Everyone is excited with the re-release of the 321 but what does it mean for vintage Speedmasters with this movement? Will their price tank?

 

No, only hold or go up. Also depends how hard Omega pushes the 50th in advertising.

 

And? What happened to the joy of collecting? Is it all boiling down to dollars and nonsense ?

 

Up. They are not reissuing tritium.

 

there will be no new 321 reissue. if by any twist of luck, a new 3.321 will come out, the story of 321 collection will not be complete without owning the real 321 moonwatch. the price of original vintage 321 will still be solid on the rock and go up.

 

Well to be honest i think the new 321 movement will be a blessing for collectors.
- It will prevent the vintage 321's from moving into the insanely overpriced 5513 sub category.
- it will also prevent non speedy 321's from being destroyed for parts (i hope).

When i does come to the market, it will hopefully be the first watch ever buy directly from an AD

 

It's really a different market for the re-issue so I don't think it will have much effect on the vintage models. And do we really know that the parts will actually be interchangeable?

 

I agree this could prevent non-speedy 321s such as Seamaster Chronographs or calibre 320s from being used as parts donors. I do think the price of vintage 321 Speedmasters will continue going up though, if not accelerate - as service and sustainability of those watches will now be easier with access to parts and assurance of their long-term availability.

 

Omega stated no new parts for 321’s.

 

A long time ago.

 

No, omega said they are making only special editions of the 321 so that's why for me this doesn't count as a real revival of 321. It's just sorta like their super limited release of their first chrono wristwatch that they did by recreating the original Cal 18 CHRO movement. They won't be making new service parts for the 321.

 

I was talking about the new 321 in an OB a few days ago - he stated that the new 321 model would be basically a special order that would be a) very expensive, and b) not available until 2020. He suggested different tiers of Omega models, with the 321 variants at the top level, and that Omega certainly didn’t want to negatively impact the vintage market.

 

Do you really think that 1) the new 321 parts will be 100% compatible with the old ones (which variant?) and if this is the case 2) they will be readily available?

I don't, and I think that if the marketing and PR department does its job well (a big if, I know) notoriety and price may spike. As usual, less "interesting" pieces will be greedily butchered and cannibalized. If all goes according to plan the 321 speedy (vintage and modern) may be the next Daytona, with a more interesting pedigree: common enough to be well known and seen regularly, uncommon enough to fetch high prices.

The vintage Daytona market somewhat killed itself imho, prices are outlandish, fakes abound. I hope it won't be the case for the speedy but I am not optimistic.

 

I think collectors looking for the "real deal" will always favor a vintage 321, so I don't see the two versions and markets to be directly connected. However, I think that:
- the history of the movement gives LEs with the new 321 an edge over other modern Speedmasters with the 1861 (or a variant) and
- any publicity for the new 321 will also draw attention to the original, which will lead to increased demand. I'm growing more and more pessimistic about ever finding a nice non-Speedy 321 chrono before they become unaffordable.

 

Me too

 

My crystal ball says ...



...'fer fakkksakes laddy, its the weekend, gimme a break'...

 

Thanks for the additional info! At the very least, clarity on where things are going is good.

Question - for any 321 then, new or old, how would we service or repair it?

 

plus even if you can make new 321 movements, you cannot remake the old dials - I mean dials with real patina...So the value of the original ed whites for e.g. should be strong...

 

The "new" 321B movement has a few parts showing on the Omega Extranet. One is the enlargement ring (movement spacer) and the other three parts are all screws. None are shown as being available.

While this may change in the future, again I'm not holding my breath...

 

Hi Al - is the movement formally designated as a calibre 321B, or is that our informal designation on OF for the time being as we continue to learn more?