No, the straight lug one Phillips had at auction, that failed to sell, had a extract stating a blue dial. This is probably an Ultraman type situation, with an extract provided based on photos of the watch in its current condition as opposed to some information stored in the archives.

 

I viewed the sale and came to slightly different conclusions to those formed by viewing online.

The Ed White was so polished the lugs had no definition, and were like knives. The dial had been re lumed around the left side plots. This was a terrible example but it sold for £5,500+24% so less than you need to pay for a decent one. It was cheap, but it needed to be.

The blue was correct, certified and one of the best blue dials I have seen.

The 145.012 that sold for £9000 was one of the nicest examples I have seen, with a very clean dial and good case. It was very, very attractive as the price showed.

The other Speedmasters were priced a bit high for what they are.

Anyone buy anything?

 

I didn't go for the Spedmaster's but had a nibble at the Blue Snowflake (lot 188) which hammered at £8,500. I did buy lot 209, a 16600 Swiss only Rolex Sea-dweller, pretty much a full set. Saw it in hand and it was pretty mint.

 

I liked the snowflake. It was very good in the metal
I bought the 145.012 as it had the nicest dial on a 145.012 I have seen for a long time. Bit expensive, but I haven’t seen a better dial. And the blue. Of course I bought the blue. It was spectacularly inexpensive.

 

I was watching the auction and wondered if you had bagged the blue. Congratulations.

 

Congratulations on the won lots!
Good to read that the blue is in the hands of a passionate collector rather than another speculator.

 

I note the Soleil has a recent extract, the second that has come to light. I believe it was once widely assumed the Soleil dials were fitted as rare service dials sometime around the end of the 1960s/early 70s. This extract seems to suggest that this was fitted from day one in 1964. If so it is interesting that it has short indices since those weren't seen on the std dial until the 1970s. I am not casting doubt on the watch which looks an amazing example but as Cad says above, it does raise questions over the extract process once more. I just took a look at MWO but they also are ambiguous on these. If they were an option from new it seems strange that there has never been anything documented found. But then there has been nothing found suggesting they are service dials either so the mystery continues.

 

Paddle 17? I noticed that guy was scooping up some moonwatches and your name came to mind

 

Lot 144, the brownie, Was the damage on the crystal or dial?
Anyone see it in person and can comment.

 

I love that you refer to a 37k usd vintage tool watch as “spectacularly inexpensive”. You're one of my primary Speedmaster collecting enablers. And I hope you’re right! I didn’t get to see it in person, looking forward to seeing pictures of it in your site.

 

Congrats on these two, mainly the blue induces more than just a hint of jealousy. Enjoy!

 

I've updated the original post with the hammer prices for anyone who doesn't care to click through all the links to lots

And well done, William, you got the best two of the sale it seems...

 

Looked pretty attractive to my eyes

 

I did buy a spectacularly inexpensive Seiko today

 

Slight thread drift...

Lot 125 Jaeger Valjoux 72



Lot 249 Zenith desk clock. Sweet deal as it came with free batteries.

 

For me, I am sorry to say, this watch was something i could not live with. The colour of the dial was attractive however the plots were green and even worse was the 1 o’clock marker. I just could not un-see that damage. The market is almost missing and does not match the rest.

I found each time I looked at the watch, my eye landed on the ugly marker.

If you ask me a dealer bought it and will return to market with new lume. It was that bad

 

As it seems to be auction season, what other auctions are on people’s radars?

 

£8k plus a relume, i can’t see much profit left for the dealer?
It has a nice bracelet and don, but where is the (retail) ceiling on these?