Where have all the vintage speedmasters gone?

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@gemini4 - no no haha I have only ever owned one Rolex and I currently own none. I am a Speedmaster guy haha.
So where have you been then? 馃槙... All the really serious "Speedmaster guys" have been here for years!馃槙 ... Is there another place?馃槙
 
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I think these type of watch goes more and more in the hand of experts.
And they realy love and hold these watches.
 
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to @omegaswisst and his OP... I've been watching a subset of the vintage 321 Speedmasters (145.012) and finding few that interest me. The Bay shows an average price decline - the condition of the 11 that sold since the start of the year has been poor. Clearly, the good ones aren't changing hands on ebay.

C24 shows strong dealer asking prices but most haven't moved in the months I've been watching them. There are some nice ones but they don't seem to be moving.

Not sure you can infer anything but thought I'd share the data anyway...
 
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to @omegaswisst and his OP... I've been watching a subset of the vintage 321 Speedmasters (145.012) and finding few that interest me. The Bay shows an average price decline - the condition of the 11 that sold since the start of the year has been poor. Clearly, the good ones aren't changing hands on ebay.

C24 shows strong dealer asking prices but most haven't moved in the months I've been watching them. There are some nice ones but they don't seem to be moving.

Not sure you can infer anything but thought I'd share the data anyway...
I feel like, nowadays, collectors mostly deal within themselves, and if we have to sell a beautiful watch, chances are that it will sell quickly to a fellow collector.
If the watch reaches eBay, either it comes from a non collector (and could be great or bad), either it's a watch that wasn't bought by the collector's entourage (too expensive, not nice enough?)
 
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I feel like, nowadays, collectors mostly deal within themselves, and if we have to sell a beautiful watch, chances are that it will sell quickly to a fellow collector.
If the watch reaches eBay, either it comes from a non collector (and could be great or bad), either it's a watch that wasn't bought by the collector's entourage (too expensive, not nice enough?)

I tend to agree. It seems the nice ones are changing hands offline, most probably IRL and between friends. I can't blame anyone - forum sales have become such a dangerous crap-shoot these days. Unfortunately, I don't know any watch enthusiasts IRL or around these parts...
 
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I didn't read this entire post but much of it so forgive me please if I'm repeating someone else's thoughts. One thing I noticed several years ago on eBay as I was collecting Veritas model pocket watches was when they came up for sale. Just prior to the Christmas shopping season there were more. Probably because people either needed money and off loaded them, or they knew they could get a better price. The tracking above suggests December is a selling point. The other time on eBay was around tax season. More were for sale and they tended to sell a little higher also. I have about 4 years of tracking, not as nicely presented as some graphs above, but it was consistent.
 
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to @omegaswisst and his OP... I've been watching a subset of the vintage 321 Speedmasters (145.012) and finding few that interest me. The Bay shows an average price decline - the condition of the 11 that sold since the start of the year has been poor. Clearly, the good ones aren't changing hands on ebay.

C24 shows strong dealer asking prices but most haven't moved in the months I've been watching them. There are some nice ones but they don't seem to be moving.

Not sure you can infer anything but thought I'd share the data anyway...


The red line could go either direction based on this data
 
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Hi @morningtundra

Inspired by your use of charts I thought I would sort my own data into one also. I started watching the private listings in November and December last year when there were 11 and 13 Speedmasters listed respectively for each month then January 2018 came along and there were only 3. More seasoned OF members suggested the numbers would start to rise again as we come into the watch selling/buying season and this appears to be happening.
There have been some fantastic 105.012-66 CBs listed during March 2018.


Edited:
 
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The red line could go either direction based on this data
Admittedly a small sample and short time frame. On a long enough time line everything drops to zero...
 
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Not long ago (2014-2015) you could get a late '80s-early '90s 145.022 for $2100-2300 reliably. Now, private sellers and dealers alike are looking for $3k for these relatively plentiful and unremarkable examples.

Personally, I think Speedy mania has these watches overvalued, not under. Vintage pieces (pre-'78) are much more in line with the market than post-'78 modern Speedies. I think the price differential between vintage (collectible) and modern pre-owned should be greater, frankly.

I think this is partly due to Omega raising the MSRP on these watches. Granted, this is a strong stance so no hard feelings if you disagree!
 
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Looking for buy a 321 has currently confirmed there is a drought! Of course it always happens that when you want to buy there are none and when you aren鈥檛 looking the options are unlimited !
 
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Where have all the vintage speedmasters gone?

Muah ha ha ha haaaaaa! 馃榿

I've been buying them all as soon as they pop up. I'm also kidnapping Speedmaster FanBoys, and torturing them by smashing Ed Whites and 2998s right in front of them with a sledge hammer. They can't even shut their eyes because I use the same device as employed in A Clockwork Orange on Alex during his re-education.

@OmegaRolex is next. 馃槻 Yeah, you heard me you Speedmasterbater! I saw that thread this morning before it was deleted! 馃う
 
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@OmegaRolex is next. 馃槻 Yeah, you heard me you Speedmasterbater! I saw that thread this morning before it was deleted! 馃う

Deleted, I had about 10-20 likes from that thread.

Why did it get deleted ?? It was quite amusing
 
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They are out there. A lot of times they are held until a premium is paid and good examples look kind of expensive until you start looking again 6 months later and regret. Happens on all types except when there a massive recession in the economy where hidden watches magically make their way to sale.
 
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Deleted, I had about 10-20 likes from that thread.

Why did it get deleted ?? It was quite amusing
Was wondering and thinking the same!
 
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... I saw that thread this morning before it was deleted! 馃う
So it blew up and disappeared without your touch... shame, as it was tailor-made for you!
 
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...Why did it get deleted ?? It was quite amusing...

hey! this is not a democracy! you'd be told what's amusing or not! 馃槣