Hi all, Just wanted to post an update for those who were following the auction. A Speedmaster was posted on Ebay last week by an estate sale company. There were only a few photos and no information on the watch - sold As Is. Here are a few of the photos. There were no shots of the movement, inside caseback, or sides of the case. My initial thoughts were that it had a very nice faded DON bezel and potentially nice dial. I thought the majority of the imperfections were on the crystal. The lume looked a little greenish but I thought it was at least all present. The dial, caseback, and bezel all matched up with a 145.022-69. Lots of chrono creep and tachy not resetting so a service would be needed. I ended up winning the auction and was actually surprised there was not more action. It seemed to fly under the radar. The watch arrived today and is a lot nicer than expected. I polished the crystal with Polywatch and the dial is excellent underneath. The lume has more of a light creme tone, not green like the listing photos. Inner caseback and serial are consistent with a 145.022-69 as I suspected. Anyway, it's nice to have a Speedmaster back in the collection. I've been missing one since I sold a 145.012-67 a few years back.
Congrats, that looks really nice and I'm pleased that it was better than you expected from the auction photos. You knew what you were looking at and trusted your judgement.
That bezel is really nice and a beautiful gray! The lume is lovely, nicer than what the photos showed imo. Congrats on a nice one!
Nice work. I don't mind an occasional gamble like this when you feel the odds are in your favor. Looks like you got a winner.
Nicely done. I saw the auction and am surprised at how nice it turned out to be. The eBay photos were poor.
Really nice pickup, well worth the gamble, especially when the DON was looking that good even from the poor photos. I haven't seen this kind of bracelet configuration before - is it genuine Omega?
Good catch - that’s the way to get nice watches, take a risk. Can go both ways but the upside is usually stronger.
Congrats on the new Speedy! It looks great, even though slightly "beat up", it gives it a worn and loved look.
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This turned out very well - it's amazing what a bit of Polywatch can do. It's surprising some/most sellers haven't seemed to realise this yet... maybe they don't care. Well done. What is the 'jubilee-style' bracelet? is that an Omega item? Rather like it.
Beauty, get it serviced and properly cleaned up, put it on a Nato or Uncle Seiko 1171 and enjoy the vintage..
Good work. This is the best way to buy a vintage watch - with scratches and grime partially hiding the potential.
Thanks for the nice comments. I agree, it's fun to take chances and have it work out. That is one of my favorite parts of this hobby. The bracelet is a vintage Speidel, probably from the 70s. I actually quite like it and will continue to use it once the watch is back from service. Not a traditional look, but very comfortable!
So I was thinking about an Omega bracelet. The serial on this is 30,58x,xxx which would likely place it around the summer or fall of 1970 (based on other -69s I've seen with Ectracts). Would this have possibly been sold with an early 1171 or would it have been a 1039?
