Submerged Speedmaster

dinexus

OP, I doubt any harm was meant by the forum community here - I think there's sort of a collective disappointment that someone could find something of potentially great sentimental value (but relatively low monetary value) and not want to seek out its owner. Isn't that part of the fun of being into watches? Making sure ours, and someone else's memories are preserved through these objects? I think the fun of tracking down this Speedmaster's owner (hell, returning it to the owner un-serviced would be a pretty sweet gesture) far outweighs whatever karmic rewards you might reap down the road ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hell, just the other day, a geocacher found a Rolex, lost for 20 years and managed to track down its owner. Neat story.

dinexus

OP, I doubt any harm was meant by the forum community here - I think there's sort of a collective disappointment that someone could find something of potentially great sentimental value (but relatively low monetary value) and not want to seek out its owner. Isn't that part of the fun of being into watches? Making sure ours, and someone else's memories are preserved through these objects? I think the fun of tracking down this Speedmaster's owner (hell, returning it to the owner un-serviced would be a pretty sweet gesture) far outweighs whatever karmic rewards you might reap down the road ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hell, just the other day, a geocacher found a Rolex, lost for 20 years and managed to track down its owner. Neat story.

septentrio

Beautiful and inspiring story! 👍

Foo2rama

They are not exactly watches that get resold.

P Poppydog

Could you not take to a local police station and ask for a receipt as proof of handing it in?

Archer

You should really read the thread...he's not in the UK...

"I am a little further west than the UK and fear were I to contact the local police where it was found it would wind up on the chief or some member of his family's wrist."

shoota70

Well, there is a lesson to be learned in all of this.
Where a NATO.

Canuck

One thing is for certain. Now that you have posted your having found this watch, you will be MUCH easier for the owner or the authorities to find than you would have been had you kept your good fortune to yourself. However, if you now send it to Omega for service, chances are Omega might be a party to notifying you who the seller was, if not the owner. You might be best off following local protocol so that your tail is covered.

FreelanceWriter

Put an ad in the local paper saying not to bother contacting you unless the responder can furnish the serial number. To claim ownership, one has to be able to identify the watch and that's the only way to definitively identify a watch reliably (other than proof of a contemporaneous forum post or public notice or something like that about losing an Omega X-33 in that area). If you took it to the Police, that's the proof they'd require, and I agree with you that it's not safe to assume whoever's in charge won't just keep it, himself. After nobody identifies it in the statutory period in your area, send it to Omega for a service estimate and compare that cost with the going rate for that watch on eBay. Then, either sell it or do whatever you planned to do with it, originally. Whatever you do, don't publish the serial # if you find it. If Omega keeps it because the serial # is in their database, then, you've done your good deed, assuming Omega can be trusted to contact the owner. If Omega service fees are too expensive in relation to the resale value, just find a local watchmaker to repair it for roughly half the cost or sell it as-is on eBay with full disclosure about the condition but not the circumstances of your acquiring it to avoid false claims of ownership. Welcome to the forum.

DonFreem

I wouldn't worry about the police, unless they have a report filed describing someone with this very watch being attacked and robbed of it by someone who matches your description.

I think most here are advising you to do what they would want someone else to do if their lost watch turned up on the beach, but would you do the same if it were a $1000 bill that you found washed up? If your watch fell off in the ocean, would you make a police report or even go back and ask the police periodically if anything turned up? If you like the watch, do as they say and "wear it in good health." If you don't particularly care for the watch, turn it in and forget about it.