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Atalien2005
·Hello fellow watch enthusiasts! Today is a very exciting day for me, as I was able to add my grail watch after a long journey, both figurative and literally. When I seen it in 2015, it was love at first sight but I also had that feeling for so many other watches as mechanical watches were new to me. Only a short 6 months before a friend and I were having a conversation and he introduced me to the intriguing world of mechanical. I've always been a watch guy as far back as I can remember, but it was always (cover yours ears) quartz 🤦 watches, with many still in my collection (15-20), though only a couple remain in rotation.
Like many here, when I have a new hobby I jumped in head first and I started consuming as much information as possible about this new thing in my life. In doing so I stumbled upon the classic and enduring design of the Speedmaster, which is now my drug of choice
. That of course led me to Speedmaster101 and subsequently OF. I didn't get serious or really consider buying this particular watch until the early part of 2017. When I checked prices I believe they were around 10-12K and felt at that time it was just too much. In retrospect, I was just hoping that prices would eventually come down and I would be able to acquire it closer to retail. Man ol man what a bad decision and I kick myself in the butt quite often.
Fast forward to March 2018, I was looking on Instagram and seen that a gentleman (former OF member) had my grail BNIB for sale and also a post looking to buy a SpeedyTuesday. I thought how perfect, as I have a BNIB #ST plus cash that I could offer in a trade. I reached out to the individual and we went back and forth for a couple of days but just couldn't agree on a deal. About two weeks later I reached out to him again and it seemed this time around I was making some headway. In between time four other watches came up for sale, two on Chrono24, one on OF and another from a private dealer. I reached out to three of the owners and along with the one I was already in negotiations for, prices were all over the place ranging from $25K- $17K. I will say that most of the asking prices are astronomical because they still have the stickers attached, unworn. I didn't really want to pay the sticker tax because this is a watch I plan on wearing for many years to come. The $17K watch had damage on the bottom right lug, so that watch was eliminated out of the gate and one of the watches listed on Chrono24 sold before the owner returned my email. Because of the other prices being offered I decided to put my Ed White on the selling block to cushion the blow to my bank account in the attempts to capture my grail.
In the end once all negotiations failed, a sixth watch was located and it was being offered for less than all recently listed watches even after you take into consideration that I purchased a plane ticket to Barcelona, Spain to pick the watch up in person. In the literal sense of my journey to capture my grail it was 22 hours of traveling from the time I left my home until I returned with the watch safe and secure. I couldn't be any happier with my new purchase and without further ado I present my Grail Full Set Omega Speedmaster Apollo 13 "Silver Snoopy Award".
P.S. I didn't have to sell either my Ed White (will be withdrawn from the selling block) or my #ST (maybe sales forum soon).
A picture of the quartz watches i mentioned earlier mixed in with some mechanical.
Like many here, when I have a new hobby I jumped in head first and I started consuming as much information as possible about this new thing in my life. In doing so I stumbled upon the classic and enduring design of the Speedmaster, which is now my drug of choice
. That of course led me to Speedmaster101 and subsequently OF. I didn't get serious or really consider buying this particular watch until the early part of 2017. When I checked prices I believe they were around 10-12K and felt at that time it was just too much. In retrospect, I was just hoping that prices would eventually come down and I would be able to acquire it closer to retail. Man ol man what a bad decision and I kick myself in the butt quite often.Fast forward to March 2018, I was looking on Instagram and seen that a gentleman (former OF member) had my grail BNIB for sale and also a post looking to buy a SpeedyTuesday. I thought how perfect, as I have a BNIB #ST plus cash that I could offer in a trade. I reached out to the individual and we went back and forth for a couple of days but just couldn't agree on a deal. About two weeks later I reached out to him again and it seemed this time around I was making some headway. In between time four other watches came up for sale, two on Chrono24, one on OF and another from a private dealer. I reached out to three of the owners and along with the one I was already in negotiations for, prices were all over the place ranging from $25K- $17K. I will say that most of the asking prices are astronomical because they still have the stickers attached, unworn. I didn't really want to pay the sticker tax because this is a watch I plan on wearing for many years to come. The $17K watch had damage on the bottom right lug, so that watch was eliminated out of the gate and one of the watches listed on Chrono24 sold before the owner returned my email. Because of the other prices being offered I decided to put my Ed White on the selling block to cushion the blow to my bank account in the attempts to capture my grail.
In the end once all negotiations failed, a sixth watch was located and it was being offered for less than all recently listed watches even after you take into consideration that I purchased a plane ticket to Barcelona, Spain to pick the watch up in person. In the literal sense of my journey to capture my grail it was 22 hours of traveling from the time I left my home until I returned with the watch safe and secure. I couldn't be any happier with my new purchase and without further ado I present my Grail Full Set Omega Speedmaster Apollo 13 "Silver Snoopy Award".
P.S. I didn't have to sell either my Ed White (will be withdrawn from the selling block) or my #ST (maybe sales forum soon).
A picture of the quartz watches i mentioned earlier mixed in with some mechanical.
