That's an helluva of a 2998! A truly magnificent piece!
I'm especially thrilled (besides by the wonderful dial of course) to see a unique watch returned from service, and where it has so obviously escaped the bad faith of polishing! A big congrats on a very sympathetic renovation of a piece of watch history! Wear it in good health
Ah, sorry I missed this Spacefruit. BASE 1000 is certainly correct, I'm just wondering if it would have survived servicing 10-15 years later, given its current state compared with the hands. And the crown too. I understand that the Mercedes/Naiad, whatever it's called, crown was early and short-lived. Would it have survived a service?
What a beauty - the bezel condition (ghost bezel for you Rolex nerds😎) and tropical dial really make this watch. For me, this watch and the 2915 broad arrow are two of the greatest chronographs ever made.
I personally wouldn't worry about the hands. The alpha hands look correct (minute hand extends all the way to the minute markers) and the lume matches the markers perfectly. As far as the chronograph and subdial hands go, they do look pretty pristine, but I've seen a few never opened 2998's and 2915's that have had similar condition hands (also badly aged ones). Having said that it's entirely possible they are replacements, but seriously, whatever. Best to put it out of your mind, I say, and enjoy this great watch to the fullest! Congrats!
Would love to see photos of the "never opened 2998 and 2915" watches you mention.
What a beauty - the bezel condition (ghost bezel for you Rolex nerds😎) and tropical dial really make this watch. For me, this watch and the 2915 broad arrow are two of the greatest chronographs ever made.
I personally wouldn't worry about the hands. The alpha hands look correct (minute hand extends all the way to the minute markers) and the lume matches the markers perfectly. As far as the chronograph and subdial hands go, they do look pretty pristine, but I've seen a few never opened 2998's and 2915's that have had similar condition hands (also badly aged ones). Having said that it's entirely possible they are replacements, but seriously, whatever. Best to put it out of your mind, I say, and enjoy this great watch to the fullest! Congrats!
Omega museum has pieces that they say have never been opened (went 4 or 5 years ago), and I saw a 2915-3 at HQ Milton a few years back that they believed also had never been opened before (well until they did). Not possible to verify either case, but a couple of them had clean chrono and sub register hands to my memory. I don't have any pics, but maybe you can ask HQ milton to see if they have any in the archives.
Not sure if they have unopened 2915s or 2998s since there are none pictured in AJTT and thousands of the museum watches are pictured in that reference. Would be interested in seeing the 2915-3 from HQ Milton but not sure if they still have records or photographs of that one. Certainly none of these mint watches to my knowledge have come up for auction anywhere.
