What do yall think about this moonwatch? I have a member of my Texas horology Facebook group interested in it http://m.ebay.com/itm/272770008687?_mwBanner=1Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
I'd recommend a pass. Dial may be stained, hour register has chrono creep, hands are ugly. Best thing about it is the faded blue bezel. I also don't like buying from places that advertise a restocking fee on returns.
Speedmaster Pros are notorious for the hour register creeping forward when not correctly adjusted in a service, at this very moment I'm at my watchmaker watching him quickly readjust one for me, same issue.
Not a bad looking piece, and at $1800 reasonably priced. I wouldn't worry about the chrono creep. The watch is going to need a service since it has an unknown history. That's ~ $500 or so. The case is a bit nicked up but acceptable for a 40+ y.o. watch. No issue with it being overpolished. I think the lume has a really nice patina that is hidden in these photos. The color balance is off a bit towards the blue end of the spectrum. I don't believe that the bezel has a blue tint either but appears so because of the color balance. The dial is domed. Can't tell if the dial is discolored in these photos. Could be the lighting and or the crystal. The hands are ugly, but finding a vintage set of c861 hands is not all that hard nor that expensive. THe movement looks good. I love the way they hide the serial number as though you could actually do something with the s/n. I don't see any screws that are chewed up. It has the plastic Delrin Brake which seems consistent with it being a 145.022-75. I don't see any red flags and in fact think it might have a really nice patinated dial that doesn't show up in these photos. Might be a steal!
I would not go over $2100 at most. Factor $500 for a service, and its a $2600 with the meh bracelet at best. Might make a decent donor for a mod....
What is the buyers budget? If we assume this piece goes off at $2250 (my guess), after service you are at $2650-ish, I'd ask myself "can I do better" at that price point? I think you probably can. I'm with all the assessment already provided by previous posts, except the hands... they are ugly AF, and good tritium hands are getting VERY pricey (trust me, I've been looking). You can relume them, but then you are rolling the dice on the relume. After hands you are now easily over 3k. I just picked up a cherry '76 with original 1171 bracelet for 3k and I didn't put any effort in, saw it as a BIN, and just clicked the button. So, I'd show patience here and keep searching.