Again, Watches of Knightsbridge has listed lots of vintage Speedmasters for their upcoming sale. As previously (etc, etc, etc), here's a summary of the ones I find interesting - please feel free to discuss below.

Remember the buyers premium is 24% and if you choose to buy via The Saleroom, add another 6% for their fees. Generally, WoK have been pretty good at estimating their lots and they usually sell for at or higher than their low estimate. Their photography skills are still a bit meagre though, but they often have lots more photos they'll share if you ask. Full catalogue is on here and contains lots of other interesting lots, but for now, we're looking only at vintage Speedmasters.

EDIT - 20 July - I've added the final selling price details below

Lot 96 - 105.003-64 Ed White - est £10,000-14,000
hammer - £ 12,500 - inc fees: £ 15,500 $ 19,375.00 € 17,205.00

Replacement hands, the dial has a patina that is more blotchy than uniform discolouration, there's not much lume left. JB Champion bracelets can be picked up for a fraction of a 7912/6 and the blueish DON might be of interest to some, but it's not exactly in great condition. Extract shows full serial no and delivery date of 28 Dec 1965. There are far better Ed Whites available elsewhere.

Lot 97 - 105.003-65 Ed White with chocolate brown dial - est £9,000-12,000
passed

Replacement hands and crown, the bezel is too far gone to be attractive IMO, the dial is fairly even though looks to have a few spots and lost most of the lume. The bracelet is wrong (described as having 633 end links which have presumably been modified?) and described as in poor condition.

Lot 98 - 145.012-67 - est £6,000-7,000
passed

Bezel looks nice though I'm not sure about the described "blue/gray" hue. Hands are at least correct though I suspect may be replacements as they seem a bit too white. Lume mostly gone from the dial. A little bit of gunk around the (correct) crown and pushers, and on the edge of the bezel means it's not been overly tarted up for sale, aside from fitting a new strap. Extract says delivery to Kuwait in June '68, which might ring some peoples' bells.

Lot 99 - 145.022-68 Transitional - est £4,500-5,500
hammer - £ 4,500 - inc fees: £ 5,580 $ 6,975.00 € 6,193.80

Now this is more like it. Using the oblique angle shot as the straight-on picture made it look really washed out and unattractive. Nice creamy lume that's still mostly present, hands match the dial, the DON bezel is in good shape and a little dirty as is the flat-foot crown. Give it a clean, a dose of polywatch on the crystal and maybe a service in the next couple of months, and this could be a keeper. Is it worth £7k at its top estimate including fees, though?

Lot 100 - 145.012-67 - est £5,000-6,000
passed

Quite a high serial number according to MWO, which presumably makes this one of the latest 145.012-67s. Dirty (good...), bezel looks pretty good apart from the odd dent (80-75), the hands look like they match the dial, though that is a bit spotty and the lume is uneven and quite a lot has gone. 1039 bracelet looks to be original though it would be worth looking at in hand to see if it's all stretched and knackered.

Lot 101 - 145.022-69 - est £2,500-3,000
hammer - £ 2,500 - inc fees: £ 3,100 $ 3,875.00 € 3,441.00

A well-worn example, formerly belonging to an Australian adventurer. It could certainly do with a good clean and a service; the dial is a bit too far gone for my liking but at least it looks unmolested.

Lot 102 - 145.022-69 with chocolate dial - est £4,500-5,500
hammer - £ 4,500 - inc fees: £ 5,580 $ 6,975.00 € 6,193.80
http://speedmaster101.com/blog/brown-dials/

Nice, if you like this sort of thing. Serial number - just - squeezes into the range of known brown dials. The hands match the dial, the bezel looks good (aside from a couple of small dents) and the 1039 bracelet is presumably original. Extract says May 1970 delivery to Spain.

Lot 103 145.022-69 - £est £3,500-4,000
passed

Late pre-moon watch - the serial overlaps with straight-writing case back ranges, and the extract shows delivery to Switzerland in April 1971. Otherwise, pleasant if unremarkable, or maybe I'm just getting bored now?

Lot 105 - 145.022-69 Straight Writing - est £4,000-5,000
passed

A bit grubby but otherwise looks OK. Maybe the hands a little too bright compared to the yellowy dial lume? Extract shows delivery to Costa Rica in July 1971.

And that's it, folks. There are some other interesting Speedies - the choco-Mark II for example. Add your thoughts and comments below...

 

Every WoK auction I look forward to reading your thread. Thanks for the effort.

And...

 

Thanks for the thread.
They are not really attractive... but I am maybe too perfectionist.

 

Not the best state they are in but would not slap anyone wrist if they wanted to slam those watches on me

 

True. I think lots 99 and 102 are the pick, but none of them are likely to be cheap. It'll be interesting to see what that pretty knackered Ed White at the very top goes for.

 

Agree, 99 and 102 are also in not that bad shape.

But the Ed White I would not mind have for the weekend

 

@ewand Thanks for posting this and for the reviews, 99 certainly looks to be in reasonable condition and 102 looks like it would clean up nicely but as always the buyers premium could make these watches expensive when you factor in a service etc. Some of the non Speedmaster lots look interesting ie 95 Ranchero.

 

I would look elsewhere for cheaper thrills, though there are a couple of "interesting" looking lots in WoK if anyone feels like taking a punt.

Breitling Chrono-Matic

Show me another way of getting a Heuer-like Cal11/12 watch for less than £2k... I've got one of these acquired for similar money, and on a 70s era NSA bracelet it looks the retro part.


Rotary "Carrera" chrono

Can't help but think there's a whiff of neck bolts and dodgy stitching about this one. A Rotary-signed dial in what otherwise looks like a Heuer Carrera 45 Dato, even with Heuer Leonidas crossed out? I'd want to see it in the metal with a good loupe, but it's only 1/3 the price of a proper Heuer model...

 

I guess when something gets hot, lesser example get a halo effect. In general, these are in mostly pretty rough condition. Mint examples will get harder to find, and will command a premium.

 

Thanks for posting!
Agree they are all not particularly attractive. The harsh direct light on the photographs isn't doing any good. Some of the watches are shown in the catalogue from the angle like lot 99 and it makes them look better.

 

As others have said, good on ya for the effort. I think the photography is exaggerating some flaws in a handful of those Speedies and suspect they would be far superior in-hand. If anyone goes to a preview, please post some non-processed shots. Just a couple specific notes from me:

- I don't love the dial on the -64 up top, but the blue bezel is better than it appears, I bet. If you were to flick it from side-to-side, I bet it would alternate between the frosted / ghosted color there to a deeper blue. The effect is awesome in person.
- Lot 102 is the pick of the litter and will (or at least, should) go for much more than the estimate. Lume is great and similar to the bezel comment above, I bet if you put that dial in direct sunlight you get really nice, milk chocolate tones.
- I think one nice thing about the Pros listed above is they all seem to have really sharp cases.

 

Just had a chance to check out the catalog, and yep! The blue bezel is awesome.

 

I saved Lot 13 to my watchlist, not because I have ANY shot of spending upwards of US$25k on a watch, but a guy can dream...

If you're one of the other 3 people watching, you don't have to worry about me outbidding you at the last second.

 

Nice write up OP.

 

I'm one And I will not pay anything close to the estimate either.

 

Any guesses on what 102 will end up at?

 

Hamiltons go for definitely less than that. Pandas for more than the solid colour. Neither is common although a scroll through Google's images finds more pandas than plain..

 

Interesting, thanks for taking the time to post these up. That -64 is the latest serial I've seen for a blue bezel (assuming original to the watch, of course). Most seem to be earlier, around the 22.05-22.10m mark. Dial ruins it for me though...could never understand the euphoria around sunburst 16660's either. You might have gathered I don't to spotty or blotchy, at least not on a watch...

 

Having watched their auctions for a while, WoK are pretty good at estimating what they'll sell for and I think they often set a reserve either at or only just below the low estimate - so lot 102, est £4.5-5.5k, I reckon would go for about £5k, which with fees takes it to £6,200, or nearly $7,900 for our American cousins. That feels quite a lot to me, for an admittedly quite nice condition 861 with a good DON bezel, and what could be a nice 1039 bracelet. The bracelet and bezel on their own are probably worth £3k on a good day, so who knows, someone fixated with owning a brown dial might drive it higher...

Good luck with that

 

So am I right in thinking this one about to kick off in a few minutes?