Once again, my Saleroom alerts filled my inbox the other day as Watches of K'niggetsbridge unveiled their catalogue for next month. History has shown (and again) that they are pretty good at estimating what their watches will sell for, but that their photography skills are meagre (often showing a single image, sometimes overexposed).

Their next sale on 3rd November has a good few Speedmasters and many others; quite a few interesting Omegas, but for now let's concentrate on the vintage Speedies. Link to full catalogue, here. I'll share my thoughts - please add your own if you like, and I'll make any corrections that are pointed out.

Bear in mind there's a 24% buyers premium on these lots.
Updated with hammer prices below.

Lot 179 - 145.022-76 - est £3,000 - 3,500
Hammer price £3,200 - £3,968 inc BP

Pleasant if fairly unremarkable -76; unsure of the real lume colour as the photo doesn't do it any favours. The bezel and the bracelet are later than the watch head, and the (unpictured) "travel pouch" is, I bet, a red Omega service case so it's probably been back to base at some point.

Lot 183 - 145.022-71 NO NASA - est £4,500 - 5,500

Hammer price £5,600 - £6,944 inc BP​

Not bad - the dial has some spotting by the looks of things though some of that could be on the crystal - with only one shot, it's hard to be sure. I like the lume colour and the hands are even (possibly replaced at some point as their lume is lighter than the dial?). At first I thought there was something wrong with the bezel but it appears to check out - maybe it's just another photo that doesn't do the watch much justice.

Lot 184 - 145.022-69 - est £4,000 - 4,500

Hammer price £4,000 - £4,960 inc BP​

Another case of photography maybe not showing the watch at its best. Lume's a bit grubby for my liking but is the dial showing some chocolatey tendencies? The description says the bezel has faded to a shade of blue but I can't see that in any of the pics.

Lot 185 - 145.022-68 Transitional - est £4,500 - 5,500

Hammer price £4,400 - £5,456 inc BP​

I quite like this - the dial has some spots and blobs on it - though again that could be partly on the crystal - the straight ahead shot looks like there's a big mark just before 10 o'clock, but that's not shown in the more sympathetically lit angled shot. The bezel has clearly seen better days but it's still a DON, and the hands appear to match the nicely coloured lume. If it presents well in hand, I reckon this could top its estimate.

Lot 186 - 145.022-69 Straight Writing - est £4,500 - 5,500

Didn't sell ​

This has the hallmarks of the kind of thing collectors should look for - it's a bit grubby, the bezel's dirty (and to my eyes, nicely worn), it needs a service (chrono hand isn't resetting properly) but that probably means it hasn't been mucked about with. The bracelet is unknown - maybe a 1175?

Lot 187 - 145.022-69 220bis - est £6,000 - £7,000
Didn't sell

Interesting. A brown dial and a 220 misprint bezel - we're getting quite deep into Speedmaster nerdery here. I don't much like the colour of the lume on the dial or hands, and the bezel isn't exactly pristine. Otherwise, looks OK - it'll be interesting to see if the hammer price mateches the estimate, or if it shows that demand for curios like the unusual bezel or dial colour only come into play when the rest of the watch is good enough. Compare with the other -69s on offer above, for example.

Lot 188 - 145.012-67 - est £10,000 - 14,000

Hammer price £12,000 - £14,880 inc BP​

The dial is a pleasant brown, though missing some lume in places. Hands and dial look to match up, the case looks in honest shape and the 1039 bracelet looks pretty good. All in, quite a nice watch - but the pulsations bezel always makes me suspicious that it had a DON that has gone elsewhere (would the extract say if it had an original pulsations bezel? doubt it...). [EDIT] - seems that is an original Pulsations bezel, that is rare and to some, more collectable than a DON of similar condition.. Still, that's a hell of a high estimate to reach.

Lot 189 - 145.012-67 Ultraman - est £20,000 - 25,000

Hammer price £27,000 - £33,480 inc BP​

Wowzers. That's a premium for a different coloured hand. The dial looks pretty good, the bezel less so, case fairly unmolested but it has a service crown (and pushers? I can never tell without ferreting).
Maybe every Ultraman was produced in the same week of June 1968 ;-)

Lot 190 - 105.012-66 - est £6,500 - 7,500

Hammer price £6,400 - £7,936 inc BP​

Not bad. The description has some waffle about it being engraved with a Cartier stock number, but to me the bezel is OK, the dial looks good and the hands - though maybe missing some lume on the minute hand - seem to match, as do the crown and pushers.

Lot 191 - CK 2915-1 - est £60,000 - £80,000

Hammer price £76,000 - £94,240 inc BP​

I think I'll just leave this here​

Lot 192 - 105.012-66CB - est £6,500 - £7,500

Hammer price £6,600 - £8,184 inc BP​

Is it me, or have the lugs been polished at some point? Otherwise, quite nice - bezel OK, lume colour good, dial looks good excepting a little bit of missing lume.

 

Thanks Ewan, a nice overview and mostly the evaluation is on spot!

 

Bugger ultraman...now that's a rare reference Love your write-ups...keep them coming

 

he he - by the end of doing these lists, I'm like "yeah yeah, whatever" as there's quite a bit of cutting & pasting so I mistyped that one - now corrected, thanks

 

A question- for that 2915....I thought those were pretty much near impossible to get extracts right? I checked the site and it looks like the older extract version which apparently are not trustable..? Can anyone correct me if I'm wrong on this?

 

Why would an original pulsations bezel make you think that? Given that they're much rarer than DONs and have been trading at a premium, I doubt anyone would replace it to 'save' a DON. You might be thinking of the modern service pulsations, which people definitely buy and stick on. AFAIK the extracts don't mention the bezel types.

 

You see I keep seeing this posted that pusations and telemetry bezels are a valuable rarity but I can't say as I have noticed in the market. A lot of it is viewpoint I guess, if you have one you look at the rarity and if you don't, maybe the appeal passes you by but I would love to be enlightened, on this. Where are the $5K+ Telemetre and Pulsometer bezels changing hands? ebay?

 

Now that question opens a can of worms right there. The issue behind such extracts has caused some overheating on a couple of recent threads. Tread carefully!

 

That right there -> if you can find one, please let me know!

 

I can't speak to telemeter bezels as I have not looked into those but I have talked to several collectors who have bought or sold pulsations bezels at premiums to DONs. Like DONs the price varies based on condition but I have been told about very good condition ones going for $5, 6, and 8k in the past year. Again, if the seller doesn't think they command a premium then maybe you can get one at the same or less than a DON but I know most collectors who have one appreciate their uncommonness (and therefore wouldn't trade outright for the same condition DON, which you can buy online any day of the week).

 

Yeah, that's a very fair point that I haven't really considered much. Maybe my suspicion of Pulsation/Telemeter bezels is indeed baseless - I hadn't done the due dil to spot that this one is an original. It'll be interesting to see if the market values this watch like the estimate - every day's a school day … thanks!

 

The estimates generally look reasonable until you add the buyers premium and then you start thinking is this the best example at that price I could buy.

 

To me a Speedmaster just doesn’t look as attractive with a pulsation or telemetry bezel. I wonder if this has anything to do with their rarity possibly not being reflected by the price??

 

For a more detailed expert assessment, check out @Spacefruit's http://speedmaster101.com/blog/watches-of-knightsbridge-november-2018/

 

Very interesting post. I will be looking with interest at the two 105.012-66 and the brown dial 145.012. I got an e-mail regarding this sale from WofK. I wouldn't mind going up to London for a look. Are we able to go along to observe or do you have to register as a bidder?

 

I'd certainly value an original pulsations/decimal bezel at equal to or more than a DoN, condition being equal.

 

There are records missing around the serial, and upwards into the 19m range. I have never been able to get one for any of the 2998s I've submitted. I don't know if this reaches down into the 15-16m or not, but I think it does. I don't believe we know the specific range of serials that are missing precisely though . However, auction houses seem to be able to get them which has always raised some questions.

To add, extracts prior to about 2010 are considered fallible because until that point, Omega would include details on the extract that the requestor supplied along with the request. So they are generally suspect .

 

Sounds obvious but I do find It is very much worth the effort to get along to preview the watches if you can and with a loupe. I have had my opinion either reinforced or changed on numerous watches in the WOK auction by doing so. (please note, the preview times have now changed, as has the auction location).

Thanks Ewan for the great write up and taking the time to do so. Also to Spacefruit for your equally insightful opinions of the WOK auctions on Speedmaster101.

 

As far as I am aware, you can go along to preview without registering (I have done this in the past). You only need to register if bidding at auction.

 

Ahh that sounds good. Thankyou.