Red Racing 145.012 Speedmaster on auction May 14th

[Risto]

Saw this one on the upcoming Antiquorum auction on 14th May:
https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/lots/omega-ref-145-012-speedmaster-racing-lot-360-47?page=1&q=

As these rarely come up, I thought it would be nice to highlight the event.
I am not going to buy one, because it's out of my league.
(Being a fan of these dials I have one homage racing Mark II in 105.012 case )

So, what do you think of it?
I am no trained specialist on these, but when compared to some I've seen before...

Pretty good case, sharp. Perhaps has been polished a bit from the inside of the lugs. At least, why is the gap there?
Correct and well-preserved DO90 bezel.
The lume is gone. I have often seen that the lume is present on every second marker on these models.
Running seconds hand is replaced, should be red.
The hour and minute hand seems a bit too orange. These should be more red, but perhaps it's ok.
I am not sure if the chronograph hand is correct. I've seen different ones.
Flat foot crown original. Pushers too.

@Spacefruit probably could correct me if needed

Is this going to stay under 6 figures price?

Edited: Apr 18, 2023

 

[PerJ]

AQ i always dodgy. I would only consider bidding there if I had seen the piece in hand on the preview.

 

[Spacefruit]

I have no problem buying from AQ and would have no issues buying based on these photos. AQ is like a fast flowing dirty river - you never know how good the things are going to be until you pull them out, but for sure you know you are going to see high numbers of varied things pass by close up. No other house has such a volume or variety - true you have to be careful but I would rather sit there viewing than many other places, it’s far more interesting educational and informative. Just make your own judgements. It is a great place to find fake speedmaster bezels.

this watch is very rare. The number is in the upper range. Some of them share the 2607xxxx of the Ultraman.

this is the two line non professional version which shares the dial layout of early dials. No T marks either. The professional version has smaller sub dials ( and subdial hands, though that passed by some watchmakers leading to hand drag when they replaced hands with standard size).

there is debate as to which one is “better”. They are both extraordinarily rare and attractive, I’ll take either.

This one has the long needle, again same as the Ultraman but white. There is variation in chrono hands seen, I don’t know if that is because they were changed. The other one commonly seen hand, is the drop end. I value the needle hand more.

The character of the dial is immensely important to value. Also the quality of the dial. They must be attractive and without damage to reach stratospheric prices. I saw one with damaged lume reach 40,000, and one with NoS dial and top condition go for 100,000 at a similar time.

AQ sold a very similar watch to this for over $200,000.

I wonder how deep the market for these is. They are fiercely contested, but once each of us has one, who else is a buyer? Maybe these will become the Paul Newman of Speedmasters, and every rich watch buyer needs one! If so, there are not enough around - some say 20 pieces, but I think slightly more.

there are several loose dials about - we have to be certain they are original watches. It is pretty straightforward. We have to examine the hands and dial together checking the age of paint and commensurate patina. But it’s pretty obvious for an intuitive eye.

many were sold in UK and used quite strongly, which amused me.

Here is a little factoid from a long gone museum employee - some can’t get extracts, as they contain movements from off beat gold calibre 321’s and they were recased. This was discovered when I acquired one from the original owner, full papers and box, and the museum said the movement was from a 18kt watch, a known poor seller. I was told it was not uncommon to melt the case and re use the movement.

there is also a great theory by the Davidoffs proposing that the Black Racings and the Ultraman were an attempt by Omega to boost flagging sales of the 145.012.


AQ sold this one for €195,000 last year, Jan 2022

 

[hansaboy]

Spacefruit

I have no problem buying from AQ and would have no issues buying based on these photos. AQ is like a fast flowing dirty river - you never know how good the things are going to be until you pull them out, but for sure you know you are going to see high numbers of varied things pass by close up. No other house has such a volume or variety - true you have to be careful but I would rather sit there viewing than many other places, it’s far more interesting educational and informative. Just make your own judgements. It is a great place to find fake speedmaster bezels.

this watch is very rare. The number is in the upper range. Some of them share the 2607xxxx of the Ultraman.

this is the two line non professional version which shares the dial layout of early dials. No T marks either. The professional version has smaller sub dials ( and subdial hands, though that passed by some watchmakers leading to hand drag when they replaced hands with standard size).

there is debate as to which one is “better”. They are both extraordinarily rare and attractive, I’ll take either.

This one has the long needle, again same as the Ultraman but white. There is variation in chrono hands seen, I don’t know if that is because they were changed. The other one commonly seen hand, is the drop end. I value the needle hand more.

The character of the dial is immensely important to value. Also the quality of the dial. They must be attractive and without damage to reach stratospheric prices. I saw one with damaged lume reach 40,000, and one with NoS dial and top condition go for 100,000 at a similar time.

AQ sold a very similar watch to this for over $200,000.

I wonder how deep the market for these is. They are fiercely contested, but once each of us has one, who else is a buyer? Maybe these will become the Paul Newman of Speedmasters, and every rich watch buyer needs one! If so, there are not enough around - some say 20 pieces, but I think slightly more.

there are several loose dials about - we have to be certain they are original watches. It is pretty straightforward. We have to examine the hands and dial together checking the age of paint and commensurate patina. But it’s pretty obvious for an intuitive eye.

many were sold in UK and used quite strongly, which amused me.

Here is a little factoid from a long gone museum employee - some can’t get extracts, as they contain movements from off beat gold calibre 321’s and they were recased. This was discovered when I acquired one from the original owner, full papers and box, and the museum said the movement was from a 18kt watch, a known poor seller. I was told it was not uncommon to melt the case and re use the movement.

there is also a great theory by the Davidoffs proposing that the Black Racings and the Ultraman were an attempt by Omega to boost flagging sales of the 145.012.


AQ sold this one for €195,000 last year, Jan 2022

Amazing reading as usual!

And I had to read it a couple of times to grasp it...

 

[PerJ]

Spacefruit

I have no problem buying from AQ and would have no issues buying based on these photos. AQ is like a fast flowing dirty river - you never know how good the things are going to be until you pull them out, but for sure you know you are going to see high numbers of varied things pass by close up. No other house has such a volume or variety - true you have to be careful but I would rather sit there viewing than many other places, it’s far more interesting educational and informative. Just make your own judgements. It is a great place to find fake speedmaster bezels.

Well put. No one should ever fully trust what the auction house says. AQ is just next level in many ways. Things that get turned down elsewhere often finds its way there. As you say they have a massive catalogue that consists of good, bad and outright fake items. And they don’t seem to give a shit.

This is of course not a beginners watch so hopefully most interested will have knowledge about what they are looking at. I just wanted to add my thoughts on AQ as my trust for them is non-existent. That said they will of course have the occasional gems.

Thanks for sharing your insights of the piece as well.

 

[The Master of Speed]

I know the watch, it was offered to me one year ago, I think the private owner
finally decided to put it up for auction.

I had the opportunity to observe it from more photos, it's a beautiful watch in great shape!

as I already wrote in one of my post, the serial number is part of the main batch (26.545.xxx) for these watches sold to Switzerland, I consider it genuine and correct.

 

[cristos71]

Great post @Spacefruit, really insightful.

 

[Risto]

So, the auction resulted in 56k CHF + fees.
I guess this went for a pretty reasonable price.

 

[w154]

Risto

So, the auction resulted in 56k CHF + fees.
I guess this went for a pretty reasonable price.

Hammer was 45,000 CHF. The 56,250 CHF already includes the 25% buyers premium.

https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/auctions/360/price-list

 

[Risto]

w154

Hammer was 45,000 CHF. The 56,250 CHF already includes the 25% buyers premium.

https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/auctions/360/price-list

OK, didn't know this price included fees! Then it's an even better price.

 

[w154]

Risto

OK, didn't know this price included fees! Then it's an even better price.

As a general rule, if you see a listed price that’s a slightly complex number then it almost certainly includes fees. At a level around 50,000 CHF the auctioneer isn’t going to take bids in 250 CHF increments. Always a useful indicator if it’s not written whether a result is inclusive (or not) of the buyers premium.