... and there is a point that’s being missed ....where’s the money ...surely a watch sold as a watch gives Omega a higher yield than just parts
Why should that be so? My impression is that the sum of parts as spares usually is a factor 3...10 from the list price of the assembled product. Until now this observation was true for all industries I had a closer look on.
Obviously a watch that has been officially assembled by the factory has a different price than a watch that has been assembled by... someone with spare parts.
Just one last question: you have 2 Apollo Soyuz watches available for you. Same price. One is in the right range, the other one is out of range. Which watch do you buy? Please, please... and someone wrote here that I was naive...
But believe me: if someone finds an agreement tomorrow and Omega accepts to deliver extracts based on this new information, that will be only good news for the owners, and I will be the first one to be happy for them!!!! But at this stage, this is only a nice story.
So does anyone have an extract for an Apollo-Soyuz, that would settle this debate and justify where it was produced.
By the same token of logic that I read some of these comments, that since a watch wasn’t assembled by Omega factory, then they are not considered official or real. Does the collective community feel the same way about the 40 extra radial dial Alaska III watches?
Throwing a loose dial from a limited run/edition, into a standard watch doesn’t make it the limited run/edition watch.
Fitting a service snoopy/Japan racing/Gemini 4 to another modern Speedmaster, doesn’t make it the same as the LE.
I have a lot of information about this watch ... and I've had a lot of work on it
to this discussion I add this "pearl" of Mr. Brandon to one of the dozens of e-mails exchanged with him
now, do you understand?
the watch that sold last month isn't considered a "real" watch?!?
"If you would like a separate letter stating that De Marchi were authorised to modify watches for the Italian market we are happy to do so".
Says it all.
Unless I'm missing something this is extremely straightforward. Omega manufactured 400 Soyuz watches at the factory and this is documented with a tight serial range.
It appears there are others outside of this serial range, which Omega records do not show as being in the official record.
1) There may have been a lose accord between Omega and the company in Italy to manufacture additional examples but 2) it's also possible it was done ad hoc in Italy without the consent/knowledge of head office. Without any documented proof you're relying on a lot of goodwill, candy floss and dreams to get people to accept 1), especially when we do have evidence that the distributor was authorised (in general) to modify standard watches.
Without documents or other proof it comes down to opinion. Mine is that this is a standard factory Speedmaster that has a dial swap/modification at a local distributor.
I am sorry guys, some documents may not be disclosed on a forum.
But believe me: the invoices from Omega to De Marchi CLEARLY mention "Montre acier Apollo" for the 400 watches identified.
That means that these watches have been assembled by Omega in Switzerland.
How can we waste time discussing this point?
On another hand, I want to clarify my point of view, because after those 3 pages it seems that I'm fighting against something or someone.
Not at all. Really. And for those who know me and our work for the MWO book, they know this is never our objective.
And I confirm that I fully understand @Apollo-Soyuz stand point, 100%. I have already written this. For one simple reason. Sorry, for two simple reasons:
1) there is no doubt he is real passionate person, and he has dedicated plenty of time to this story, and I love this, sincerely,
2) he is not the cause of the problem!
As he correctly explained in his posts, he (together with maybe 99 other Omega clients, maybe less, again, nobody managed to establish the exact inventory of the De Marchi watches) bought an Apollo Soyuz watch to an Omega authorized dealer in Italy, exactly in the same way other guys bought an Apollo Soyuz watch to other dealers. His watch is not in the correct range. Others are.
And I have no doubt about his good faith. Really.
And I understand his deep willing of knowing the truth about his watch. Really.
And I would be more than happy to help him. Really.
But what can we do? Again, all this story is due to malfunctions between Omega and De Marchi in the 70s. Then each of us has his own appreciation about Omega or De Marchi responsibility, based on what each of us knows about the quality of their respective work at that time.
But this appreciation doesn't even matter, just because Omega CAN NOT certify a watch if they don't have a clear proof of the production. How could they do?
Mi dispiace, as Italian people would say ...
