Which would you pick.

Bullseye1

1. 1995 Speedmaster Professional serviced in 2008 for £1200 (reduced from £1400)

Or

2. 2005 Speedmaster Professional with watchfinder and will be given a full work over before shipment. £1500 (haggled down form £1850).

Marcusm

Bullseye1 wrote: »

1. 1995 Speedmaster Professional serviced in 2008 for £1200 (reduced from £1400)

Or

2. 2005 Speedmaster Professional with watchfinder and will be given a full work over before shipment. £1500 (haggled down form £1850).

Who serviced 1? Watchfinder will presumably provide some level of warranty. If the former was in good condition and you were happy with the servicer, why not go for the former.

Bullseye1

First watch services by The Swatch Group UK. I'm leaning towards WF as both watches are not vintage so for the sake of £300 I'm getting a watch 10 years younger and will be in great condition. The first watch is a daily beater but nevertheless not in bad shap but the seller is reluctant to ship to Ireland but is coming around.

Reloc8

I'd get the newer one - sure, the other one will be a due a service in what 18 months anyway.

Gavin1

Newer one also.

I presume that this would have Luminova as opposed to tritium markers. This does not patina as bad(if at all).

If someone can educate me in relation to tritium vs luminova, that would be great. Sorry for being off topic.

Wibbs

Gavin1 wrote: »

If someone can educate me in relation to tritium vs luminova, that would be great. Sorry for being off topic.

Very basically and vaguely G, Tritium is a radioactive source that charges phosphors that then emit light. In the past radium was used, a much more radioactive source. Tritium has a short half life 12 years IIRC. This means that the glow will have diminished by half after that time. After 24 years it'll be pretty much dead. Radium has a half life in the millions of years so keeps emitting. Both will emit light and be legible even if left in a dark place for a year. Luminova is a non radioactive organic phosphor material that requires charging by a light source. It starts off brighter than tritium but rapidly diminishes so after a few hours is pretty much dead, while the radioactive ones keep on trucking. Though even radium will fade over time. The radium still emits energy, but because it's so "hot" it burns out the phosphors.

Why did they drop tritium and especially radium? Safety. Not so much for the wearer, but for workers who made the watches and the watchmakers who would have to service them(if you have a watch made before 1950 and appears to have lume, make sure the watchmaker is aware and takes precautions). Plus the same model watch could have wildly different radioactivity depending on application.

Tritium vials as fitted to watches like issued mil spec watches(marathon, stocker and yale) and later civilian stuff made by Luminox and the like got around the safety aspect by encasing the material in glass vials. The radiation barely passes through these. They give the best of both worlds. Superior long lasting self illumination with no safety issues.

Here's a mil issued Stocker and Yale P650 Type 6 with the vials. You'll note on the dial the H3 for tritium and the radioactive symbol as required by the military spec. The also pictured Heuer "Bund" pilots watches as issued to the Luftwaffe in the 60's and 70's using tritium but painted on old style also have a H3(3H) and/or a small T for the same reason. When many were decommissioned and sold to the public by SINN in the 90's these dials and hands were replaced and are Tritium free as a nod to regulations;

The Stocker and Yale go for a pretty penny now(4-600 quid), but Luminox make a copy for a lot less(and has a better quartz movement and superior water resistance to the original to boot).

Cyrus

Bullseye1 wrote: »

1. 1995 Speedmaster Professional serviced in 2008 for £1200 (reduced from £1400)

Or

2. 2005 Speedmaster Professional with watchfinder and will be given a full work over before shipment. £1500 (haggled down form £1850).

Watchfinders refurb work is hit and miss, ive sent two watches back to them because I wasn’t happy with the standard of finish, but there isnt any issues in doing that so I'd go newest

Bullseye1

Done the deal on the 2005

Mitch Buchannon

Great news dude. Looking forward to the pics.

MiCr0

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Done the deal on the 2005

So jealous :-(

Reloc8

Good man - I'm envious.

Bullseye1

I should have it in a few weeks. They are sending it off to Omega for a full service and cleanup before shipping. Now to find a suitable strap:D

Reloc8

Bullseye1 wrote: »

I should have it in a few weeks. They are sending it off to Omega for a full service and cleanup before shipping. Now to find a suitable strap:D

There may be nothing more enjoyable than the simple but wonderfully complicated task of looking for the perfect strap for a beautiful watch that you have pushed the button on.

Mitch Buchannon

Bullseye1 wrote: »

I should have it in a few weeks. Now to find a suitable strap:D

A lot of heads on TZ recommend the Di-Modell Rallye strap for the Speedy.
http://www.ukwatchstrap.co.uk/DiModell-Rallye-C4.htm

There has also been a recent thread started on TZ by some one else asking the same question. It's up to 3 pages now with a fair few pictures. It may be worth a look. It might give you some inspiration.
http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=209970

Anjobe

Bullseye1 wrote: »

I should have it in a few weeks. They are sending it off to Omega for a full service and cleanup before shipping. Now to find a suitable strap:D

How about one of the GasGasBones Speedmaster velcro straps...
http://www.watchobsession.co.uk/GasGasBones-Watch-Straps

...or I think it would look pretty good on one of these lovely Italian rubber deployants...
http://www.globalwatchband.com/group/50/#IT111

Bullseye1

The Di-Modell Rallyen is on my radar. Love the look of it. I know Omega also has a similar one but it's almost €200 and the deployment another couple of hundred if not more

Cyrus

di modell rallye is one of the most comfortable straps ive ever worn too

Bullseye1

Here is the di modell

markblack wrote:

di modell rallye.

here is Gabarro Racing

tomsdad wrote:

Gabarro Racing Strap / Bob Davis butterfly deployment

and finally Omega's own

ManCityDG wrote:

Omega racing (calf with holes!) with omega deployant

Bullseye1

This is also a nice look although maybe more suited to the silver bezel.

Saxon007 wrote:

I sometimes wear mine on a brown Hirsch Medici.

Love how the strap sits snugly into the watch.

Mitch Buchannon

Bullseye1 wrote: »

This is also a nice look although maybe more suited to the silver bezel.


Love how the strap sits snugly into the watch.

That strap also comes in black.

http://www.watch-band-center.com/watchstrap-p6839h595s597-Watch-band-Medici-20.html

Bullseye1

Excellent and very reasonably priced. Might be buying a few straps

Reloc8

I like the look of Gabarro over the Omega OEM or the di modell.

That hirsch is a spectacular fit to the Speedy with the curved end link effect and you definitely need both a black and a brown option for that beauty.

Bullseye1

I could be wrong but I think this is the same Hirsh?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HIRSCH-Principal-Curved-Alligator-Buckle/dp/B0030CWEZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329482447&sr=8-1

Anjobe

Bullseye1 wrote: »

I could be wrong but I think this is the same Hirsh?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HIRSCH-Principal-Curved-Alligator-Buckle/dp/B0030CWEZY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329482447&sr=8-1

Try the WatchObsession web site - there's a wide range of Hirsch curved end straps besides the aligator grain, and you can also get a Hirsch deployant buckle for it there as well if you want.

Bullseye1

Went ahead and ordered the Medici. The seller in Germany was cheaper than the UK one.

CrowdedHouse

@Bullseye1 - How did you find them (Watchfinder) to deal with ?

Did you have to pay by bank transfer ?

I have my eye out for a Speedy too, there's one there atm for 1695

Thanks

Bullseye1

So far communication has been excellent. You can negotiate by making an offer. Say a couple hundred less than the price indicated and they will contact the seller in my case to see if they will accept. Once both parties agree on a price you send a deposit by bank transfer. I think it's around 25% (approx). In my case the watch was sent to Omega for a full service and refurb which is included in the price. I'm due to receive the watch in the first two weeks of April.

CrowdedHouse

I emailed them and got a kind of generic 'it's mint, serviced and refurbished' reply.No additional photos or info.

How much do Irish dealers ask for a new Speedy Pro ?

Bullseye1

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I emailed them and got a kind of generic 'it's mint, serviced and refurbished' reply.No additional photos or info.

How much do Irish dealers ask for a new Speedy Pro ?

Over the 3K mark for the standard Pro. There are a few models which sell for €4k and the Co-Axial is around €8K.

Bullseye1

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I emailed them and got a kind of generic 'it's mint, serviced and refurbished' reply.No additional photos or info.

How much do Irish dealers ask for a new Speedy Pro ?

From what i can see on their site most of the Speedmasters are pre-refurbishment. Once you place your deposit they place a "This item is sold" on the page. They send most of their omegas away for servicing and refurbisment which is okay on modern but if it's vintage you want to keep as much of the original intact and should say that to them.

They have also just been accredited Omega Service standard which means they can now themselves service the omega I'm sure it also covers refurb. I would get them to give you a call to discuss whih they normally will do once you have made an offer through their site.