Hello OF,

I just recently bought a Speedy 145.012 and I wanted to get your thoughts on it. I know its not original but I thought it would be a good base to start from based on the price, which was $5.6k. Here's what I've noticed so far:
- Incorrect bezel
- Service hand replacement
- Case looks too clean to be original but could be its original.
- Dial looks original with great patina
- Getting a 321 movement at $5.6k
- Bracelet is incorrect. It has 1479/812 but can always sell for hopefully ~$500
- Crown and pushers look correct

My thought process for the purchase, I figured with the dial and movement alone, in parts I'm pretty much at ~5k anyway. Throwing on the correct bezel will cost me hopefully no more than 2k and hands at 500. So I thought this was a good entry point into the 321 cal and its a little bit of a project that will take some patience and fun along the way. I wanted to get your thoughts on this move, was this a bad buy? Is there too much incorrect? Or was it a good starting point with some value? Also, they have a return policy so I am covered and I paid with PayPal.
Thanks in advance.

 

hows the movement? If it's been fully serviced, dust cover intact, that's obviously important.
I'm not sure what a complete vintage handset costs these days, but I imagine with a handset and a bezel, minus whatever you can get for selling the replacement parts, you might come out pretty much right around what you would pay for an all correct version?
depends on you, some people like a project, and others would rather just pay up for what they want, and not be bothered with the project.
Take that with a grain of salt because I'm not actively tracking speedy values these days.....

 

The case looks fairly polished. I think this is going to be a pretty big project, probably a fair amount of time to source those parts. And, I am not sure how realistic a $500 hand set is these days. But given you can use a flat chrono, that makes it a bit easier. The worry would be if the movement serial matches the reference.

 

Not up to date on what it would cost to get this right, but the degree of polish to the case would make this a no-go for me

 

The case looks pretty well-polished to me, but maybe that's the photos. You will know better in person if you're ok with the case. Have you seen the movement? What's the serial?

 

inside caseback and movement (serial) pics would be nice for the crowd.
Btw not my cup of tea at this price with plenty of issues.

 

I'm working on getting a pic of the movement and serial as we speak. The seller's shop isn't open on weekends (and it's a long weekend here in States), so I'm not getting any responses. So I pulled the trigger on his online shop but asked him to hold of on shipping until we can talk through some of my questions and get the movement pics and serial.

 

I thought that as well but I think it is the pics, there is definitely some polishing but I didn't feel like it was over polished.

 

So do you think its a pass? Let's say the movement looks clean, serial checks out, case isn't overly polished, dial is original but no DON and service hands. And an incorrect bracelet I can sell for ~500. Would it be wise to be more patient and wait for something more correct?

I don't want to jump the gun but I feel a little burnt after not moving on a 7.8k 105.102 that had an overly polished case but everything else was original and had great patina. I waited too long on that one before someone else snapped it up. So I figured 5.6k with some issues is a good entry into the cal 321 with a bit of a project. Or is my money better spent saving for something more correct. Not sure.

 

Here are some more pics. Thanks again for the input

 

Based on your comments, I'm getting the sense that an over-polished case doesn't matter that much to you, and that's fine. It's your watch.

However, to most collectors, over-polishing is a serious flaw that can't be easily corrected. I suspect that everyone who has looked at the photos you posted immediately identified the over-polishing. You asked for opinions.

 

Also incoerect crown. That’s another 500 bucks more or less.

 

I do care about over-polishing, so I appreciate the trained eye taking a look as I only want to go in on a bezel and hands. Was hoping that the dial, case, and movement are good to go. When I was looking at the 105.012 that was extremely over-polished, I was planning on swapping the case.

 

Is it incorrect? When referring to my MOW, it stated that a 60s speedy can have one of two crowns and here's a pic of the one that I thought matched the one on the piece in question. Let me know what you think.

 

You will regret buying it IMHO; cases that have been this heavily polished are a huge turn off; so much of the watch is lost forever. I'd rather compromise on some other aspect of the watch, but get a sharp case.

 

too expensive for a daily beater and too much work for a collectible.

 

Fair enough, thanks for the input. Guess I will stay patient and get back on the hunt. Appreciate the perspectives!

 

+1
IMO you can run after many parts if there is a big bargain and if some parts looks really nice. Here I can only see a nice dial and we don’t know yet about the serial which has a serious probability to be off when looking at the number of wrong pieces. I would wait for a better example

 

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of lower price is forgotten." -Benjamin Franklin

 

Run

Hands and bezel are replaced. Let’s be honest 3k for an OK don. So your looking At 3.5K to make it correct not including the watch maker to make it right v