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Watch written off...

soda-fabbrica
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When is a vintage watch past saving, much like cars, value of watch vs making it good.. This watch is coming up in an auction, auctioneers estimate £1000 - £2000.. It seems like it has lived an interesting life.. Used and abused and coming up for a breath of air..

upload_2024-6-1_12-2-58.png upload_2024-6-1_12-3-49.png upload_2024-6-1_12-4-10.png upload_2024-6-1_12-4-36.png upload_2024-6-1_12-5-5.png
 
Davidt
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Which parts in particular do you think are beyond saving?

One of the key lessons in vintage watch collecting is learning which parts can have a significant impact upon the aesthetics of a watch but are actually a quick/easy fix, and which might not look too bad but are a deal breaker.
 
STANDY
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Bezel is worth a bit, and if that’s a 6 end link I spy 😗
 
soda-fabbrica
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Davidt Davidt
Which parts in particular do you think are beyond saving?

One of the key lessons in vintage watch collecting is learning which parts can have a significant impact upon the aesthetics of a watch but are actually a quick/easy fix, and which might not look too bad but are a deal breaker.

Acquiring an eye for the beat-up/abused.. came across another one, requested further photos, case looks like it has taken a real beating...
upload_2024-6-1_13-0-3.png
 
mac_omega
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soda-fabbrica soda-fabbrica
When is a vintage watch past saving, much like cars, value of watch vs making it good.. This watch is coming up in an auction, auctioneers estimate £1000 - £2000.. It seems like it has lived an interesting life.. Used and abused and coming up for a breath of air..

upload_2024-6-1_12-2-58.png upload_2024-6-1_12-3-49.png upload_2024-6-1_12-4-10.png upload_2024-6-1_12-4-36.png upload_2024-6-1_12-5-5.png

With a damaged tube and missing crown the likelyhood that it had some water ingression is high.
I would like to see the movement in a clear pic...
 
Larry S
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mac_omega mac_omega
With a damaged tube and missing crown the likelyhood that it had some water ingression is high.
I would like to see the movement in a clear pic...
If the movement is good, worth a cleanup IMO.
 
sheepdoll
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Looks like you can mow the lawn with this one.

No movement pictures. The plated non iron/steel parts seem resistant to most corrosion. The results might not be pretty. One would really need to run the parts through a bandsaw or grinder to make them totally unusable.

This is what brass bronze looks like after 2000 years in the ocean:
NAMA_Machine_d'Anticythère_1.jpg

There really is not any actual metal left. It is all calcium deposits and other accreations. Only about 2/3 remain, which has not stopped a number of people measuring the existing fragments to create copies.

Personally I think a watch like the one in the OP would be worth closer to 250 to 500. There are quite a few like me who find dismemberd and totally destroyed watches attractive.

And we know paperclips can be used to make field repairs when needed.
 
140dave
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It would take under 5min to fix the bracelet.
Case is dinged but still has brushing.

Somewhere between 3x low estimate and 2x high would be my guess on the result.
 
soda-fabbrica
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Just amazing that a watch can get into such a state, someone finds it and then someone decides to put up for sale.. In my household it would have been thrown out...
 
sheepdoll
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soda-fabbrica soda-fabbrica
Just amazing that a watch can get into such a state, someone finds it and then someone decides to put up for sale.. In my household it would have been thrown out...

Like that is going to happen with one of these. 🙄

There was once a profession (and people still do it) called mudlarks. Such were the poorest of the poor who would shift through refuse and such looking for gems and things. Most landfill is presorted for such things as well. The metals are extracted. This still happens with estate dealers and such who are willing to travel make friends and check things out in person.

Donations what go to charity shops are checked and cherry picked long before they go to the auction to be sorted into bulk lots. I notice the bid prices on shop goodwill trend higher. Probably as many lots are single owner. Even back in the day such places had pricing guides and old print auction catalogs.

I check the bay for such things daily sometimes multiple times in a day. I have noticed lately even the junk has watchers in the double digits. Some even have notes saying several people have it in their cart.

I have not bothered much to look at the rolex scraps. More tricky there as rolex did not really produce movements. So with the big R it comes down to the case, since fairly generic movements can fit into such cases.
 
asrnj77
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Auction estimates are often purposely low to encourage bidding plus you’ll have a buyers premium, maybe 25%. In the end the “deal” may not have been worth it
 
soda-fabbrica
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Another one bashed/smashed and generally abused.. What the f**k goes on with these watches?

upload_2024-6-4_18-28-47.png
Edited:
 
soda-fabbrica
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sheepdoll sheepdoll
People use the to mow the lawn ...

You mean they run the mower over them.. FFS they survived going into space and doing spacey things..
 
faid2black
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Strangely, both watches in this thread have decent bezels compared to what I often see listed
 
soda-fabbrica
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faid2black faid2black
Strangely, both watches in this thread have decent bezels compared to what I often see listed

The 'Ed White' is currently sitting with a £2700 bid.. someone must be liking the 'decent' bezel..
 
Tony C.
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Meh. That watch is "near-mint" relative to some vintage Ferrari barn finds that have sold for stupid money!

😁
 
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