As a newbie on search for that "one" vintage MOTM speedmaster, the main issue I have pretty much always come across with every listing is the hands.
If they appear to be originals on the watch, they are often near on destroyed.
There are so many hatch it fix up or paint jobs.
Then there are the lume replacements - some good some bad. Some are painted "to match", but I highly doubt are real tritium, so won't really "match" the indices
Of course it's always possible to source separate original hands, but are these easy to swap in?
My question is what do other collectors think about 60's MOTM speedies with swapped hands that aren't original to the watch? Is this a "no go", total turn off - you move on to something else, or do you consider some way of sorting this issue?
If you are going to sort it, what do you end up doing, and how much does it eventually cost?
Thanks

 

The only thing I can tell you for sure is that you got this song stuck in my head.

 

I can't comment on Sixties Speedies but I have two seventies Speedmasters that had hand issues and both are resolved to my satisfaction. My '76 Speedmaster hands were knackered after years of daily wear. My watchmaker had a tritium set on hand from a dial conversion and I am very happy with the result, although the hands are almost "too" perfect and lume is not an exact match. I have owned this watch a long time and it is worn regularly, would probably have had the hands repainted and relumed if the tritium hands were not available.

My Speedmaster MKii Telestop has service luminova hands. When I had Adam Lewis restore the watch he relumed the lumina hands to match the tritium lume on the dial. Again very happy with the result.

 

^Cool..so if a speedy needs hand replacement, what's the best option ... a luminova "paint to match"?, or an attempt to get a genuine replacement tritium set? Considering how difficult this is to source and inspect on line (prior to purchase)...

 

If you use replacement hands, you really need to be careful to use the correct hands, not hands for a different Speedmaster model. Many of them look superficially the same, but have subtle differences if you look closely. Just because they fit, doesn't mean they are correct.

 

Plus one. And Sixties Speedmasters have more variations and models too, making it that bit harder to find good replacement hands than post 69.

 

To be clear, I'm not just talking about Speedmaster Professional models.

 

Thanks Sonicosa... now the song is stuck in my head too.

If the swapped hands were the correct hands, although not original to the watch, and matched the lume plots.... awesome. If the hands are incorrect for the particular reference... it's a no go, total turn off and I'd move on and look for another watch as finding a correct hand set will take time, if ever, and money, and color may not match. I'd more readily accept the wrong crown... they are out there, and even a correct caseback reference but wrong manufacture CB vs HF.

You can find some beautiful examples... they are out there. One just sold the other day on the Forum, a 145.012-67
Photo courtesy of bgrisso

 

One of the tell tail seller signs I find is, do they have any idea what you are asking - when you try find out if the hands are original tritium... lots of sellers just don't get it... they don't know what to look for they don't even care. I respect those that know the difference and disclose but others just try plain deceive.. one of the real tricky things to find out when buying on line, I find, because it's real hard to UV and see a lume fade without being there in person. Just my view.

 

This is an awesome watch