Speedmaster Mark II 145.014 - Serviced 2014 - reduced to £1750 - (w/extract - 1 Oct 74, UK supplied)

The thinning of the herd continues (necessitated by incessant acquisition...) Here's a really nice Speedmaster Mark II I picked up a while back, thinking it would make a suitable beater... but when I saw the condition I figured it's so nice that I'm a bit disinclined to wear it. I have another beater SMII anyway, so time for this one to find a new master.



Serial number: 32856xxx
Extract of the archives shows it was delivered to the UK and manufactured on 1st October 1974.
Comes on original 1162/173 bracelet which is quite short (about 7.25"/18.5cm) - it was a straight fit for me and I've got skinny wrists. I have a couple of links from another 1162 that I can throw in if required.



It's in amazing condition; I believe the case/hands/dial are all original, though the case is so smart I wonder if it's been refinished (if so, it's been done very well). It was serviced at STS in 2014, and got a new crystal, pushers and crown as well as a regular service. It keeps time well, winds really smoothly and all functions work as expected (chrono starts/stops/resets).



There are a few signs of wear on the bracelet, the tiniest of scratches in the sunburst finish on the top side (which experience with other SMIIs tells me is the place you're most likely to clunk it during wearing) and the case back has a couple of slip scars. The Speedmaster engraving on the case back is a little faded but the hippocampus is still pretty clear.



All in, it's a lovely Speedmaster Mark II and I'll happily take offers and answer questions, offer more photos etc, but the first person to offer my now-reduced asking price of £1750 (net to me) gets the watch, including delivery to a UK address.

My ideal would be a face to face transaction in/near London; I'll have the watch at the next Time4aPint if it's still available, or I'd be happy to show it in person at another time if we can agree it. Overseas shipping can be arranged at the buyer's expense.



I have a little selling experience here (example) but plenty of buyers references, ebay buyer & seller history etc. Contact me if you'd like more details. I'm a collector for my own enjoyment, so don't buy & sell watches for profit - I've only sold a handful, ever, though recent acquisitions and the waning of Mrs D's patience means that may have to change a bit more.

Waiting for the ebay auction as promised earlier... 👍

Here it is... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263031712065

I think I know how this will end 😉 In any case, GLWS! nice timepiece.

Are you interested in buying it but not at the advertised price, or do you just want to find out what the supposed market rate is?

I only relisted it because eBay were offering £1 sale fees so it's worth a punt. If there are no takers then I'll just keep it - I'm in no particular hurry and won't sell the watch for less than what I think it's worth.

IMHO (obvs), this is the best black-faced Speedy Mk II for sale today. (There is another nice one on WUS for $2200). I'm surprised nobody has swept mine up yet, given what some much less complete watches go for (eg unserviced, incomplete, beaten up one sold for £1200 on ebay last month).

I am interested in playing the auction game. But not if the starting price is above the OF price 😉

My thinking is that if a watch that is rather "usual/common" in the end doesn't sell here on OF for a few weeks, it's because it's priced too far above the market. (it might be a very nice MklI, it's "only" a MkII. And, man, I love the MkII in general, so don't get me wrong!)

if you truly want to sell, then put it on ePay at no reserve. Then, it will sell for sure - as a bonus, you will find out what the market price is. You might even sell it a tad above market price, because people sometimes do silly thing when they want to win an auction (I've paid above market on stuff that I really didn't want to lose to someone else 😉 ). Which is a good thing because then it pays for your ebay listing time/lsting_fee/selling_fee.

Also - I think all members here will confirm that one almost never recoup servicing costs at selling time. Which is why there are so few serviced watches for sale here... It's like vintage cars - you want the seller to do the restoration work, because these costs are simply never recouped at selling time...

If you are not "really" wanting to sell, and you have time to create an auction etc. esp. if ePay only charges you 1GBP, then you can do so for sure and list it at the price that has failed to get you a sale at OF. You might get one or two bidders, and in the end with the 1GBP fee, it might not be a bad idea after all, it could very well work - it's your watch and your decision 😀

As said, GLWS! Fantastic-looking MkII, and I hope you get what you want for it!

It looks like a really good piece and seems to be from a seller who is known and trusted on the forum. The prices for these have been creeping up recently but the market will decide whether they've reached what the seller wants. Anyway GLWS.

Amazed that this hasn't sold to be honest.

Hope it heads to a new home soon Ewan!

There are several interested parties so we may conclude something soon 😀 I'm off to the US today with watch, pouch & papers so if any of our US friends want to talk turkey then I'm all ears. It'll be in Seattle until Friday if you wanted to see it.

Regarding the discussion around usual/common watches not selling, it's a very fair point to think they're therefore priced too high - though experience in selling and buying cars also tells me that more common models tend to be sought after by people looking for a particular bargain, yet especially esoteric ones may stay unsold just because they haven't found someone else who loves then enough, yet.

Thankfully, unlike common cars, even relatively normal vintage watches are likely to rise in value over time, so if nobody wants to prise this particular watch from my fingers by coughing up what will be acceptable to me, then I'll wait, and someday, someone else will 😀

I think you're on to something there Ewan... as someone who's been sat getting very silly offers on something that's not that common, but not to everyones taste (it's not a moonwatch...).

Safe travels, and good luck with the sale.

Fully agree on the first part, and that logic serves the seller as long as he doesn't need the cash right now.

I'm more skeptical on the second paragraph - I'm crossing my fingers with you as I have a few of these "relatively normal" ones myself too and I'd love to see them gain value to pay for my retirement (or at least some extra gas once we've run out of non-electric cars and unleaded is like 20$/gallon!) 😉

GLWS, your MkII is gorgeous 😀

Unless you had a huge number of normal watches (priced at hundreds or even a thousand or two $/€/£), you'd struggle to fund your retirement 😀 You'd be selling a couple every month just to make ends meet...

I knew a classic car dealer who packed in his business and went to work in an auction house instead - his reason being that, even for someone as well connected as he, who was prepared to spend weeks in Italy and the like to trawl for stock, he couldn't find enough really good ones to make it worth his while and to provide him an income, and he didn't want to start dealing in 2nd rate ones because he didn't want to harm his reputation.

If you wanted to make a living selling vintage watches, you'd either need to amass a great stock before you start, or you'd need to be prepared to shift less than great pieces...

SOLD ... Thanks OF 😀