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masteroftime
·After taking a few month hiatus from being active on the forum (while studying for the bar exam, traveling, and starting a new job). I have an overdue find to share with you and hopefully get some insight/advice from the more experienced Speedy owners.
I’ve always been interested in owning a “Premoon speedy” and figured it may be a nice graduation gift to myself. I had been keeping an eye on 145.012’s and 145.022-69’s. Well, while taking a lunch break in July I saw a recent listing (within 30 min) on eBay for a 145.012-67. The seller mentioned that the watch was serviced by Swatch in NJ in the 1990’s and they replaced the “dial, hands, etc”
However, I noticed it had a step dial and long indices. I took a punt on it and made an offer…..and it was immediately accepted. It seemed like a bargain! Here is a listing photo:
However, it almost didn’t make it through the ebay authenticators, because the reset wasn’t working properly. The sundials reset but the center chronograph seconds hand does not reset. The seller ended up offering a generous price reduction to help pay for a service. It ended up looking nice in person:
I replaced the 1171 with an original holzer that I snagged on eBay shortly after buying the watch. I’ve reviewed speedmaster101 and MWO, and it seems to be an original dial with the lume cleanly removed. The crystal, hands, bezel, crown, and bracelet are clear service replacements. The serial number is 26,54X,XXX. The case is pretty nice, but has signs of polishing (such as on the caseback). I haven’t done much to the watch since, as I didn’t want to unnecessarily wear the movement especially with the reset issue, but I’d love your thoughts.
I originally paid between poor and fair according to the currrent speedmaster101 chart. Was it worth buying in your opinions consdering the work it needs? I’ve since been pondering two options:
1) service as is. Considering the damage is already done from a past service, the scarcity of 321 parts and the lack of any flaking lume that would require the dial be replaced, I could send it to Bienne for a service and request they don’t touch the case. This way I could get the benefit of a flat service rate (including potentially pricey parts), modern service teardrop hand chrono hand, and a service decimal bezel. I figure the service parts with clean dial would at least look consistent. After the warranty runs out, it would still leave the option of #2.
2) Relume dial, find hands, and service it independently. I was offered what seem to be correct tritium hands and could have the dial relumed by Alchemist relumer. Then I can search for somebody to take on the service. This seems a little harder, as it seems that many watchmakers with parts accounts don’t like to touch 321’s. I’m also not sure this is as cost effective from a restoration perspective, especially if I have to buy a DON.
I’ve always been interested in owning a “Premoon speedy” and figured it may be a nice graduation gift to myself. I had been keeping an eye on 145.012’s and 145.022-69’s. Well, while taking a lunch break in July I saw a recent listing (within 30 min) on eBay for a 145.012-67. The seller mentioned that the watch was serviced by Swatch in NJ in the 1990’s and they replaced the “dial, hands, etc”
However, I noticed it had a step dial and long indices. I took a punt on it and made an offer…..and it was immediately accepted. It seemed like a bargain! Here is a listing photo:
However, it almost didn’t make it through the ebay authenticators, because the reset wasn’t working properly. The sundials reset but the center chronograph seconds hand does not reset. The seller ended up offering a generous price reduction to help pay for a service. It ended up looking nice in person:
I replaced the 1171 with an original holzer that I snagged on eBay shortly after buying the watch. I’ve reviewed speedmaster101 and MWO, and it seems to be an original dial with the lume cleanly removed. The crystal, hands, bezel, crown, and bracelet are clear service replacements. The serial number is 26,54X,XXX. The case is pretty nice, but has signs of polishing (such as on the caseback). I haven’t done much to the watch since, as I didn’t want to unnecessarily wear the movement especially with the reset issue, but I’d love your thoughts.
I originally paid between poor and fair according to the currrent speedmaster101 chart. Was it worth buying in your opinions consdering the work it needs? I’ve since been pondering two options:
1) service as is. Considering the damage is already done from a past service, the scarcity of 321 parts and the lack of any flaking lume that would require the dial be replaced, I could send it to Bienne for a service and request they don’t touch the case. This way I could get the benefit of a flat service rate (including potentially pricey parts), modern service teardrop hand chrono hand, and a service decimal bezel. I figure the service parts with clean dial would at least look consistent. After the warranty runs out, it would still leave the option of #2.
2) Relume dial, find hands, and service it independently. I was offered what seem to be correct tritium hands and could have the dial relumed by Alchemist relumer. Then I can search for somebody to take on the service. This seems a little harder, as it seems that many watchmakers with parts accounts don’t like to touch 321’s. I’m also not sure this is as cost effective from a restoration perspective, especially if I have to buy a DON.
