Hi all,
Looking for some advice on an E-bay auction I have put an offer on and has been excepted
I introduced myself a few weeks back to the forum and have been doing the usual homework and forum searching looking at vintageOmega Speedmasters mostly. The things I never noticed previously before looking into Speedies is that good vintage models of these watches are becoming very hard to come by and prices have went crazy, especially so called specials. Recently I came across this one below on E-bay and with my limited expertise think it's an early transitional Speedy, 26million serial, 861 movement and applied stepped dial but no DON bezel insert. The tritium is not so cool looking either but the dial looks to be in good shape without scratches, hand look original and the movement looks clean as does the case.

Omega Speedmaster Cal 861 Steel Pre-Moon ChronographPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
( 371554392210)





Can any of the more versed Speedmaster members on the forum have a look at it and give there opinions.
( one other thing there seems to be a serial number engrave on the back of one lug, any ideas?)
Next thing on the agenda is to search out a DON bezel anyone have more advice on that ?


Cheers,
Michael

 

Hi,
I am really not too sure about this one, the engraving on the back of the lug does not bother me, though this was not done by Omega and looks shallow.
My concerns are with the pictures which seem heavily edited, and the pitting on the case especially around the top pusher.

Then there is this little gem "All of our pre-owned watches have been fully serviced and come with a one year warranty for timing and accuracy." did they not see the gunk under those pushes when they were servicing it?

They do offer a 30 day money back gaurantee, I would suggest posting better pics when you have it on hand, or see what the others here say.

 

Hi Shaun,

Thanks for that, never noticed the pitting. I hope it's more dirt.

Thanks
M
Any other comments are welcome best way to learn.

 

Possible case pitting, lack of DON and loss of lume on plots would have kept me away from this one.
Hope you got a nice low price?

 

Hopefully those over edited pics are what makes that case look overpolished.

As I rule, I steer clear of these types of sellers.

 

As first glance it looks cheap in today's market, especially if your offer was a few hundred below asking price. However, this watch has issues.

Firstly the pictures are poor. They look like they've had the brightness and contrast altered significantly to brighten up its appearance and as a result, the case could be better or worse than it appears in the pics. My guess is it's worse.

I think this may have been in a terrible state until quite recently. Someone aquired it, replaced the knackered bezel, tried to polish the case as best they could, but even with an aggressive polish it still has knocks and marks. The dial is poor, with unattractive fading and the remnants of mouldy lume.

Unfortunately these issues are some of the most expensive to rectify. We all know how much a correct bezel costs and the case is probably best given a proper refinish but there's only a finite amount of material. The dial has options. It could be left as is, but I think it looks crap to be honest. Personally this is one of the rare instances where I'd remove what's left of the lume and get it reapplied.

The problem is none of this is cheap. So unless you got this for considerably less than asking or are happy with it as a beater, I'm not sure I'd keep it. Of course you've already won this item so really, you're morally obliged to proceed.