Hi all,
Just taken the plunge and would appreciate people’s thoughts on this one to double check my notes.

105.012-65, serial number 24011xxx
Dial and Hand Lume seem correct for the dial markers, but hands are a very different color. They both exhibit exactly the same amount of brightness after exposure, but are then both totally inert after 10 minutes in the darkness. Presumably they are tritium?
Stepped dial correct finish with the larger hour markers running right to the edge
Pushers - 5mm x 2.7 (or 3 mm, having trouble to get a good measurement) I think they look like the correct type, but i don’t have a good eye for this bit.
Bezel - good overall condition, slight dent on left hand side, but not really visible.
Omega name and logo on the dial, correct font and spacing
Case condition - edges seem fairly sharp with brushed sides. - seems good with minimal marking
The T Swiss T script is nice and close to the scale, correct for age
Case back, correct double bevel, looks better than the photo

Query’s
Crown, seems to be a 1970’s service replacement.
Crystal logo - can’t make up my mind, but think it’s the early narrow symbol type?
Movement - generally clean, some very small scuff marks from service around a couple of the screw heads etc. but nothing nasty. I guess needs a service as losing around 17 seconds in 12 hours undisturbed lying face down, and the chrono second hand occasionally seems a little jittery when its running.

Anything I’ve missed?

Thanks all

 

Hands are definitely replacements but everything else looks good

 

I will not conclude so fast... They are vintage for sure ( long end)
Nice watch!! Congrats!

 

maybe they are just overpainted...have seen this many times

 

Nice watch... Hands seems original for me. maybe overpainted ??

Crown is replacement , Crystal and Pushers are ok.

 

Since you asked...

105.012-65 Caseback with 2401xxxx serial appears in range - however I would urge an extract in this case as personally I am not familiar with this serial first four figures in the 105.003. (I mean just that - I am not familiar so if it were mine I would get the extract).edit:my mistake it's a 012 and as such I am happy with serial and do not recommend a serial.

Dial is correct, stepped, Professional, close spaced T marks, long indices. Shows severe degradation to the minute subdial. Body colour shows "dryness". Plots show blurred lume but this is common in this reference and consensus is this is seen on original dials. Basically the dial is good but for the subdial damage.

Hands are correct design for reference, but unlikely to have left the factory with this watch, or in this state.

Bezel is correct DO90. Nowadays I attribute a value to every DO90 - currently between $400 - $2500 and this one I rate at 1100 to 1400 if sold on Ebay. It is not great but it does fit with the rest of the watch, so that is a plus.

The case clearly has been polished. Nowadays a skilled workshop like STS would do a much better job, leaving the sides flat and brushed, and sharp where the brushed facet meets the top of the lug. This watch the lugs are a little rounded, and I think this could be improved without much loss of metal. It would make a huge difference to me. The case back also shows signs of polishing this is also not severe, and improvable.

The pushers bother me - mostly because I cannot see to satisfactorily see what they are, in hand I would be able to tell immediately. I think that they are not a pair, and not the right size - I expect to see 5x3mm in a 105.012. These look drive in to me, and possibly original vintage.

Crown is a replacement, perhaps when they did the hands and case work.

A service would do this watch wonders, especially if they are expert polishers, and have access to Omega parts. I think I would replace all the service items, ie pushers, crystal and crown (maybe ask @michael e l e if he has one of his vintage look replacements). Others will disagree but I feel the case is polished already.

A good workshop will sort those hands too.

These points I raise are not criticisms, nor reasons not to buy. These were tool watches, used in harsh environments by physical people. Its very, very rare for me to be shown a watch without even half these points. Its all down to value, and if the watch is attractive to you, and do you want to change any of the things you can. I will always feel free to change something that has already been worked on. In this case the case, hands, and crown. Pushers I reserve judgement on for the moment but I probably would replace those. Your going to get all the parts back anyway.

Edit I wrote this as my mind leapt to 105.003's because I am tired and jet lagged. However the 012 is currently proving harder to find as these have not recently appeared on the market much at all.Looking at the latest Bonhams auction http://speedmaster101.com/blog/bonhams-auction-speedmasters-june-2016/ it seems 105.003's are commanding strong prices - as ever I take bricks and mortar sales with a pinch of salt - often similar watches can be bought on ebay, or here, of less. However this is less and less the case as time goes by.

So nearly any 105.012 you buy is a good buy....because the choice is getting narrow, and soon it will be between owning one or not.

I will always advocate buying the best one you can, because a dog might always be a dog. But you can have fun with a dog sometimes....

 

I love it when someone of spacefruit's caliber (pun intended) goes into this kind of detail on a watch. You couldn't buy an appraisal like this.

 

Errrrrrr..........oh fruity one............it's a 105.012 not a 105.003

 

Thanks to all for the feedback, especially spacefruit’s very detailed appraisal.
Re the comment there - is it a typo for a 105.003 as this is a 105.012 (I hope)

Can you elaborate on the cause of the “dry subdial” - is this likely to degrade at all, or required any remedial action?

I’m very lucky as I’m not too far away from STS and had factored in the cost of some work there, so it will be in the best of hands.

Will see if I can get some better measurements on the pushers, my Vernier’s are a little over large for this.

Appreciate the comments, nice to see there are no parts that really scream out as being misplaced, or horribly over worked..

 

Yup typo. I mistakenly wrote referring to 003's
Serial is fine. For 012
I've been staring at a lot of 003's lately. And I'm jet lagged in hK.oops
I will amend the post but I freely admit the mistake.

Also I am fairly certain at least one of the pushers is a drive in vintage original.

 

The sub dial has some degradation possibly originating from the hole.

The "dryness" is a term I use to refer to a dial that looks, well dry. Look at the ring on the subdial edge, it's a little grainy. If you look at the rest of the dial it also has a very slight granular look to it, as opposed to a deeper lustre sometimes seen on other examples. It's a subtle thing that I notice now that I have seen the difference.

 

That's a good spot from the rather dodgy photo sir . It's a bit more obvious when you can see the dial in a good light.

I'll ask STS what they recommend. Can hopefully get down there on Monday.

Would an original crown and one or 2 correct pushers be a hard find ?

 

Jolly nice catch - Congratulations

 

Contact @michael e abiur crown. STS will supply new correct pushers. Ask them to remove old ones without damage. In the old days people took them out with pliers because it was quick and no wanted the old pushers....why would they, they didn't work anymore!?!

 

Picture of the back of the lugs would help

 

Hi,
picture of the rear of the watch, hopefully enough to show the lugs which are perhaps a little crisper on the edges that the photo shows. . Also noticed what looks like different sized pusher tubes, maybe this is what's making them look a little odd. Have re measured the caps and they are both pretty much the same at 5mm x 3mm (+ or - around 0.2 mm or so - my vernier is not that good)
cheers

 

Yes looks pretty good, would live with it a while before getting involved in any polishing but sort out the hands. As SF says the pushers look different one newer with straight edge and one older with bevelled edge but the photo is a bit blurry?

 

Just thought I'd update you all on my Speedmaster, as its just back from its service at STS

No nasty surprises internally, no components replaced beyond the seal and pushers.
new matching pushers so they look balanced
Polished crystal
Case cleaned, but not polished
Hands tidied and re-lumed, to my eye it seems like a nice job, they don't stand out as new / reworked and somehow the lume seems to degrade at the same rate as the dial markers.

I didn't manage to locate the correct crown, so if any one has any leads I'd be grateful

Before and after pictures below.

 

Very nice, now get it off that black strap and put it on a bracelet or Vintage brown strap and it would look stunning.

 

Way ahead of you, its on a brown strap already ....