What time is it? Watches and horology

He want $4250 for it.

Wot

Not a terrible price considering the way things have been climbing. Did it come with an Extract to corroborate the ‘81 date?

Yes, has the extract as well. Not many 1981 examples out there with a extract, will keep looking

I'm not that keen on rubber straps generally plus I'm probably aiming for more of a smart end of the scale.

Sailcloth ones look like a possible. Conveniently Watchgecko seems to have used a Black Bay Black for most of the shots on there.

I think I would forget the birth year thing and get a new one.

New ones don’t have the vibe of the old ones IMO, and I say that as someone who almost always prefers new watches to vintage. The overall look of the dials is more different than you might think.

Don't bother with birthyear when your hitting an age that ends in 0, jack's the price up

Yeah, this is why I sold mine. New ones are boring IMO. Any tritium Speedmaster will do the job of fulfilling the vintage vibe.

I found this 1991 one, no birth year but like the looks. Price around 3400 euro . @inchpincher better?
@jv i like a new case with a tritium dial if thats possible. Maybe i should just buy new and swap dials. But the old tritium ones looks much better imo.

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First scratch. Be careful with your watch around MacBooks folks!

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Agree the dial and hands are nice and honest, unfortunately that case has had a buff too far for me and softened all the lovely contrasting polished and brushed edges. Price isn’t too dissimilar to the other one which also had the OG bracelet though (~ £250).
The ‘81 case was pretty good with a bit more wear on the cuff side commensurate with forty years of wear but the twisted lugs were still way more defined than this later one....the problem with buying vintage is the waiting... you could make a bitsa with old and new but there’s a good chance you won’t bond with it.

Case on mine for reference, also I don’t know if it’s just the angle of photo but the sub dials on the pre 90s seem to have a nicer scallop to them.

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Yours looks great. Well the search continues then. Problem with vintage is as the example gets better the price goes up as well. My limit is 4k euro. Hopefully i can find something, but i'll run it by you first :). Thanks again

Here’s a corker but way over budget. I’ve noticed how the font on OMEGA has changed over time, I prefer the old font but don’t like decayed tritium. I think I’ll still go for a new one https://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-speedmaster-pro-105-012-65-extract-serviced.104666/

I love the older stuff but I'm convinced I'd buy a duffer, so I buy new watches and scratch them myself.

Wearing some 70's today

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Beautiful.

Herman date adds so much... Klasse. 😎

Yeah screw the 40th. Start saving for the 140th

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Once you're ready to accept that the hunt itself is a huge part of the vintage buying experience you'll feel a lot better for turning down poor quality examples :)

Literally anyone can go into a vintage dealer in Burlington Arcade and pay 30% over the odds for a clean-ish whatever, but they learn nothing in the process other than some bullshit that the salesperson wants to peddle them.

super

Strap arrived from Sofia today and, based on a hour of wearing, is great. Thanks for the pointer!

awesome

How do stores feel about trying on watches these days?

I may be in the market for an S&G Black Bay, but want to see what it's like on the wrist before committing.

Same as trying on a pair of shoes... Ya just try it on.

Top tip - contact ejay2.0 and see if he has any Speedmasters to suit your needs. You won’t be disappointed with the watch or the price.