As part of my obsessive auction-watching, I was keeping an eye on Fellows sale today. Didn't get to see any of their lots in the metal at their viewing day last week, but if history is anything to go by, they're pretty fairly described and photographed on the-saleroom site, though not always exactly top drawer. My opinions only; I'm doing this to make the hammer prices a matter of record (as the auctioneers refuse to publish them on aggregators sites) and for a bit of practice spotting the good & the bad; so if you disagree, please issue corrections!

There were quite a few Speedmasters (including some modern ones as well as vintage), but of interest to me today was:

Lot 147 - Speedmaster Mark II

IMHO, a fairly tatty looking Mark II - probably original dial & hands though what's left of the lume isn't very attractive. Case looks like it's been refinished in the past and has acquired a few scuff since, the crystal is a bit grubby but fairly clear and the bracelet & end links are incorrect.

Estimate £1000-1500. Hammer price - £960, so £1225 including buyers premium & tax/fees if bought online. Not a bad price, though much better is available for not a lot more if you look in the Private Watch Sales section of ΩF

Lot 180 - Ed White

If the defining thing about an Ed White is the dial, then it's a stretch to describe this 105.003-65 as an Ed White, as it's had a service dial at some stage - and service hands by the look if it, too. There are many worse DO90 bezels out there. Does the case look polished? Not recently, anyway, and it's wearing some kind of Frankenbracelet, with the clasp from a 1035 and the links from - not sure really. And the end links are certainly non-OEM. Who knows what is in the case, though Fellows do provide the serial and it is in-range.

Estimate £2500-3500. Hammer price - £5300, so £6760 incl BP if bought online. TBH, unless you have an Ed White dial & matching hands already, you might as well buy an honest mid-70s cal 861 watch for 1/3 to 1/2 of that, which is at least correct.

Lot 202 - Speedmaster 145.022-78

At first glance, a reasonably tidy -78 Speedmaster with an honest estimate. Not sure quite what's going on with the lower pusher (or which parts bin it came from), or what happened to the lume on the chrono hand, but the dial, case and bezel look fairly OK to me. The bracelet seems to be a legit 1171/633 that's dirty but otherwise looks in OK nick and probably original.

Oh, buried in the text - "movement not currently functioning" - so factor in another £300 get it sorted out, or more if you want to tidy up a couple of niggles.

Estimate £900-1400. Hammer - £1700, or £2170 incl BP. Seems quite a lot for a relatively unremarkable watch.

 

OF to the rescue!
https://omegaforums.net/threads/very-nice-105-003-ed-white-dial.58564/

 

Add buyers commission and the replacement parts required and the Ed White starts to look pretty expensive.