Lets try this again, shall we? Hello all, glad that there is a forum for those of us who loce tri-compaxes. I enjoyed your posts on the auction as well. I will post some pictures on my tri-compax collection at another time but for now,here are some pictures of the gold one. Watch was well worth the "bold" gamble. The case is mint condition underneath the dirt, grime and tarnish. 20 minutes with a cleaning cloth bought it back to life and made it clear it has never been polished before. The serial number is crisp and clear. The case is still dirty but the servicing will take care of that. The watch runs and keeps reasonable time, the chronograph function isn’t working properly. it resets to 25 seconds consistently so an adjustment needed there. When the hand reaches 12 to turn the hour counter the watch stops so there is clearly some adjusting needed. Overall the movement looks good, just dry. No evidence of corrosion. The dial will be good enough once the dirt is cleaned off. Most of what showed up in the pictures (as I had guessed) was related to the condition of the crystal. However, there is some discoloration around the day of the week indicator. It will be interesting to see what happens when serviced. Otherwise it looks good. From what I can tell the watch needs the following: 1. case cleaning 2. Servicing and adjustment 3. New crystal 4. New crown Picture One: strait out of the box Picture two: shot of the movement - everything looks okay to my eye, just needs cleaning: Picture three: on wrist with an older cousin after light case clean-up: Picture four, after a little more cleaning she looks okay, well worth the price paid in my opinion.
Well, that's clearly a win, even before it goes off to the watchmaker. There's nothing going on that shouldn't be reasonably easily repairable and that case is going to be stunning after a bath. Congratulations Brent - who dares, wins!
Welcome, Brent. No doubt that case will clean up nicely. Still one thing that I'm curious about: what's going on around the day window? Is the bare dial exposed where paint has worn away? If you feel qualified, I'd love to see a crystal-off pic of that dial. If not, maybe the watchmaker would shoot one. Either way, really beautiful find. You got an absolute bargain.
Goes back to Dennis' favorite eBay quote, " I love eBay; it rewards knowledge, diligence, and deft action but punishes ignorance, foolishness, and greed." M4tt, 06/01/10
Very apropos in this situation. We know this particular instance paid off. Wonder if we'll ever find out if that $350 Speedmaster was snake eyes or a 7?
Nice quote but you have to add in risk - at the end of the day, how much as you willing to take (or can afford to take)?
Thanks everyone. Yes, it appears that it worked out well this time. There is some flaking around the date window so I am not sure what the watch repair will do to that. I will hold off on the bezel removal just because there is so much crud around the bezel seem that I dont want to damage it. The only other thing I found is that the day of the month advance pusher is seized as well. I have actually been wearing it for the last few days and will pack it up and ship out for repair soon. Here are some more pics of my collection over the years. Unfortunately I only have four of them at this point in time. I REALLY want the grey dialed one back - anyone have one available?
Or, in Dirty Harry vernacular.... "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?".
That, sir, is the BEST Photoshopping you idea you've ever had! Now, can you clear up the skin disorder on his forehead? The shadow looks like he's a mixed breed dog with a brown patch over one eye. I can see the future - this will be one of our most popular pictures regarding gambles on eBay listings with less than perfect pictures.
Oh, I don't know ablout "small" but very sweet indeed. Brent's pics are the ones that turned me on to that grey dial one and made it a priority.
thanks LouS. If anyone has a bead on another grey dialed one please let me know - I miss mine and the guy I sold it to (who said he would sell it back to me) sold it when he sold his entire collection of watches. That and a nice silver dialed steel case with round pushers are on the list.
update. Finally back from the servicing. They had a few issues finding me a crown so it took awhile. Nevertheless, she is back. I am pleased with the results. I also have a line on a very rare tri-compax model with all boxes and papers from the son of the original owner. I will let you know how that plays out...
Just wait till I post some pics of the deal I have in the works. I hope everything checks out. After this, I think my interest shifts to zenith.