Worried about my first speedmaster purchase

[M00NW@TCH]

krogerfoot

The Japanese listing is translated perfectly. It says the battery is dead. It also says they won't send the watch outside of Japan, but I guess the Buyee broker handles all that.

Maybe a great pickup!

Thanks for all of the comments so far, as you can probably gather I am new to this and I just saw the price and didnt look very closely at the watch itself. It was only recomended to me, I didnt find the listing via a search, the algorithms show me the listing and the price was ok at that stage. In fact, I placed my bid and went to bed, the next morning I saw that I had won this Speedmaster for a few hundred under my maximum bid.

I noticed the same seller also listed an automatic omega and stated that it too had no batteries (???)

Also, it would be amazing if this watch is from 1974 as that is my birth year! How amazing would that be.

 

[stonestone]

Note to self: when searching for watches on line, remember to include phrase "battery is dead."

 

[mutanthands]

Dan S

You don't think there is a specific word for "battery" in Japanese?

Do you take Google Translate as gospel?
I’m just saying there is a possibility.

Mis-translations happen all the time, even more so with Asian languages and sometimes require lateral thinking.
I’ve lost count of how many Gameboys I’ve seen on Yahoo Jp.etc auctions stating a “broken engine”.

I could, of course, be wrong. However, it’s good practice to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Edited: Feb 17, 2022

 

[krogerfoot]

mutanthands

Do you take Google Translate as gospel?
I’m just saying there is a possibility.

Mis-translations happen all the time, even more so with Asian languages and sometimes require lateral thinking.
I’ve lost count of how many Gameboys I’ve seen on Yahoo Jp.etc auctions stating a “broken engine”.

I could, of course, be wrong. However, it’s good practice to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

The original Japanese absolutely does say the battery is dead, but obviously the seller is misunderstanding something if they listed it this way. You might be right about the misunderstanding, but @SkunkPrince and @Dan S's instincts about the machine translation are on the money.

 

[mutanthands]

Interesting, I didn't see a link to the original Japanese listing.
Either way, the point is still the same, factor in a watch service 😀
Finger's cross for the OP!

 

[Dan S]

Sellers who think the battery is dead often don't realize that they need to wind the watch. In fact, we have had new members join OF to complain after buying a Speedmaster Pro that mysteriously stopped running a couple of days after leaving the dealer for the same reason.

Edited: Feb 17, 2022

 

[mountainunder]

mutanthands

Interesting, I didn't see a link to the original Japanese listing.

Here is the original link
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/q1036899225

 

[SkunkPrince]

Dan S

Sellers who think the battery is dead often don't realize that they need to wind the watch. In fact, we have had new members join OF to complain after buying a Speedmaster Pro that mysteriously stopped running a couple of days after leaving the dealer for the same reason.

Or you can be stupid like me, buy a watch from your watchmaker you assume is automatic, and when it stops, get information it's a wind only. 🙁

 

[raider44]

Apologies, you're correct, it is most likely a -74 (rather than -76), although it could be an early -76 as well. The longer S was introduced at some point during the production time of the 145.022-76 reference.

Is there a serial range where the longer S is correct for a -76? I ask because I backed off a purchase a while back because the watch had a dial the longer S and the serial number was correct for a -76. Case back also -76. (To make matters even more confusing the dealer had it listed as a -78)

I backed off because of this quote from speedmaster 101:

This is an incorrect dial for a -76. Note the length of the “S” in Speedmaster extends the length of the “p”.

https://speedmaster101.com/145-022/145-022-71-74-76-78/

 

[SkunkPrince]

Never assume anything is ever 100% rigiht or wrong. At best, even the "experts" are only making an educated guess. These are factory-made pieces and parts are frequently not used first-in first-out. So sometimes you get edge cases.

 

[Matth84]

Congrats with your Speedmaster, also the 1171 bracelet is interesting.

 

[M00NW@TCH]

Matth84

Congrats with your Speedmaster, also the 1171 bracelet is interesting.

Thanks 😀 How many links should these 1171 bracelets have?

 

[M00NW@TCH]

Well it has arrived. The good news is, its winding up and runnning beautifully. Chrono hands all reset to zero perfectly. I dont know how to take the case back off, so I cant see a serial number. I will ask my watch maker to do that for me. It appears to be unpolished and apart from some light marks has no deep dents or scratches.

The lume is missing from those markers, the plots are blank and shiney and under black light is some evidence of small lume particles lose in the watch.

The 1171 bracelet has 23 links and its slightly too long for me. I will get my watch maker to remove three links.

 

[stonestone]

Congratulations! You did very well trusting your gut on this one.

 

[Seaborg]

It's a very very nice watch indeed 🥰

 

[M00NW@TCH]

Seaborg

It's a very very nice watch indeed 🥰

Thanks! I really want to get inside of it and see if its been serviced before. It seems to have lost no time since I set it three hours ago, so considering I was expecting a non functioning wreck to be delivered, I am quite happy.

 

[M00NW@TCH]

Do you guys think this watch is extract worthy?

 

[jsducote]

Hit that crystal with the Polywatch and report back

 

[Foo2rama]

crd

The missing lume at 8, 11, and 12 isn’t very attractive to me but you didn’t ask my opinion and if you’re happy wearing it that’s all that really matters at the end of the day. It looks to me like a 3590.50 so maybe from the early to mid 90s although I don’t recall the exact range of years before tritium wars no longer used.

Its a 145.022-74 or -76 by the dial.

 

[Dan S]

M00NW@TCH

Do you guys think this watch is extract worthy?

I don't know what an extract would tell you that would be worthwhile for this watch. Once you see the inside, it should all be pretty clear. Really just a souvenir, if you want it.