A Waltham. The listing is open to offers. https://www.ebay.com/itm/164226597040Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Ho-ho, important information there. In that case, I'll remove this from the thread. Which pieces looked particularly suspect, out of curiousity?

 

I wouldn’t remove it, just be advised to dig deeper.
He has a Bulova Ord dial that had been redone with A11 hands, there was a Longines with funky dial and a few others. I get he’s a watchmaker and turning these watches around on eBay, he doesn’t say “original”, but doesn’t disclose redial or cobbled parts either. Some old timers don’t care, if it fits it fits and make it look like new. Probably no intentional deceit there, just a different generation of collector.

 

Fair enough. Taste is taste, and if buyers are happy with it, as long as they go in eyes open, I've no objection. But I still took my original post down simply because, personally, I'm an advocate of full disclosure and I am not a fan of frankens and redials. I wouldn't want anyone to have the misconception that I was, even tacitly, supporting such practices, even if there was no intentional deception, merely sins of omission!

 

Aside of the Breitling crown, that watch may have been totally legit- I don’t know the brand so couldn’t say.
I know we as collectors here tend to prize originality above all, but I beleive this really is a modern affect of the hobby (like car collecting) and 20 years ago, a full restoration with repainted dial, new hands and case redone would have been received positively.

 

I actually have had multiple rows with old-school watch-sevice guys over this. Several have been very upset that I adamantly refused restoration, re-luming, etc.

 

I had to break my watchmaker of the habit of throwing it on the wheel. He was very confused when I was adamant about “dont polish the case, don’t touch the dial”. The next time I brought him a watch, he rebrushed the bracelet...I looked at him and said “I didn’t want you to polish it”, and he said “oh, I just corrected the grain, I didn’t polish it”
He is a sweet man and he finally gets why I don’t want it touched.

 

This one should go quick. Benrus at $60. https://www.ebay.com/itm/114343971621Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Super sharp. And if you're not into gold https://www.ebay.com/itm/224076993419Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

In the UK!!

This is a lovely watch! Price seems a touch high but he’s open to offers.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/224108846277Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Little Bulova with a great dial. Shows age but take a look: https://www.ebay.com/itm/392258138148Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Same here. I really like both of my regular guys, and enjoy my conversations with them, since they're both pretty funny and are absolute fonts of horological knowledge. They get exasperated with my stubbornness, but it's all in good fun and stays very professional. One of them warned me that the lume was flaking on a watch and he wanted to re-do it so that I wouldn't end up glowing in the dark. I replied that, given current conditions, if I lived long enough to be killed by the residual radiation from my watch collection, I would consider myself lucky indeed.

 

Another Elgin from the same seller. Decent https://www.ebay.com/itm/224033940853Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

Square BenrusPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network - nice wear on the dial!?

 

How difficult would it be to find a new crystal for this?

 

@Dr.Sascha

How’s this for a coincidence? The guys business is about half a mile from my house, I’ve lived here about five years and when I first arrived I thought how lucky to have an established watchmaker so close (it’s not a small operation, multiple staff, waiting room displaying all the eBay stuff in cases). I needed some batteries changing in some Seikos and an F300 so I thought it a good opportunity to suss them out. Seikos were £5 a pop but the Omega was £22.50 “because that’s an obscure one”. Haven’t been in since but I do keep an eye on his auctions in case he gets something worth scrutinising - his pictures are terrible.

 

Ok, here we go - a 25 jewel Buren automatic for $34 shipped.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-BU...535339?hash=item4b7e7af82b:g:gyoAAOSw2TFfIZL-Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

No clue. But if the crystal was replaced that watch would be stunning IMO.

 

Gotta say, my interest is piqued.

Just curious on something like this, is it the ~$200 for a service? Do you just wear it and hope it doesn't break? It's gotta be near impossible to find replacement parts, right?

 

Crystal could actually probably be polished out (wet sand, too much for poly), but these are standard GS crystal sizes on these.
Bulova was pretty standardized for movements (same movement in 15 different models), and parts movements are abundant on eBay. When I buy Bulova, it’s all about cosmetic condition of the case and dial (need to see past the crystal and determine true dial condition).

And as for service, these aren’t complicated nor rare movements, any local guy who is reputable should be able to do it, price is a sliding scale depending on where you are but under $200 seems right barring parts needed. Or just wear it until it dies and then get it serviced and find a parts movement.