Speedmaster Mark II back from Tanner! (Thank you all!)

Good afternoon Omega Experts!

you guys have been a great help to me and my omega collection is only growing now with your help.
I’ve wanted a speedmaster, and recently acquired a “project”… when I bought it online I was told “it works, it’s keeping time… but it needs some love”…

well here it is - it’s a bit more beat up than I thought it would be. I’m curious what you guys would do.
1 - keep it as is - put a new original bracelet on it.
2 - polish it - try and get it looking as decent as possible and put a strap/bracelet on it.
3 - I’d love to restore it but no idea where or how much that would cost.
4 - return it, to much of a headache?

for reference I have $1500 into this as is. I know it’s a good price and figured I may need to put another $500 or so into it - but I was not expecting as much damage in a way.

what would you guys do? Or please point me in any direction! Thank you so much for the help!

I am heading to a jeweler shortly to ask him to open it for me and see what it looks like inside. For now. It’s a mystery. Will update as well!

thank you all again, appreciate your time and help!

Photos of the inside once opened just now.

I wouldn’t have it polished. Just clean, polish crystal, and service, and then wear it. It wants to be worn. That bracelet does look terrible however. I’d change that for sure.

I do agree! The bracelet is a disgrace. Going to get something much nicer!
It definitely needs some love - just wanted to reach out and ask what you guys think.


Numbers inside read, “32214898” on the movement

inside the case back is 2750/67

Sorry, can’t help you with the numbers at all. For all I know it could be a fake. I’m not into Speedies although I like yours. Love the red /orange vibe.

Great buy! I would send it to Tanner Morehouse and have him work wonders on the case. An appropriate bracelet should not be hard to find, and also add a strap like this:

Hi,

a 22 million serial number seems too early for a Mk 2 in my opinion, maybe it´s a 32...?

kind regards

Max

My mistake it is 32!

Tanner has mine now. I hope to get mine back soon. Can't wait.

Well!!! The day has come!! Just got my watch back from Tanner!!!
As he told me when he first got it… “most people don’t believe that it’s the same watch… I promise you, it is”

Looks brand new!!

Looks sweet!! Wear in the best of health.

That IS impressive. Could you give us an idea of how many of your children you had to sell into slavery to fund the work? Don't answer if you kidnapped and sold someone else's kids.

Congrats OP! Looks great and nice to see a happy story

I sent my first case to restoration, so far it's been a stressful journey, I hope mine has a happy ending too 😀

Wow, case looks fantastic - I’ve a Flightmaster that could benefit from such a treatment 😀 Wear it in good health!

😀 No children were harmed in the making of this watch.

Honestly- I got the watch for roughly $1,600. I paid roughly $75 prior to get a strap on it and quickly looked at. Prior to this posting. Now a waste of that money. However, from these posts and this forum I was recommended Tanner Moorehouse. After a Google search, found him and reached out. My concern, also per this discussion was “pitting” on the case, or damage.

I really am not sure what type of wizard Tanner and his team are. He informed me “it doesn’t matter the watch will look brand new like it did in 1970 when we are done”.

He quoted me $2,000 for everything. We came in slightly under. At first I was hesitant- just because I did not intend to spend roughly $3,700. I am in the Navy. 30 years old and this is like a months paycheck. No kids, but recently engaged. I’ve been a collector of sports cards for years. I got into watches about 4 years ago and it’s been a fun journey since. Learning, and collecting.

I have really loved collecting Omegas and when I saw this speedy all beat up I knew it needed to be revived. When I was contemplating what to do with it with Tanner on the phone he explained to me - he sells these watches fully restored for $5,000+ “easily” - maybe even 6k+. He also explained to me he has been doing this a bit and has literally seen hundreds of Speedmasters, including Mark II’s as he wears one daily and they are his favorite watch personally. He told me the dial on mine is the “one of the best he had ever seen” somehow the watch was 100% original - other than the bracelet - damaged a bit - was well loved but the dial remained perfected. That as well made it much easier on the mind to follow through.
I thought about doing a service and case restoration- but opting out of the bracelet ($500). But I realized, if I’m going to do it. You might as well do it right. So here we are 😀

Not that it’s all about the money - this watch is not for sale. It’s for me and me to enjoy. But I’m roughly $3,700 into it now and being told it has “value” more than that made it easier to pull the trigger and put nearly 2k into the restoration.

It truly came out better than expected. 32 million serial number - looks brand new… and honestly - if I just had extra money lying around and Tanner had one of these for sale at $5k - it honestly sounds like a hell of a buy to me. But maybe I’m bias now

thanks so much to everyone for the help here. I’ll continue to update my journey of Omega collecting!

edit; I should mention - I told Tanner - “it’s almost too nice, I’ll be like scared to wear it / damage it”… to which he said, “just remember, we can always make it look brand new. It couldn’t get much worse than it was. Love it. Enjoy it and if it ever needed to be fixed. We can do that” And that’s what I plan to do. Love and enjoy it!

As a long-time client of Tanners, I can assure all that this is very typical of his work. And he is a pleasure to deal with.

IMO you did the right thing -- and did well!

That last paragraph just echos my philosophy. Wear and enjoy 👍


My 1969/70 Heuer owned from new, but I am happy with its dinged case 'cos they're my dings