"Repolished" What does it mean to you?

To me it means that the case has been polished/brushed/altered(even in the way the RR are now used to)/worked-on in anyway explicitly after the day it was assembled with all parts to make a watch and left the birthing factory to be sold to its first owner. I purposefully omit 'sleeve polish'. Even if the people who manufactured the watch got it in X years down the line for a service, and did anything to the case, its been re polished.

But thats just me (edit : and what I have gathered various people imply when using the word, even though it’s technically not correct)

I believe it.

MWO talks about it...

"Polished" is such a loaded term. What's acceptable at a given price point is on the buyer and how they perceive the watch. I laugh when I see a for sale post for a 50 yr old watch that declares "never been polished". I think it's a rare case that it can be said with absolute certainty for a watch that age. A single very, very light polish 40 yrs ago could remove so little material that it would be nearly imperceptible to the eye with the developed patina over the intervening years.

I bought my CK2998 new, it's three years old now. I will never allow it to be polished by a watchmaker. I will gladly post in 27 years from now a 30 year old watch that has never been repolished.

With high res pics I think you can easily conclude a level of repolish that is acceptable to a collector. So I'm not sure why one would ask this question. I guess what is obvious to most of us here is not obvious to all here. But in cases were opinions on the level of repolish are needed, this is the place to come for feedback.

Since I have no vintage Speedmasters that have not been repolished I will share this one.

I bought this used. I think it has never been repolished, but how can I know for sure? I have looked at other pics online to compare. I think my example is the best I have seen. (FYI, This is a military version of the X-33 and Omega services it free of charge for life of watch).

This is 50 years old, minus a few months. Never been polished, but not for sale either so perhaps it doesn't count.

Those beaten-up lugs? That was me during 50 years minus a few months of ownership . Mainly damaged while trying to stop that bracelet from rattling.



Ooops, bracelet not shown here -- it was in Hong Kong to get the horrid Rolex "W" springs replaced.

I will confess - this is a question I asked sellers when I first started lurking on the forum. I recall distinctly my ineptitude in fathoming our what unpolished meant. Despite reading many threads describing how folks felt unpolished watches were undesirable I just couldnt distinguish the difference.

It was only when I started actually buying watches that it became clear what the differences were. Step dial is another example

My point - is this a right of passage in vintage watch collecting that one can only truly appreciate when you have the watch in hand and something to compare against.

Edit - to answer the question I agree with the earlier posts. It’s when there is noticeable lack of definition where it should be clear

I guess that was the point I was trying to make with regards to for sale posts. I didn't say it was impossible to say unpolished with certainty on a 40-50 yr old watch, just rare. For the very reason your example illustrates - rock solid provenance from day one that it hasn't been polished. You're rarely going to see a 50 yr old watch, for sale by owner, pop up for sale. Even ones that are purported to be bought from the original owner - look how many times the original owners memory was apparently fuzzy because a part was replaced at some point but was supposedly never touched according to the owner.

@padders There is a change in policy, at least this is what the OB conveyed to me. Staff that assisted me is a former watchmaker that worked at the service center, and now works at the OB. He states that they no longer polish titanium watches. In addition, I wrote in several places "DO NOT POLISH" on the paper work and the protective sticky tape I place on my bracelet clasp was still intact and the small case back scratches were still there as well.

To fess up, I was one of the two people to ask @Spacefruit about if a case had been repolished. Perhaps I was a bit too hasty in my wording as what I was truly wanting to see was a face-on shot to gauge the symmetry of the lugs (it appeared there was some sort of upload glitch the prevented his face-on shot from appearing on the 145.022-69 listing originally which was later corrected by William). My hastiness was mostly due to the fact that I suspected, rightfully so, that the watch would sell quickly.

Speaking of Speedmasters, as others have noted, if it was serviced (especially prior to about 10-15 years ago), the factory finish was reapplied with a polishing wheel and the sides were rebrushed. If this was done by someone who knew what they were doing, this should not be a major issue. I have seen and held Speedmasters that have had case lines altered by a ham-fisted repolish. So when I asked, “has it been repolished?” what I should have said was “have the case lines been altered by someone with meat hooks for hands and eyes that were painted on?” Of course, I should have just stuck with one of my two questions from my original DM, which was “can you send a face-on picture of the watch?”

When I sell I disclose any work that has been done under my care and also any work that I perceive has been done given my knowledge. For instance, if I check a watch under UV and the hands stand out as a relume I will disclose that I believe that the hands have been relumed but can't confirm.

As to the specific question of polishing, assuming it has not been done under my care...I generally won't comment on it in a listing unless it is immediately obvious to me that it has been polished and to what degree. If a buyer asks the specific question I will give my opinion with photos to back it up but will reiterate that it is conjecture unless I am the original owner of the watch.

To the specific question ...

... "repolished" makes me twitch. It feels like a portmanteau word. Something of a cross between polished and refinished.

If a watch has been polished it may well be forgivable, even acceptable. For example, I'm wearing an 18ct dress watch from 1953. It has two noticable scratches. They're not deep but they are noticable. I will polish this case and remove those scratches as the watch will be more acceptable with a few hundreths of a mm less material on the bezel than a noticable mark.

That said, the question is about Speedmasters and not a dress watch. Speedmasters are tool watches. To my mind, they almost benefit from wearing scars. Of course, there is wear and there is damage. If we called wear "patination of the case", would we be more accepting of it? Is a "heavily patinated case" more acceptable than a case that has been polished? To my mind, the answer is whether or not the case still retains its facets; its symmetry. Has the polisher taken it too far?
More interesting, to my mind, are the "mark" cases. I could show you two Mark IIs. One original and one refinshed. The original has lost most of its sunburst and there are marks on the facets but it is still, unmistakeably, all original. The refinished one is ... beautiful. Which is worth more? Which is more desirable?
But if we're thinking of these marks as "case patination", at what point do they become "damage". If a case is marked up to the point that we think it's damaged rather than just honest, does a repair become acceptable? If the case is intact and wearable, would anyone consider, for example, refilling deep scratches and polishing back? On the other hand, if a lug was damaged, do you repair and refinish?

We're now in the realm of the miracle relumers. We've all seen dials that have been relumed incredibly well. It's possible to have cases laser welded, filled and polished to the point where it can look "as new". There are certainly watches whose value would increase by having that work done. And really, that's the question now.

We are all aware of the prices that early Speedmasters command. Is an original 2998-x in fair condition worth more or less than the same reference in perfectly restored condition? What if you can't tell it was restored? What if ... and here's the hellish question ... a previously unseen 2915 comes to market in near perfect condition and, years later, it is discovered that the case has been totally restored and the dial relumed? It doesn't take much to imagine the clamour that a truly excellent, fresh to market, 2915 would cause. Nor would it take much to realise the disappointment of the buyer to find it was not everything he first thought.

It would be interesting to see what sort of value the market would put on restored, rather than simply polished or refinished, early Speedmasters. I think that we're at the point such work could be carried out and be undetectable. We would have to rely on disclosure to know for sure. Then again, I'm just sleep deprived and typing to myself ... what do I know?

What sets your military version apart from the civilian version? Asking as I am unknowing.