OF my friend have been looking for a vintage speedy for a while now, and he got offered this 105.012-66 with serial 2544XXXX, and I would like to help him with this purchase. Although I have gained some knowledge from the forum and speedmaster 101, I’m still not confident in assessing this model and the condition of this example. Any thoughts and advice would be very much appreciated, as I would love to guide him through his purchase. Also if possible to answers, which category would this example fall under? Poor, fair, good, very good or excellent. Thanks.
A brief review: initial view is of a beat watch. The lume is puffy enough that I am suspicious of a relume. The hour and minute hands have a fair amout of chips and uneven colored lume, enough to be distracting. The case doesn't have sharp edged lugs. Not the worst but mediocre, and nothing to bring up an otherwise needy watch. The bezel looks attractive. I didn't run down the movement number, etc. It presents as an inexpensive watch. Hope this helps. As always, one person's opinion.
Taking a stab as a Speedy Intern (with one 145.022-69, subscriber to Speedmaster101 youtube, and a copy of MWO) The movement looks pretty clean to me, no screw damage etc. Serial number is appropriate for the reference. Dial looks clean, but with with blobby toothpase lume that looks too consistent in color I would be concerned about relume Bezel looks nice with little damage, some fading, consistent with watch age Hands show lume loss but dont bother me too much Case looks polished especially on front view- looks less polished on side views, looks like HF case no evidence of CB facets Caseback looks original and appropriate Service crown with what looks like 32 teeth. Pushers appear to be fat neck but photos arent great for that The bracelet is 1116/575 which is listed as one of several original options for this reference in MWO Want to see inside caseback reference markings, as well as Extract and photos showing case is better than the frontal photos- I would rate this as FAIR, due to the likely relume and case condition. This reference is very attractive to me and I hope to find one- so I tend to look at these with approving eyes.... Would like to hear from the Speedy pros
Ultimately it’s not an attractive watch to me or one I would like to own. The case is worn and a bit soft, the bezel average and the bracelet is incorrect (not a deal breaker in itself). However the dial would always trouble me. It looks off as if it’s had a relume and the whole watch doesn’t present as a survivor. I’d add to throw above that I’ve no issue with relume a if they’re disclosed and done well, improving the look of the watch. This doesn’t do that for me.