Taking an eBay chance again. The bargain was simply too hard to resist. A decent 105.003-65 for $11.600. Sellers photos, such as they are I see some possible issues, like the crown, which, I’m guessing is a cheap copy of a proper A1. The upper pusher might be an early service replacement and the hands might be as well. But I’m betting that polishing the crystal will do wonders for the total effect. With those terrible scratches (and the polishing of the secondary bevel line) in the case back, I can feel comfortable wearing it regularly. At $11.6k, I couldn’t just walk away. See, I’d rather have another one of these over any Rolex I could have for twice as much money. I was surprised that the rest of you let me off that cheap. My max bid was 14k. So, obviously I’m missing something maybe? I look forward to your critiques.
I was also watching it, but I got distracted and missed the end of the auction. A bit polished, but I think you got a good deal. Or maybe I am also missing something ... But if so:
I think it was a good buy... despite conventional wisdom that we are still in a crazy watch bubble with nothing but high prices, I see it differently, the market has been a little soft lately, and bargains can be had in lots of places right now.
I don't think the A1 crown is a counterfeit — It has the correct "forming" lines that other genuine A1 crowns have.
Great deal, I was watching this too. Crown looks original with the crimping to go along with it. Pushers look original to me but sometimes it is hard to tell from photos when the difference between an original and service crown can be 0.5mm! What makes you think the hands are replacements? The lume seems to match the dial. The caseback looks bad but no one will see it when you are wearing it. Congratulations again!
I think you did ok. The crown and pushers look alright to me. Hands too. The caseback is a bit gnarley but many are. I would be 95% certain it’ll need a service pretty soon based on the movement dirt but that too is normal. I do think I see a little minor water damage on the dial ie that dusty dirty residue. It could all be on the crystal but I don’t think so. Even so you didn’t overpay if an extract comes back ok, maybe not even if it doesn’t. It’ll be good to see it when sorted.
I think the crown looks good, has crimping marks as it should, the fakes one don't have that, unless it is modified crown from other model, I would check dimensions.
I believe the watch will look better in real life and that the poor photo quality is discouraging. The price realized in this watch has much to do with the look of dial and case. With some extra TLC, it will be a great daily wearer. Congrats!
Thank you all for the comments and feedback! My review of the photos suggests that the marks change position on the dial depending on the camera angle and position, indicating that those marks are actually on the crystal. I think I see similar filth coating the bezel. If so, it’ll all clean up. But, we shall see. My fingers are crossed. Regarding the crown: its color looks ‘aluminum’ in comparison to the case material; that’s what’s made me suspicious. I did see the crimp marks. Another ‘we shall see’. The movement seems unabused, which is a critical consideration for me. I can never tell for sure with hands until I see them. The early service replacements can be hard to distinguish from photos. I’m also not nuts that the seller didn’t post any good shots of the inside caseback. However, there was enough in two photos to confirm that it was a 105.003-65 caseback. And I loved that you had to read all the way thru the description to find, at the bottom, that there was no bracelet for the watch, despite everything else in the listing. I wasn’t worried, cause the bracelet he claimed to go with it was a 1039, which wouldn’t fit an Ed White at all. Thanks everyone for the feedback. There are some really good eyes on this Forum and I always learn, even if it is painful sometimes. Obviously, I will post further photos upon arrival.
Well, I didn't get in on the bidding because I'd sooner put eleven thousand dollars (actually fourteen thousand one hundred dollars according to the needed max bid to win) towards a new car than a beat up chronograph.