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  1. Fallout Boy Jun 1, 2023

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    Worth a registration at nzz.ch!

    "Buy a chocolate dial and create the rest"

    https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/krimin...aet-ld.1738561

    https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/krimi...einer-3-millionen-franken-raritaet-ld.1738561

    And: We have the same "system" in Germany. A a car-dealer with vintage Mercedes!

    "Restauration" KIENLE: Prosecutor investigates

    https://www.kienle.com/home.html

    And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
    And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'
    For the loser now will be later to win
    'Cause the times, they are a-changin'

    Bob Dylan :D
     
  2. trash_gordon Jun 1, 2023

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    Well there is something boiling up at Omega. :whistling:
     
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  3. YY77 Jun 1, 2023

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  4. trash_gordon Jun 1, 2023

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    Edited Jun 1, 2023
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  5. Fallout Boy Jun 1, 2023

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    "The initial results (of this investigation) have provided clear evidence that three former employees with clear criminal intent were involved in this operation, and this to massive damage to Omega," writes CEO Raynald Aeschlimann on request.
     
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  6. Mark020 not the sharpest pencil in the ΩF drawer Jun 1, 2023

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    This may be the explanation for the fact that they stop with extracts...

    Anyway: article without registration https://archive.ph/xfeeo
     
  7. Mark020 not the sharpest pencil in the ΩF drawer Jun 1, 2023

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    Do you have a link on this one?
     
  8. Fallout Boy Jun 1, 2023

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    Edited Jun 1, 2023
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  9. Aroxx Sets his watch Jun 1, 2023

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    All this over an outdated time telling device. Imagine this crap over a sundial. It’s so ridiculous it’s laughable. I wonder what people will think of it all in a couple hundred years.

    Edit: I realize it’s ultimately about money and opportunism not watches. Still a silly concept.
     
    Edited Jun 1, 2023
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  10. jaegodylan Jun 1, 2023

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    Translation:

    Criminal and fraudulent": How an old, assembled Omega watch became a 3 million franc rarity
    Vintage watches regularly reach record prices at auctions. This also attracts people with criminal energy, as shown by the example of an Omega Speedmaster, which was auctioned at the auction house Phillips. What you should know as a buyer.

    On the 5th November 2021 around 5 p.m. Spectacular things take place at the auction of the auction house Phillips in Geneva: In the white tent in front of the hotel "La Réserve" lot number 53, an Omega Speedmaster, comes on the table. According to the catalog, it is one of the earliest copies of the legendary watch model. The Speedmaster was later to gain cult status as "Moonwatch" because they were worn by the Nasa astronauts during the first moon landing in 1969.


    Phillips estimates the value of the clock at 80,000 to 120,000 francs. That's what it says in the catalog. But it soon becomes clear that the bidding race is only really getting going at this price. Even when the first million is reached, bids come cheerfully from Texas, Oman, China - until the clock finally comes under the hammer for 3.115 million francs. Thirty times as much as the estimate, around eight times as much as ever paid for a Speedmaster: a record for Omega.

    The prize is celebrated, by Phillips as well as by Omega himself. Three million francs - such amounts for vintage watches were previously at most available for models from Patek Philippe or Rolex. At Omega, you are so pleased that after the sale, an exuberant press release is sent in a hurry with the title "Sale price of the Speedmaster breaks (sic!) new world record."

    In collectors' circles a déjà vu
    For collectors, however, not only the price causes astonishment, but also the watch itself. According to the auction catalog, it is a Speedmaster, which was launched on the 22nd. November 1957 was produced. However, their appearance is familiar to some omega aficionados.

    The originally black dial, which is faded from the sun into a brown tone, is striking. A rarity actually, but it looks exactly like the dial of the watch that the Bernese watch collector and dealer Paul (name of the editor known) had offered to various people for sale a few months earlier. In vain. Paul demanded 50,000 francs for his Speedmaster, but did not get rid of them at this price because the watch was assembled and the components sometimes did not even fit together.

    Used watches are particularly valuable if they are as far as possible in their original state. For example, service work or repairs must have been carried out by the watch manufacturer itself or by authorized experts with original parts. If a watch consists of parts that are original from the time, but come from different watches, this reduces the value. Watches with components that come from a later time or were even re-fabricated have even less collector's value.
    In Paul's watch, for example, the luminous material on the dial and hands consisted of tritium and no longer of the radioactive, now prohibited radium. The second hand and bezel did not fit the dial, and above all: the movement came from another time.

    A little later, a Speedmaster with the unmistakable dial appears at the Phillips auction, but without all the aforementioned flaws. How does that fit together?

    The NZZ has tried to find out this in recent months. It is also about the question of when a vintage watch is original, when authentic and when fake. The parties surveyed do not necessarily come to the same conclusion, and there are also different opinions among collectors.

    Adventurous career
    On the basis of photos that collectors of Paul's watch had and pictures of the watch sold at Phillips, it can be proven that it is the same watch, at least as far as the dial, case and parts of the movement are concerned. Conversations with connoisseurs who do not want to be named also allow a reconstruction of the career of the Speedmaster from an assembled watch to the most expensive Omega ever sold.

    The story should have happened like this: Paul sells his Speedmaster to Albert (name of the editors known). He trades a lot with watches, is well networked and knows specialized watch suppliers. Albert is clear that Paul's watch is not particularly valuable in its current condition. But he has a plan. Why not adjust the watch to the dial? Then you would have a particularly beautiful, rare "original" that could be resold for significantly more than 80,000 francs.

    Because the dial is actually a rarity. On the one hand, it comes from the first Speedmaster series from 1957 to 1959, which can be seen in the O of the Omega lettering. This is not round as in later models, but oval. On the other hand, the dial has this special faded color. A material defect actually - but one that makes it rare and valuable.

    Changed serial number
    The biggest challenge is the work. It was clearly produced later than 1957/58. The serial number is difficult to decipher, but it starts with the digits 2300 or 2500. Speedmaster works with these serial numbers have only existed since 1966 or 1967.

    Albert therefore needs either a work that comes from the right time or a new serial number. Changing this is basically feasible - but only if you know which numbers fit the years 1957/58 at all. Without access to the Omega archives, this is practically impossible. But Albert has a contact person at the watch manufacturer who gives him a suitable serial number: 15,500,066.

    Now the number still has to find its way to the factory. Albert also has the right contacts for this. He turns to a professional watch supplier in French-speaking Switzerland and has a new part produced for the factory, an anchor wheel bridge, including an engraved new serial number.

    This is careful manual work, which costs a thousand francs. But if the value of the watch can be increased by it, it's definitely worth it. The bridge that sits on the clutch will also be replaced, as the following pictures show, because in the earliest models it is not asymmetrical, but symmetrical. You don't even have to rebuild such couplings. They can be found on the market for little money.

    Bezel of another watch
    How Albert comes to a suitable, historically correct bezel is not completely clear - where it comes from, but already: According to an article by the blogger José Perez, who specializes in counterfeits from the 9th. April 2023 is the bezel of a Speedmaster Ref. 2915-2 from 1958, which was auctioned in November 2018 - also at Phillips in Geneva. Perez proves his thesis with high-resolution photos of both watches. These show congruent signs of use on both bezels.

    A new second stop hand is also needed, because the one from Paul's watch has an arrowhead, while a thin hand was used in the original. Albert also finds solutions for the luminous material on the hands and indexes. In the end, the Speedmaster steals slightly radioactively as desired. Experienced collectors do not buy a watch from the 1950s without first testing it for radium with a Geiger counter.

    Spectacular bidding process
    Now the watch is ready for resale. A partner of Albert delivers the Speedmaster to the auction house Phillips. Auctions are the best way to sell vintage watches expensively. In addition, you do not have to appear as a seller yourself. Neither buyers nor the public know who the watch comes from.

    Phillips works with Aurel Bacs in the watch sector. A gifted auctioneer who manages to create an atmosphere at the heated live events that regularly leads to price records.

    In 2017, for example, he auctioned the Rolex Daytona of the US actor Paul Newman for the equivalent of 15.5 million francs, achieving the highest price ever paid for a wristwatch. Such price records are good for business, as they attract new customers who also hope for high prices for their watches.

    The lot number 53, in the catalog as Omega Ref. 2915-1 "Tropical Broad Arrow" described, goes to China for the mentioned over 3 million francs.

    Former employees with criminal intentions"
    At Omega, the original enthusiasm about the record price has now given way to disillusionment. The watch manufacturer, which belongs to the Swatch Group, has initiated its own investigations, which are still underway. "The first results (this investigation) have provided clear evidence that three former employees with clear criminal intentions were involved in this operation, and this to massive damage to Omega," writes CEO Raynald Aeschlimann on request.

    "After we confronted them with the facts, they confessed to having acted fraudulently and criminally. We are now in the process of reconstructing everything down to the last detail and also arresting (probable) external accomplices."
    The company will take the case to court as soon as possible, writes the Omega boss Aeschlimann. The company does not disclose what exactly is wrong with the watch because of the ongoing investigation.

    However, it is confirmed that the anchor wheel bridge has been replaced with the serial number. "The bridge was not made by Omega and was not original in the factory," writes Aeschlimann. The layman would probably speak of a fake.

    Faced with Omega's statement, Phillips reacts in surprise. According to the auctioneer Bacs, there was new information after the auction that the bezel and other consumable parts had been replaced. "But to our knowledge, the spare parts were exclusively original Omega parts, which is why the authenticity of the watch is guaranteed according to the official Omega definition. So far, no one has claimed that parts could be fake."

    Phillips has not yet made a statement: "We have not had the opportunity to read and study Omega's claims, so we cannot yet give an opinion on this development."

    However, the auction house also emphasizes that this is important new information that is taken very seriously: "We will contact Omega immediately. As soon as we have clarity, we will of course talk to the buyer. Together with the buyer, we will then check the evidence, evaluate its effects and, if necessary, carry out further investigations into the authenticity of the watch," writes Phillips.

    Not an isolated case
    According to collectors, the fact that vintage watches are "optimized" is a widespread practice. The manipulation is not always as serious as in the case of this Speedmaster. But it is almost common practice that parts of different watches of the same model come together in a new watch. Since the prices for vintage watches have so much lifted, manipulations have been commonplace, says an industry expert who wants to remain anonymous. There are not as many "unsarely rare" Omega or Rolex models as have been offered in previous years.

    The profits that can be achieved in this way are enormous and accordingly also attract people with criminal energy. From their point of view, vintage watches have an advantage: In contrast to works of art, for example, they are usually not unique pieces. Rolex or Omega watches, for example, were already produced in large quantities in the 1960s and 1970s. A complete tracking - where there was a watch everywhere or in whose hands - is only possible in the rarest of cases.

    Lucrative vintage hype
    Few people have a real interest in looking closely at vintage watches. The parties involved - sellers, auction houses and watch manufacturers - benefit from the hype and rising prices. Conversely, buyers have little control to defend themselves - if they (want to) notice at all that something has been helped with their watch.

    The auction houses have one goal above all: to sell as many watches as possible at the highest possible prices. Timepieces have developed into a lucrative business field in recent years. Between 2019 and 2022, sales at auctions increased by 80 percent to 702 million francs, according to the data of the Swiss consulting firm The Mercury Project. With a market share of 31.2 percent, Phillips is not only the largest player (just ahead of Christie's with 30 percent and Sotheby's with 22 percent), but also the one with the highest average price of auctioned watches (128 000 francs).

    Buyers have to find out for themselves

    According to their own information, auction houses check submitted objects for authenticity. And if a watch proves to be a fake or imitation - that is, if it does not come from the manufacturer listed in the catalog - the buyer has a five-year money-back guarantee according to the so-called "authorship warranty" (warranty of authorship).

    However, vintage watches are often about more subtle things: Which parts of the watch have always belonged together? Which ones are real and from the right time, but come from another watch? Which ones were later produced by the manufacturer or even reproduced by someone else? To check this down to the last detail, the auction houses do not feel responsible for this; and it would probably also be illusory, even if you employ thirty specialists for collector's watches like Phillips.

    Thus, the conditions of sale typically say that the auction house's knowledge of each lot partly depends on the information provided by the seller. You yourself are not able to carry out a comprehensive examination of each lot.
    Instead, the responsibility is transferred to the buyer: "Potential buyers recognize this fact and assume the responsibility of conducting inspections and investigations in order to find out about the lots they might be interested in."

    In order to enable buyers to make these inspections, Phillips sends his watches on roadshow around the world before the auction. "We spend large sums of money in order to allow as many interested parties as possible to see the watch live or to have it examined by an expert of their trust," emphasizes the watch auctioneer Aurel Bacs.

    An archive extract is not a confirmation of authenticity

    Not only the auction houses, but also the watch manufacturers have no interest in slowing down the business with collector's watches. Good results at auctions benefit them more than the best advertising. It is not for nothing that certain watch brands invest a lot of money to bid on auctions themselves.

    If the manufacturers were very concerned about the authenticity of vintage watches, they would offer to check them for authenticity. However, very few brands offer such a service. An auction house cannot go to Rolex or Patek Philippe to have a watch certified to be auctioned.

    Omega is the exception to the rule here. Since 2019, the brand has been offering official certificates of authenticity for its over 30-year-old vintage watches. According to Omega, for this certificate, which costs 800 francs, the watch is put through its paces by its own Heritage team.

    It is all the more surprising that this service is not increasingly used. Phillips argues that there is usually no time for this. According to the Omega website, the creation of a certificate of authenticity takes at least two months. The time between the moment Phillips is offered a watch for sale and the time of the auction is usually far too short for that.

    In any case, with the described old Speedmaster, it left the auction house at the obligatory move out of the Omega archives. However, the excerpt is not proof of the authenticity of the watch. It only confirms that on the 22nd In November 1957, a Speedmaster was produced, whose movement bears the serial number 15.500.066.

    Was the buyer a collector?

    Apparently, there are enough buyers who do not care so much about whether their watch is one hundred percent original or not. The main thing is that it pleases, looks credible and can be resold later at best even more expensive.
    Even in the case described, it is unlikely that the buyer will ever complain about his Speedmaster, even if the watch is officially declared a fake. Not only because, despite the manipulation at the work, it is an extraordinarily beautiful specimen of this rare early model according to collectors. If a collector has actually accessed, he may also be embarrassed not to have looked more closely.

    It is also possible that the buyer was not a collector at all. Overpaying a watch to this extent simply makes no sense from a collector's perspective. The high price would be more explainable if it had been a concerted action of the sellers - for whatever motive.

    In this case, however, you would probably never hear anything about this Omega Speedmaster "Tropical Broad Arrow" anyway. Perhaps it no longer exists at all, but has already been disassembled into its individual parts, of which the most valuable ones will one day reappear in a new combination.
     
  11. Fallout Boy Jun 1, 2023

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    cher.jpg

    Were are these used parts now.... ::confused2::
     
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  12. M'Bob Jun 1, 2023

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    In theory, I guess. Hard to prove unless someone who changed the parts discloses it. I consider myself picky, but if, for example, I see a great condition Speedmaster, and the only big flaw was a huge bezel ding, and someone replaced it with one from the same reference and time period that was commensurate with the rest of the watch, I would hardly lose sleep over it.
     
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  13. spacemission Jun 1, 2023

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    Welcome to the subastas :eek:
     
  14. gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Jun 1, 2023

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    Big difference between a $5,000 watch and a $3.5 million watch.

    From reading both articles, it seems that there is at least some evidence that the auction house conspired with (now former) Omega personnel to obtain an Extract of the Archive for a replaced bridge on a frankenwatch. Then, armed with that document, said auction house allegedly enticed one or more very wealthy customers to overbid on this altered watch.

    I must say:
    No wonder that Omega is rethinking the whole Extract process. Maybe Rolex is right?

    gatorcpa
     
  15. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Jun 1, 2023

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    No, but I would say that more serious checks and balances need to be put in place if the extract service returns...
     
  16. eugeneandresson 'I used a hammer, a chisel, and my fingers' Jun 1, 2023

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    I wonder if Phillips will still sue Perezcope :whistling:
     
  17. jaegodylan Jun 1, 2023

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    they already did.
     
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  18. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Jun 1, 2023

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    They started, but I doubt they will finish...
     
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  19. pdxleaf ... Jun 1, 2023

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    Omega with their deeper pockets is surely exposed to being sued due the conduct of their 3 employees. Perhaps they'll get lucky if the buyer has more to risk by exposure of their purchase and the source of their funds.

    Hard to imagine extracts coming back. Probably too much downside risk to Omega. Wonder if they've ever previously been sued over an extract?
     
  20. ATWG Jun 1, 2023

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    extract = toilette paper
     
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