-62 that came up on my ebay page under the "other items" tab: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1962-Omeg...2bd84bf&pid=100009&rk=1&rkt=2&sd=282336091504Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

I like this. There are a few issues but, still, I like it. The thing is, in order to put it on my wrist I reckon that I would have to part with something close to £31,000 ... purchase price, import, VAT, weak £ .. thirty ... one ... thousand ... pounds.

That would get me three vintage submariners. More than thirty good Seamasters. Half a dozen or so 861 Speedys ... and in great condition.

Even if I won the lottery tonight, which the little screen in Tesco's petrol station just told me was worth £76 millions .... would I really want to put over £30,000 on my left wrist?

It's a sad thought ... but there it is. I'm never going to own one.

 

This particular seller has issues, only one of which is over optimistic pricing.

Having said that speedmasters have gone nut so his pricing has been followed by the market.

 

Don't get me wrong about the ebay example ... it was just the listing that forced the realisation. Yes, there are less expensive examples of a 321 - the 145.012's are still within the sort of price bracket I'd be willing to wear, but I think even the 105.xxx's are now too expensive for my wrist.

I suppose that is the point - I wear my watches. I think most here do. My watches are not safe-queens. Nor are they really investments, though I think I've been lucky with some of them appreciating more than I would have expected. I'm currently wearing a £50 LIP. I regularly wear watches that are into the high four figures ... but I genuinely might feel uncomfortable wearing one in the mid five figures. I'd certainly feel conscious of wearing one any higher than that asking price.

 

Shhh .... we're trying not to think of Subs until after Friday ... there's one coming up and ... I really want it ... and I really want no-one else to want it ...

 

I thought exactly the same, then got a great deal on an Ed White without DoN (family friend is a dealer in Italy) and now I have one. That being said, I felt it was a more special piece than what I'm used to, so I bought an 861 as an everyday piece
Never lose faith !

 

I used to love speedies and hoovered them up five or six years ago, prices have rocketed and I'm now out of the game

I love my ed white but that's it for me now, I get much more pleasure wearing my connies! It does worry me that my ed white which I brought for £3500 three years ago is now probably more like £10-12K crazy

 

I thought I was spending crazy money when I bought my Ed White in July 2015. But now, not so much. I very much love the speedies, but once I finish off my decade collection (still need 80s era speedy) I am done with speedies. Fortunately for me, I want to buy a gold/gold tone speedy from the 80s and those are not very popular so they have not seen the same type of price explosion as the 321s.

I am also adding a pic as there are none in this thread. I think I read in the sticky that all threads need to have a picture of a watch.

 

well I'm never going to own a Nina either. (Or a Space Compax either)

 

You're right ... come on guys ... show the 321 you're wearing right now to make me sick to my stomach that I'm not going to do the same!

 

Here are some of the Speedies that I bought when it was already an expensive hobby but still possible to buy one every 6 monthes or so. Like Tom said before, we saw the prices go rocket high. It is long ago that I bought a classic speedy. My last one was a MK II with chocolate dial.

 

Are you my uncle?






Would you like to be?

 

I know the feeling. Fortunately I bought a very nice 69 Speedy 861 in late 2015.
It's great to wear and maybe if/when the prices go down I'll buy a 321.

 

I bought a nice 145-022 69 last year too ... maybe even too nice to wear except on special occasions ... or to impress other engineers/watch geeks at certain meetings

 

I'm one of those that can brag to have owned many
Yet I will never go back. Run of the mill 145.012s hovering at USD 10K?! I'll stay with my memories and pictures and keep digging for other much cheaper interesting stuff...

 

A 321, maybe. A 1962 Speedy, no.

 

Sorry ... My first vintage watch. Just thought It was cool after a nice business lunch and was in a shop in Paris on a lovely September Friday aftenoon and the proprietor (brother of a colleague) was wingeing at selling it after absolutely refusing to sell me a Tri Compax. But I'll never own a Nina. ( I own two Tri Compax now)

 

Never say never Jim!
OK, maybe a £30k 2998 is a bit out of reach for most of us but you may still be able to find a 321 with a genuine history attached to it.
Here are six pictures that show my dear old Dad going from an 'Omega-less' trainee mechanic in the late 40's to a Seamaster owner in the 1960's. Then came the Speedmaster Professional 105.012.

As a kid, I remember that the 'Omegas' were out of bounds. You could look but not touch. I can't recall at what point the Speedy arrived to replace the older watch. I do remember watching the moon landing with Dad and you can see from the photos that Dad changed watches some time between the mid 60's and the early 70's.

The Seamaster and Speedy were everyday watches. He wore them working, drinking, and singing. Sadly, (about 30 seconds after an impromptu session of DIY keep fit) Dad 'popped his clogs' in 2003... I found the Speedmaster in a bedside draw with his wallet, lighter and a Pete & Dud tape. I took the watch home, put it in a guitar case pocket and then dug it out last October just after (what would have been) Dad's 87th birthday.

The 4 pictures in the other group show the watch as it is now. I don't know why one side of the engraving on the case back has worn more the other, when or why the 1171/633 bracelet was fitted, when the chrono hand and crown were changed, when or why the bezel rotated or when the dial turned brown. It's a mystery, but all part of the story of this watch.

I am currently saving up the price of the STS service, and looking forward to taking the watch over to Essex and seeing how they do things. The question for me is will I be able to afford to keep this watch safe and serviced? If I decide I can't it may, at some point, be offered to someone who will treasure it.

The good news is Jim... It's the genuine article and whoever becomes the new owner won't be forking out anywhere near £30 grand to take it home!

 

That's a great way to remember the old man. I bet the tape was Derek and Clive if it was kept out of sight in the bedroom? I have two with STS at the moment and, having spoken to Simon there at length, I have no doubt that they are some of the best people to go to. They'll treat that watch as if it was their own.

 

Indeed it was Jim!