I have a 145022-69 Speedmaster with a very sharp DON and extract (production 12th June 1970 so, fifty years old in a few months) for sale.


I can sell with or without the 1039/516 bracelet. It has the best DON I've seen and I've put lots of high resolution photos so you can look for yourself. All photos are are unprocessed except to reduce the size and if you want the original which is larger, just let me know. Front and back of the watch head:






Side views of the head:





I bought the watch in 2018 and it was sold as serviced a few years earlier. I'm a watchmaker and have just reviewed it. It doesn't need a service at the moment. It's clean, lubricated, running well and everything works correctly. I've shown some details below but can supply more if you ask. Opening the watch shows:


The movement is nicely coloured and clean.

A few photos under the microscope:

The upper Incabloc has a good quantity of oil as marked with the red arrow (the bright ring):

Serial number. Screw heads are good.

Oil in the jewels:

Steel blocking lever.

Performance at 0H (30 minutes after full wind) shows good amplitudes and positional performance. Here a couple of positions - dial up and the lowest amplitude of the six positions:



Performance at 24H (24 hours later) shows a minimum amplitude of 225 degrees and six position variation of 20.6 seconds. As I said, the movement does not need a service at the moment.

Some bracelet pictures - I replaced most of the stretch springs as the bracelet felt very loose and now it feels good to me. I'd be very happy to keep the bracelet for a different watch.





I've hardly worn this since buying it. After purchase, I bought the extract and improved the stretch bracelet by fitting new springs as needed. It's cost me far more than £7000 all in and that makes it my most expensive watch by far so, I don't get any enjoyment out of wearing it as I am nervous that I'll damage it.

I'm not taking returns on this watch as it will be expensive to send and insure. There are lots of photos and you're welcome to ask for more. Payment is by bank transfer to my UK bank account and the watch is in UK with me. I will declare the full value on the customs forms if sent abroad. I'm fairly well known on here and you can see references for me in the reviews section.

For the head only, the price is £6050 (GBP) plus postage/insurance which will be £50 in UK and £100+ abroad.
For the head/bracelet, the price is £7500 (GBP) plus postage/insurance which will be £50 in UK and £100+ abroad.

If you are one of my watchmaking customers, let me know and I'll see what I can do to improve the deal.

Thanks for looking, and to the team at OF for this space.

Cheers, Chris

 

Please lord make all sales posts like this one, amen.

 

Beautiful Chris! Good luck with the sale

 

Lord

 

Beautiful watch and great description and photos. May I ask which camera you use?

Best of luck with the sale.

 

Perfect example!
Great sales thread mate!

 

Damn the rotten exchange rate, good luck with sale

 

Now OHPF.

Sorry about the flipping exchange rate! Seems like we've gone up a few % against the US$ in a week or two.

I use a Nikon D40x that I bought about 15 years ago plus extension tubes - nothing special. I always use manual focus as it lets me focus on the item I want. It's tripod mounted and in a well lit area but, you can still see all these exposures are a few seconds long as I work with smallish apertures (f22 for example).

The microscope pictures are taken with an attachment on my work stereo microscope. You can get in very, very close with that.

Now, if I ever get a digital back for my Bronica 645, I'll be happy as it's far nicer to use for me. Am not going back to shooting film, though...

Cheers, Chris

 

Thanks for the information Chris, I’ve been looking for a new camera (particularly for watch pics) and thought your photos were well focused. I struggle with the focus on my Sony DSC HX50 point and shoot, very hit an miss. I miss adjusting the points on my old Canon DSLR. The microscope is impressive.

 

Just goes to show a good example at the right price will not be around for long.
Congratulations!

 

The watch is now sold to a gentleman from this forum and I think he will be thrilled when he has it in hand. I'm keeping the bracelet for the moment.

Out of interest, there are discussions about the Speedmaster market being flat but, I believe I could have sold this watch 5 or 6 times based on the mails I received.

Many thanks to everyone at OF for providing the opportunity to sell here and for their work in general.

Cheers, Chris

@Badwolf - the microscope gets in very close. Here is a new 550 series balance staff and the end pivot diameter is 0.09 mm...

 

Exceptional examples like yours will always be sold fast, especially when priced well. I was also thinking hard about buying it but unfortunately currently no funds...

 

Congratulations on the sale Chris.

I also don't believe the market is flat, it has levelled out a bit after a huge rise in values. As stated, exceptional examples are particularly sought after. It'll be interesting to see where the values do go, especially as the majority of vintage examples are ending up with collectors. Supply and demand will rule as always. I still see many looking for early references and the supply is limited.

0.09 mm, wow! That's a whole different ball game.