This Speedmaster, to my untrained newbie eye a 105.012 with damp or worse under the crystal, OK DON bezel, 1506 / 1/66 bracelet and endlinks marked 16 (shouldn't that be 516?) is up for sale. The seller says they can't open the case and looking at the mould under the crystal I fear the worst. But then, I might be just as lucky as ChipsOToole https://omegaforums.net/threads/the-ugly-duckling-dilemma.64238/#post-805923 Back to the watch in question: does anyone have any observations pro or contra concerning this watch? Sorry there's only these three pics available. Oh and btw, those nice nails aren't mine and yes I hate watchpics with hands or parts thereof on show. View attachment 448918
With a dial like that I certainly wouldn't buy it straight off without seeing the movement. This is where buy the seller comes in, is it a drawer fresh family find? Or is it being sold by someone with experience in the buying and selling of expensive vintage watches? If the former then just maybe worth a punt with the movement sight unseen, if the later then be careful for obvious reasons. Either way it's for sure a 'buyer beware' kind of watch
Without seeing the movement. Think of the price of the parts you do see that are good and pay no more that that. Worth a punt if it's as said above, family seller.
Here's the way I look at these: £500 is going to get all but the most toasted of movements running again. With that in mind, it's time to exercise your due diligence. Talk to the owner. Be nice. Be polite. Dig deep. It's the water damage to the dial that worries me most. For the dial to have turned that much, it's going to have been wet or very damp for a long time. You need to find out what state that movement is in. Frankly, if this is anything close to being local to you, get in the car and go see it. Open it yourself. Take a loupe, as they say. If the movement is essentially complete and undamaged, £500 has you a running example. If it's not, then you're letting yourself in for months of searching and a £4000 bill for parts. Case, bezel, crown, pushers, bracelet, endlinks ... all look good. The question is how bad is that dial and how bad is the movement? Only the buyer can answer that .... and you're wanting to be the buyer.
You might indeed get lucky, though I suspect you'll be gambling with a lot more money than I did. With my ugly duckling, I could handle a fried cal 565 because the salvage (case , bracelet ) would have mostly offset the risk and there was a couple of pictures indicating what I was letting myself in for. ..the movement is pretty fried and i'm considering looking for a parts donor....mind you, the DON bezel here is worth quite a few bob in these crazy days. But the way those stains "cloud" rather than randomly speck, the significant colouration of the lume, and that look of rust a 5 o'clock makes me reckon it'll be a load of trouble.....that said , If it's on sale silly cheap....someone here picked up a vintage speedy for 20 bucks recently!!! You really need a peek inside. Best of luck.
Thank you all for your input. The more I look at the dial the more it scares me. Unfortunately the watch is a 7 hours drive from where I live, which means that hopping over to get a better look just isn't feasible, so I'll keep an eye on it and if the final price turns out to be such that there's room for improvement (of the watch) or that it could be used as a spare parts depot for future purchases I might grab it. You'll hear from me, but this is going to take a while.
Actually you all did help me. Your remarks confirmed my fears and helped me develop the idea of the spare parts depot. So I'll take it from there and see what happens. And unless somebody wants to take a plane to Europe, get in the car with me (mind you, its a rather comfortable one), drive 7 hours, take the watch in hand for say half an hour, maybe even open it, get infected by the toxic fumes of the mouldy Tritium , drive back seven hours, oh wait, stay overnight in some kind of hotel in a small town first, and fly back to wherever they live .... But thank you for the offer.
Some of us are in Europe... this was more an offer to go look on your behalf if anyone was close enough. We’re helpful like that...
Maybe take a look here: https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=2415991 You can find where a selection of OF guys live (see there are plenty in Europe), and I am sure this only represents a small percentage of all members. Comes from this thread here: https://omegaforums.net/threads/what-city-are-you-in.53404/
I didn't know about that so, just added a pin for me. I'm on the move to UK so will change it but, it's interesting to see where people are. Only 3 of us in Spain it seems. Thanks, Chris
I think still the watch is going to go for at least 10 x top estimate ( which is €400 ) probably many times more
Yes on 105.012, no on CB. CB facets are not visible and -66 or 145.012 would have a single bevel caseback.
You and I know that half of the time those estimates are useless, so I never go by them. I just look for help - sometimes here, sometimes elsewhere - to avoid missing problems, inconsistencies and other untoward surprises before deciding how much I'm willing to spend - or to refrain from bying for that matter. From what I see on the pic, I like the case and bezel, and so far in this thread the dial was the only part of the watch that occasioned negative remarks. And the state of the movement is unknown of course. So If I find the time I might drive over (on my own ) with a case opener in my pocket and hope they'll allow me to take a look at the inside. Depending on what has to be replaced I'll set myself a limit. Then I'll buy a few bottles of olive oil and wine and drive home. And finally I'll let the others amaze me when they buy the watch for a multiple of my limit.