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timoss
·I dropped off my Speedy for service with a very experienced vintage watch enthusiast/dealer. This guy has been collecting since the 70s himself and has some amazing pieces, including an early Speedy, and has been trading and servicing watches for his customers for many, many years.
After opening up my 105.012-65, he says, "You know you're movement is from a later watch?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You're movement--it doesn't match the case."
"I'm not following."
"The date of your case does not match the date of your movement."
At this point I am very confused, as 1) he has not seen my extract, so he has no idea when it was actually produced, and of course the case has no date on it. Then it dawns on me: "Do you mean the two-digit number after the main reference number on the caseback--i.e., the 65--does not match the date of the movement?"
"Exactly," he says.
"You do know that those two numbers do not indicate the year of production, right?"
"Yes, they do," he says, and proceeds to tell me about the "hundreds" of Speedies that have passed through his hands for servicing by customers. I ask if the hundreds of customers who have given him their watches to service also gave him the extracts for those watches. Um, no.
The conversation continued for quite a while and I think I convinced him to at least doubt his belief, but I was pretty shocked that someone so fluent in the vintage watch world could hold such an incorrect assumption so resolutely. He really was positive he was right!
After opening up my 105.012-65, he says, "You know you're movement is from a later watch?"
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You're movement--it doesn't match the case."
"I'm not following."
"The date of your case does not match the date of your movement."
At this point I am very confused, as 1) he has not seen my extract, so he has no idea when it was actually produced, and of course the case has no date on it. Then it dawns on me: "Do you mean the two-digit number after the main reference number on the caseback--i.e., the 65--does not match the date of the movement?"
"Exactly," he says.
"You do know that those two numbers do not indicate the year of production, right?"
"Yes, they do," he says, and proceeds to tell me about the "hundreds" of Speedies that have passed through his hands for servicing by customers. I ask if the hundreds of customers who have given him their watches to service also gave him the extracts for those watches. Um, no.
The conversation continued for quite a while and I think I convinced him to at least doubt his belief, but I was pretty shocked that someone so fluent in the vintage watch world could hold such an incorrect assumption so resolutely. He really was positive he was right!
