Speedmaster Panda Is Back!

This was truly a day of Omega Speedmaster watches. Readers would know that I sent my Speedmaster Panda to Omega Service Center for a full servicing @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2018/05/rolex-vs-omega-watch-servicing.html; and after almost 2 months, the watch was ready for collection. While I had the Daytona to accompany me during the Speedmaster's leave of absence, it was good to have the piece back in my winder nonetheless.

Behold the Speedmaster Panda back in all its glory, with its movement smooth as butter now. And now with an additional 2-year warranty till May 2020. Thank goodness that the watch was still under its warranty period while I send it in; otherwise it would have set me back RM2,800 for the servicing.

This Speedmaster Panda was a discontinued model, but you could still get grey resellers with NOS at RM29k. However, the watch came with the seller's warranty rather than the manufacturer's warranty.

And while I was just updating my blog about the excitement of having the Speedmaster Panda back, I received messages from a watch collector asking if I was interested to purchase his Speedmaster Reduced.

Now, collectors would know that the Speedmaster Reduced was the most basic of the Speedmaster's evolution over time. The said collector reminded me to this blog entry @  https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2017/04/omega-speedmaster-potential-restoration.html, in which I had wanted to pick up his watch then for RM3,600 to under-go a restoration and transformation. My plan was to have it transformed into a Panda Reduced, and I had collected some parts that would go towards the project then. 

However, as the prices were unable to meet each others' expectations, it was a project that had been shelved aside. And it has been more than a year, so I could be forgiven if I was a tad surprised by him wanting to sell the watch suddenly.

When a collector suddenly wanted to off-load a watch, it could be due to new incoming pieces or need of funds. In this case, I gauged that there could have been a malfunction with the Reduced and asked if it was so.

Bingo!

So it would seemed as though the collector was interested to off-load the Reduced at RM3,800 for a quick flip, in its current faulty condition, without box and papers.

If he was reading this, I would just like to clarify that flipping a watch was not just about getting rid of a watch. For me, I would want to ensure that the original mechanics were restored back to its prime using original parts. However, on the cosmetics side of it, I would be more opened to restoration using period-correct parts. That was the reason I collected the Panda Reduced dial for his watch, since it did not have box and papers after all.

Sure, it would be easy to just pay a couple of hundred and have someone change the lubricants in the movement and tweak it just enough to make sure that it would go on for a few weeks or months. However, the watch would still not be in its prime condition; and sooner or later, someone would have to foot the bill for a full servicing. It was just that the new owner would have to bear the brunt of it all, which would have spoilt the ownership process to an extent.

But one man's meat was another man's poison.

If it was my Reduced, I would pay for the necessary restoration and repairs. Make sure that the gasket was replaced as you would not want to compromise its WR capabilities, eventhough it was not meant to be a diver. Over at Omega SC, it would be at least RM2.8k but with the right watchsmith whom had access to the original parts, the total cost could be in the region of RM1.5k. Then after all these were done, then I would then flip it in the market at circa RM4k to recoup some of the monies.

A Reduced in working condition could fetch some RM4.8k.

A mint NOS from 1990 could fetch top dollars of RM6.8k!

For instance, let me draw the reader's attention to this Rolex 16710 that I flipped back in March @ https://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2018/03/wts-rolex-gmt-master-ii-16710-pepsicoke.html. Vintage Rolex GMT pieces were all the rage these days and I could have taken advantage of the situation to sell it without a full servicing, without box and papers, etc and at a much higher price. Instead, I made sure that the 18-year old gal had gone through the proper works, and priced it at a rate that would make the new collector a happy chap. I did take time to make sure that I matched the watch to the right owner; but thereafter, he was happy as bird. So that's that.