Hi all,

just a quick observation with vintage Speedmaster cases. As, Omega do not stamp their cases I was wondering if there are a lot of franken cased watches? When Comparing to vintage Rolex sport watches over thirty years of age there seem to be a lot of non-polished cased vintage Speedmasters for sale.
So , my question is is it quite easy for to swap out older cases for newer cases to make a watch more valuable?
If this is the case are there any tells?

Any thoughts?
M

 

Like there's a lot of "not relumed " Subs out there?

I think generally Speedies were not worth faking until the last few years. I'd be surprised to see fake cases, though we do see reworked cases - like the 2915-1 that unsold itself at Christie's just a year ago.

 

I will not...

 

Not faked Frankenstein watches with newer original Omega unpolished speedmaster cases. I never mentioned Lume who did?
I have seen a lot of vintage SpeedMasters with super super sharp cases that are over thirty years old. As pointed out these watches were not valuable until late so they were worn and not mully-cuddled. I just find that patina on hand, indices, dials and case back and bezels with a super sharp cases sometimes a little suspect, anyone else?

Just a thought.

M

 

Any thoughts on the forum?

Thanks,
M

 

Not talked about. Impossible to verify but generally the casebacks will match condition of the case. Hard to fake 145.022-78 and earlier casebacks. I think a mint caseback would follow a mint case. Most frankenwatch seem to have hands that are wrong or a complete mismatch of parts. If a dial with matching patina hands and all correct parts pre -78 with a case with bezel all matching condition no one would question it. Plus no way to know.



1980 when they dropped the year up to 1998 and the change to luminova are all priced on condition the bezel change and font change generally go together. So you take a nice -72 dial and hands you would have to have the correct perfect bezel to match the perfect case. Good luck finding the right bezel in perfect shape. Sure a modern replacement from omega or off of a new watch just purchased would fit but the font and a few details are wrong and it would stick out. Basically while the watch looks basically the same since 68, there are a lot of minor differences that would make it hard to do. From dial font to dial step/dome to bezel changes.

 

@milwatch126 , do you have any particular examples (pics) in mind?

 

Thanks.

 

I think that the OP was asking whether the mid case of a vintage (60s - 70s) Speedmaster could be distinguished from a later or current case. Simple answer is yes, they are subtly different in shape, most noticeably in side profile.

 

I have a 145.012, the case looks slightly smaller at the sides if you look face on, is that right?

 

The newer cases have a slightly different side profile and also the springbar holes are in slightly different positions. For instance, when installing 808 endlinks on a 60's CB case, the flanges had to be modified to allow the springbars to fit.

 

The shape and size of the brushed 'sides' are distinctly different. The later (current) cases have a brushed area that is slimmer and tapers towards the ends. My '68 'Transitional' (never polished) has significantly taller brushed sides that curve down abruptly at the ends. From my observations the '68 case style extends to '69, but the majority of '71 are different. Oddly enough, I have found it easier to fit 633 end links on my '68 than on a '71, because on the later case the inner curved (brushed) part of the lug extends down to the springbar hole, so the 633 sits up much too high and leaves a gap. The older flat link bracelets fit these more neatly.

 

Also, case backs from vintage cases won't fit modern cases properly.

 

Thanks for the info, sounds like the differences are much greater than I thought.