... what you have, right?

You'll find a summary of the text at the end.

I've bought a '69 Speedy about a year ago. My first vintage Omega, with which I'm very happy with.
She's my daily beater on the correctly stamped 1039 bracelet.
Dial is in very nice condition, movement works flawless - the only thing I'm not completely happy with
is the slightly worn DON bezel.
I did enquire about DON bezels back then, but was to cheap to spend $800-$1000 at the time (silly me!)

Fast forward to today... I was watching this ebay auction:
http://ebay.eu/1QWigEo

It convinced me, that I would buy the transitional and ditch the '69 even if it meant spending a lot more
than I had spent on my '69.
I'd have a scarcer model in better condition, even though with a less appealing bracelet, for about
the cost of a DON bezel - at least that's what I was thinking.
The auction hit more than $5k even before I prepared for bidding.

After it ended - without me bidding - I realized that I'm crazy for not appreciating what I have.
It's all in my mind isn't it?

I love watches, I read about them on various forums every day...I enjoy my Speedy even with the imperfect bezel.
And while I would love to improve the look with a better conditioned bezel, I can't wrap my head around
the costs of the all so slight improvement.

Am I crazy, am I sane?

How do you guys feel about it?

Do we generally have a problem with accepting things the way they are? Always looking for improvement.
Always chasing the thing that could be better, or scarcer, or more sought after?

Sometimes my mind boggles, if I'd stop even if I'd buy a bezel... Maybe I'd find something else to nag about.
It drives my nuts.

Would really love to hear your take on this and hope I haven't bored you to death with the extensive writing.




Dude bitching about the increase in vintage Speedmasters and parts... but in a pretentious, philosophical way.

 

Interesting question! It is certainly a sickness I think. Like the people that can't leave the house without tapping the door frame 7 times and spinning around twice.

I've never seen a perfect watch. There's a few that I've seen that are close - ones maybe I could be happy with even! But I'll never own one of them, so I keep hunting for Good Enough ones and picking up parts when I see them in case I need them.

One day, when I'm gone, my daughters will probably dump it all for a tiny fraction of what it's worth shaking their heads at Daddy's weird obsession with ancient ticking timepieces.

 

You're not crazy within the context of this community or the watch world, but sometimes I have to stop myself and put things in perspective. Two watches I really want(ed) were a 3647N Carrera and a Transitional Speedy. I opted to chase down the Carrera last year even though I had the chance to buy a transitional for much less than this watch. It makes looking at the current prices of the transitionals painful considering it would have potentially been a good move to have bought both in short time regardless if it was financially irresponsible.

Like you're saying about enjoying what you have, I love my Carrera, and it too was a good purchase as prices have continued to climb, but it just makes seeing auctions like this one sting a bit less. My only solace is in threads like the one about the Nina found today - that maybe I'll stumble upon some antique store or oddball auction that lists one at an "average" speedy price or below, and it will make it all worth it in the long run.

 

I recently took my Speedmaster Auto Reduced that my wife gave me for our wedding present in to be serviced and Omega said they wanted to replace the bezel as there were a couple dings in it. I told them to do no such thing as those dings represented my history with the watch. I would argue that any imperfections make the watch that much more unique because they are one-of-a-kind. At least that's what I tell myself to make me feel better

 

Speedmasters.....

 

in your context there is a nice adage by which i live:

the richest person is not the one who has most, but the one who needs least ...

(sorry if the adage should suffer a bit while being translated)

cheers
Al

 

Whoa! That movement is only 48 units younger than mine!

 

The bezel on my 145.012 isn't perfect - its marks are revealed only in the photos I post to WRUW though. On the wrist, it looks fine. But I figure if I can snag a better bezel and come out below market price, I'll give it a shot! Til that drops in my lap though, I'm happy with the one I have

 

But as to your musing: I wouldn't 'ditch' the '69. I would keep it and just buy the '68 too.

 

Those people who do not fully appreciate what they already have, can never be happy.
This is true with watches, cars, homes and anything else money can buy.

 

with some that may be true. As it pertains to the OP, and many of us here, I think it's more about the thrill of the hunt... and sometimes we might get too caught up in the hunt. Even if you were able to hunt and buy all of the watches you want, that next one is still going to be exciting.

 

Let's see some pictures of your -69!

 

Works very well

 

I would argue that this holds true for things even money can't buy

 

Easy there! You're getting a little radical and this is a safe-for-work forum.

 

https://www.reverbnation.com/kellywkeeling/song/5167385-satisfied-mind

How many times have
You heard someone say
If I had his money
I could do things my way
But little they know
That it's so hard to find
One rich man in ten
With a satisfied mind

 

Fixed the problem a few years ago.

Bought mine brand spanking new 3 years ago and am happily converting it to the vintage I wanted one day at a time...

 

Hells yeah. I should have...

I think that is one of the main problems.
My mind shortly goes over to the next watch...and then the next watch...and then...
It's kind of an obsession even tough I don't buy them. I just feel that I need that particular model now.

Glad to see others feel the same way.

 

All right.
Please keep in mind, I'm in no way a photographer!











But now, here is the actual problem.
I've built myself a watch box. It has 3 slots, but only 2 watches.... FIND THE MISTAKE!

 

agree!!