Watchlords

Hello and welcome, lads and lasses, to the thirty-fourth instalment of your favourite (or quite on the contrary!) watchdog and comedy series, in which I take a number of listings (and articles) from a number of venues, give them a thrashing, and I explain in detail why is said thrashing well-deserved. Yours truly apologises for not having reported in for so long. A streak of rather unpleasant events has somewhat precluded the possibility of writing in the same way you all love (or hate). No less, against all odds, here it is! Without further ado...
The game's afoot! Follow your spirit, and upon this charge... This is your Bring a Brain!

First up, it's the Usual Suspects - the H-Shop. Frankly, they seem to have been more careful with the wares recently. Which is a good thing. It's still all overpriced and unserviced, but at least it seems like there have been no outright lemons. Look, they even have learned the difference between the Rolex 1570 and the 1575!
https://shop.hodinkee.com/collections/v ... 1160176715

It took them a long, looooong time to do just that. Two years? Three? Good laddies. You may give yourself a pat on the back.

Some listings do have oddities, though.
First, this Omega Geneve:
https://shop.hodinkee.com/collections/v ... 4583875659
The serial number points to 1969, which was the last year of production for this movement. As they claim...

The present watch was made in 1978(...)according to the Omega archives.

Does this mean that the watch is sold with an extract of the archives confirming that? The listing does not specify that. Would be good to know, because the movement inside the watch has been discontinued 9 years before this piece was supposedly made, and by then, the 6-digit reference number system that this watch still follows has been already phased out in favour of 7-digit references.
The movement has filth on it, I especially love the blotch of black, worn grease just by the rotor. This hasn't been cleaned and oiled in ages. The "traces of opening" on the case back are deep, nasty gashes.
The whole part about the Geneve Admiralty being intended for "light diving" is mumbo-jumbo as well. It's a diver-style watch, but not a dive watch. The 30m WR rating does not support the "light diving" use as they claim - ordinary dress Seamasters had that rating as well.

Now, this Aquastar:
https://shop.hodinkee.com/collections/v ... 671366219 I'm sorry, but "the gold-plated case is all intact with scratches" doesn't really reflect the condition of it. The plating at the edges is completely worn, with bare metal showing.


Let's move to another venue... Lads and lasses, the King of Cape Cod, Prince of Redials, Sovereign of Sandpaper and Lord of the Dremel - VintageCaliber!

Any takers for a 3800 euro redial?
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... c-ref-2471

Aaaand, they can't even identify the movement. It's the cal. 27DL PC AM. Later renamed as the cal. 381.
Looks like while they skipped on mentioning what was done to the watch, the case bears the usual signs of being attacked with His Crafty Majesty's tool kit.


But the King of Cape Cod ain't done with the redials... Woooo-hooooo! Another Omega.
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... ycomb-dial
Let's see what they have to say...

Dial: partially refinished (scale and signature)...

...which translates to "it's a redial." The minute track is misaligned, the font used for the Omega signature is rather bad.

And...we're still not done with this Redial Day Parade! Another repainted Omega...
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... 2319-jumbo
Some fine dial "craftsmanship" there...

The parade continues with this Eterna:
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... erna-matic
"Amazing milky white dial?" Where's that "amazing dial?" In the words of The Zombies...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it68QbUWVPM
...she's not there.
This utterly dreadful pile of rubbish made by a completely clueless restorer has nothing to do with what this dial used to be like. The five-dot logo and Eterna signature are a coarse imitation of the one currently used by Eterna. The horror...the horror...horror. Oh, and the rotor is quite mangled.

And the lemons just keep coming, by the kilo, by the ton...like this "near-NOS" Cyma:
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... s-near-nos
Great Scott... Pitting and chipping on the bezel, visible wear to the lugs...the edges would suggest that it has been extensively polished, and it wasn't a job done well.

This is followed by...another Cyma, this time a redial.
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... es-cal-586
This is, to be fair, a good redial. Still a redial, though.

So, how about a redialed Rolex now?
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... ector-dial
This is quite dreadful. The case has been attacked with the tool kit as well, be it His Crafty Majesty's or someone else's.

Now, two B&M redials. Do they buy these things wholesale, or what?!
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... hronograph
https://vintagecaliber.com/collections/ ... -rose-gold

Ughhhh. Guess I better get on to the next shop, else I might be in a rather pressing need a bucket, as that stuff genuinely makes my dinner want to exit my stomach the way it came in.


So...Wannabuysomegarbage?

Or, by the rather ill looks of this one...
https://wannabuyawatch.com/product/role ... irca-1963/
...catch a tropical disease?

Nahhhh, let's skip on malaria, and buy a VC!
https://wannabuyawatch.com/product/vach ... a-1950s-4/
Naturally, a repainted one.

Staying on the topic of redials...
https://wannabuyawatch.com/product/role ... 1950-copy/
...this happens to be one as well.
And if you have a redial-loving missus, treat her to this one:
https://wannabuyawatch.com/product/role ... irca-1950/

In case you're not yet done shopping for bad redials, here's this one:
https://wannabuyawatch.com/product/omeg ... irca-1946/
A sublime example of the fine art of getting it wrong!



The last position in today's Bring a Brain is one that I'm including with a rather heavy heart. B&S prices are on the nasty side, and they do the Calatrava Houdini more than often, but at least they inspect the watches thoroughly, and have them serviced.
This time, though, they have misidentified the case material. Identifying chrome plated brass as stainless steel is like claiming gold plated brass to be solid gold. It isn't that.
https://bulangandsons.com/collections/w ... 1940s-w706
It's surely a nice watch, but there's brassing showing from underneath that "steel", and unless it's a Patek, it's not a Calatrava.
I have a certain respect for that shop. Well, the bottom line is that they seem to be something along the lines of decent among that tier of dealers. It doesn't happen often that they score a flop like that, but since they did, I do believe that potential buyers - if any of them are reading this - warned against this particular watch.

That's all for this Bring a Brain! I hope you have enjoyed it. As always, take care, and Bring a Brain will return when necessary!

BAB is always AOK.

That Omega dial is a cob job of epic proportions. And that mess of a 1601 is selling for about twice what its worth, even on the open market; the old "bezel gold" thing that really doesn't mean a thing.

That Omega is a sexy old watch when a good one shows up.

It never ceases to amaze me what people will pay for garbage, but as long as morons like Ellen Degeneres pay a mil for a Daytona I 'spose we can only expect the hoi-polloi to follow suit.