Hello!
My name is Marcin and I have always loved the Speedmasters. Well I found this one and I cannot find much information about this particular one. Seems to not be a Professional, has a red second hand, and does not state Swiss made on the bottom. This is the only photo I have of it.
I was wondering what all you could tell me about it?
What do I have to look out for?

 

Wow, this is a hard one.
To my prototype-untrained eye this liiks like an Ed White or a 105.002 (in need of a service?) that has had a rough life. Hard to say because the dial looks un-stepped and the Swiss made should be there, so hard to say if it's an early dial or a service one...
The hands seem to be the correct ones, but have been painted in a very strange red shade. From the patina on the chrono-seconds hand I would say that it was done a long time ago.
Anyways, this is a mess but there is some potential.
Lastly: we understand that you don't want to give away the source of the picture, but for us to give helpful information, we just need more pics, especially of the movement/casback and a better one of the dial.
Cheers

 

Need to know if that's rust or just funk, too.

 

I understand that we need more pictures. It is at a shop, that opens only on the weekends and I just saw this there. I am wanting to go look at it, but cannot till Saturday. I have reached out to them to get more information though.

Funk I can live with, but I would be worried if its rust.

 

Certainly have them take off case back for inspection.

Dial looks to be repainted.

Assuming serial number matches case back, this is still a pretty big project watch.

If in fact rust, how deep does it go. Could be a huge problem, but then again could be very minor.

I guess it comes down to the buy price and how much time (and money) you have to make it right.

 

Taddyangle, you mention serial numbers. Can you please elaborate more on the serial number matching the case back?

 

The bezel alone though appears to be a blue DON - which has some rather not insignificant value on it's own.

 

If I may ask, what do you mean?

 

I'd say someone worked hard on this watch, Mr. Rust to a great portion too. At least the Subdial hands appear to be painted red.

 

Caseback states the model. Serial number on the movement can be checked to make sure it's right for that model and year range.

As for the bezel... well due to watches being serviced and the bezel replaced, original correct bezels go for more money then you would expect. This seems to have aged to a blue color which can command a small premium.

 

Ah, thank you Foo2rama. So the caseback should have the same serial as the movement?

Sorry for all the questions, trying to learn.

 

Called them and they said its 2400.00 and needs about 300 dollars worth of work, will be going to check it out on Saturday.

 

Might be a 2998/1-2 dial based on the shorter minute marks on the subdial with the round "O" on OMEGA. Hard to tell if there is a step on the dial. Something strange with the long indices that appear longer than the minute tracks.

The caseback will indicate which reference for the watch and once we see the serial number we can tell whether it fits into the range.
http://speedmaster101.com/serial-quick-reference-to-78/

 

I think that your best option is to buy it, because at 2400$ it's a steal just for the bezel, and then either restore it (I don't think it makes much sense for you to do so) or sell it here/eBay.
A lot of people are going to be interested & will have the contacts/knowledge to bring this one back to life

 

I guess my question is what about this watch attracts you?
The hands are a pretty color, the dial is an interesting work of art, and yes the bezel is DON.

 

Well it will be more than $300. Aside, at $2400 it's a buy. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

What does DON stand for?

And what attracts me is that its used. Has a history. I just wish I knew what it was and as long as its not to horrible inside, I will own it lol.

 

The bezel alone is worth about $1k more than they are asking for the whole watch, minimum, in today's market. DON is "Dot over Ninety" - original bezels had the dot over the 90, rather than beside the 90. It's probably the easiest way of determining a '60s era bezel. Yeah, this watch needs some work for sure. But it is massively underpriced at $2400. A service will likely run you closer to $800, and that's without changing any of the parts like hands or dial. Buy it, take some better photos, and post it here. There is a lot of good research you can do at www.speedmaster101.com

 

These watches do not have serial numbers on the cases or casebacks, but they accepted range of serial numbers is known for the reference which will be on the case back.

DON stands for Dot over 90 bezel, phased out in 1969, and the replacement bezel ran through the 80's, and is called the DNN or Dot Next to 90. As watches from this era where serviced many of them had the bezels replaced due to wear, they got replaced with whatever was current production. While the differences between the bezels are minor collectors want an all original watch. Hence DON bezels trade at a premium due to the number of watches that are missing the "correct" albeit minor difference bezel.


As for repair... I see more then 600 for a service going on at least. Not to mention sourcing the correct dial...