Re: Speaking of completed auctions...
LUW said:
From the pics the watch looks in very good shape. You have reason to believe the watch is
not in good shape? Why?
spring-diver said:
Looks very minty....in fact nicest one I have ever seen photos of. I'm sure the buyer will be very happy with this Bull Head
water70proof said:
...second, what's wrong with this watch? Do you suspect a redial? It could be the color balance is off on the photos....
jason_recliner said:
Is this not all original?
What are the replacement parts?
Maybe I'm mistaken, but compare this image of an all original black bullhead (Botto's watch which is pictured in the bullhead buying guide), to the image from the auction:
here is a catalog page for comparisson:
here is another catalog page to check against:
[size=1em][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/Santeno/Adds/Misc%20Catalog%20Pages/6138Cat1.jpg
Botto's watch:
Auction picture:
[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/02/%21BssZBZ%21EWk%7E$%28KGrHqYOKjgEvPW%21dgMcBL46ncc9E%21%7E%7E_3.JPG
Look closely at the two and tell me what you see. Here is an image of aladinsane's brown bullhead to double check consistencies:
I see four things that lead me to question the claims of this watch being "MINT".
First is the bezel insert. The bezel insert in this watch has the word Tachymeter in the same color of yellow as the minute markers. the original watch pictured above, doesn't and neither do the two catalog pictures above. If you look closely at the brown and the black bullheads above, you will see that the inner edge of the bezel insert curves down and that the minute markers printed follow that curve down. That doesn't happen with the auction watch. in that watch the insert ends at a shar edge and the print ends at that edge. In my opinion the insert in the auction watch is a nice but incorrect modern after market replacement insert.
the second thing I see are the hands. more specifically, the subregister hands. if you look at the originals, the subregister hands have clearly defined axel holes that are the color of the mounting pinion below. The auction watch has tiny mounting holes and they are mostly white. This leads me to theconclusion that they are either replacements or repainted originals. since all the hands appear to be in excellent condition, my guess is that they are replacements. to verify, I would ask the seller for a picture of them under UV light. What i would expect to see is dead lume which will glow under UV light, but wont once the light is removed (or will only slightly - unless the hands has modern lume). I would also expect to see a fluorescent yeloow second hand that will glow brightly under UV light and not at all under an other light source. If I don't see that, then the hands are definitely replacements or refinished originals. They are so nicely done, that my guess would be replacements.
the third thing I see is the crown and case finish. the crown is obviously not in mint condition. It has several visible scratches. you can see them in the picture below and in a second picture in the auction. of more concern to me is the finish of the case in the area between the pushers. Now this could just be me or bad pictures, but it seems like the sharp case crease between upper and lower finishes has been rounded of in this part (it is sharp everywhere else). I wold expect this of a refinished case (even if slightly refinished), because this section of this case is more difficult to refinish than the rest. Again, this is just supposition on my part based on the images, but I would ask the question.
[img]http://i.ebayimg.com/23/%21BssZCcwEWk%7E$%28KGrHqIOKkIEvOEh1-4hBL46njVvNg%7E%7E_3.JPG
Lastly is the bracelet. more specifically this shot of it showing these very rough pin pushing direction arrows. I'll have to check with my original bracelet at home, But I don't recall the original fishbone's arrows being this big and definitely not this rough. I could be wrong, but IIRC, they are smaller and definitely machine stamped, unlike these which look like they were done by hand.
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As I see it the watch is very nice - much nicer than most pieces that show up on the bay. however, it has definitely been worked on and has at least one major after market replacement part (and possibly others). There is no picture of the movement and the seller offers up no service history. Also I could be wrong, but the clasp seems to have an extender, which leads me to believe that the bracelet is short. It is a nice reconditioned piece, and it should have been priced accordingly. The price it went for is high, even for an NOS bullhead, which this definitely is not. maybe the seller didn't know, but he should not have made claims of "mintiness" if he didn't. the buyer definitely did not do his homework and let excitement get the better of him. Nice watch but someone way overpaid for this. Oh well, live and learn.
