Railmaster CK2914 movement discoloration

WatchCor · Mar 21, 2020

Hello

I was browsing for watches(as I often do) and this beauty catched my eye:

As far as I can see is that the dial and hands are original. Geiger measurements have not been taken. Seller is a reputable dealer and I have purchased from him in the past. Seller says that radium lume is original both on dial and hands.

My question is regarding the movement:

Why is there clearly a different color bridge in the movement? I can ask and will ask the seller if I decide to go for this (haven't made up my mind yet). Even with fair amount of wear and tear the case looks good, the caseback has seen a plier or two too many but I'm not too bothered by that. I really like that it has a naiad crown on it.

I would kindly ask for opinions regarding the movement color difference and if you have any other opinions for this watch.

S.H. · Mar 21, 2020

The rose colored plating probably wore off. It happens (mostly on watches from the 1950s and before, but not only), and it depends on what the bridges had been exposed to: moisture, cleaning agents, etc.

In this case I'd say this watch may have seen moisture from too close for some time, because of the hands (corrosion) and plating. Why is there no sign of moisture on steel parts and lume? Good question. Not that easy to answer without having it under a loupe.

OMEGuy · Mar 21, 2020

If buying in this price league, I'd generally ask for an Extract of the Archives and wanted evidence that case ref., movement serial and caliber are matching.

Case and dial look correct to me.

Looking at the lume cutouts, I have doubts about hour and minute hands. The second hand is wrong, it's too long.

Here is a picture of my 2914-1 with the "same" hands for direct comparison:

WatchCor · Mar 21, 2020

Thanks for the input @OMEGuy . There is EoA for this watch. Indeed you 2914 has a different shaped lume cutout on the minute hand. Could this and the tiny length difference in the second hand be variation ? 👎 📖Yours is much earlier as this is a 2914-4.

Agreed @S.H. difficult to say. I'll have to ask him if he knows what's the root cause for the color difference. I can't see any other signs of moisture, so who knows.

OMEGuy · Mar 21, 2020

WatchCor
Thanks for the input @OMEGuy . There is EoA for this watch. Indeed you 2914 has a different shaped lume cutout on the minute hand. Could this and the tiny length difference in the second hand be variation ? 👎 📖Yours is much earlier as this is a 2914-4.

Agreed @S.H. difficult to say. I'll have to ask him if he knows what's the root cause for the color difference. I can't see any other signs of moisture, so who knows.

I am not aware that there were broad arrow service hands (or hands looking like that) for the 2914, but maybe some experts can tell.

Have a look at the hour hand. It is different as well.

The second hand is definitely wrong. Also the colour is different...

To my knowledge, it wasn't even standard to have the broad arrow hands on the 2914-4. 😗

I dont think so, but I wouldn't exclude the possibility that everything's correct.

WatchCor · Mar 21, 2020

OMEGuy
I am not aware that there were broad arrow service hands (or hands looking like that) for the 2914, but maybe some experts can tell.

Have a look at the hour hand. It is different as well.

The second hand is definitely wrong. Also the colour is different...

To my knowledge, it wasn't even standard to have the broad arrow hands on the 2914-4. 😗

I dont think so, but I wouldn't exclude the possibility that everything's correct.

Good point, there's a slight difference to yours. The seconds hand is really shiny and not really "white" as in that one picture. The "patina" on it is very different to the hour and minute hands.

I have seen few -4's for sale with BA hands. That in itself of course doesn't mean jack s#*- regarding historical originality. 😬

It is advertised as "fully original and correct"

OMEGuy · Mar 21, 2020

WatchCor
It is advertised as "fully original and correct"

Whenever I read this in a sales description of a +/- 60 year old watch, my internal red lights are starting to shine brighter than usual.

watchyouwant · Mar 21, 2020

Buy it. All good. Nothing ages evenly after nearly 60 years. Hands are ok, second hand looks like a replacement. Not a big deal at all. Cut it off. Use one these Nail Clippers and determine the exact lengths with a tiny mark. Clip off sideways, then you get a pointed clip. Or buy the correct one on the Bay. Or here. That is not a deal breaker. Always assumed, the price is right for you. Good luck ! Kind regards. Achim

WatchCor · Mar 22, 2020

watchyouwant
Buy it. All good. Nothing ages evenly after nearly 60 years. Hands are ok, second hand looks like a replacement. Not a big deal at all. Cut it off. Use one these Nail Clippers and determine the exact lengths with a tiny mark. Clip off sideways, then you get a pointed clip. Or buy the correct one on the Bay. Or here. That is not a deal breaker. Always assumed, the price is right for you. Good luck ! Kind regards. Achim

Thanks Achim, price is ~16,8k€. How hard would it be to find a correct seconds hands?I prefer not to open it and tamper with the hands myself as I have 0 experience in watchmaking and -opening. 😬

A quick bay search turned up nothing. I assume a WTB here at ΩF would be the best chance. As a gut feeling I assume those are quite rare.

watchyouwant · Mar 22, 2020

That is overpriced. The way it is, it should be euro 12000. we are coming up to hard times , regarding selling vintage watches...... kind regards. achim

OMEGuy · Mar 22, 2020

Well, thanks to the virus, I have some time to educate myself. So I decided to look for genuine appearing 2914s with the same hands. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any.

The closest I could get to was this 2914-3:

omega-2914-3-sc-vintage-2914-railmaster-excellent-circa-1959-30301.jpg

I checked the hour hand and still find differences there (I did my best to scale correctly):

Railmaster CK2914 movement discoloration

WatchCor

S.H.

OMEGuy

WatchCor

OMEGuy

WatchCor

OMEGuy

watchyouwant

WatchCor

watchyouwant

OMEGuy

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