stickies here
- Are the cushions spaceview less likely to be conversion ?
- I have my eye on these two, what are you guys thoughts
The first one (Bbart seller) is nice but I would question if that is NOS. I have seen him sell a few clean Accutrons and have dealt with him in the past ( conversations about 1 or 2 items for sale and it was not a pleasant experience) but overall, I would be
very cautious with him. Most of his stuff is overpriced and not represented as it should. For him to say a watch has never been worn is a red flag. How would anybody know that? If you are saying that to prop up a price, then that is a red flag, and that is what he is doing. And that 1973 Chapter Ring isn't anything special and isn't worth anything near that price. There are a few other things with that watch to make me scratch my head and I would avoid it.
One thing I noticed was the caseback. I would have to question him on the so-called NOS never worn story. I circled one area that looks feathered from the grained flat transition area and the shiny beveled area. Without having close-up pics to determine the exact story, below is what a restored and barely worn caseback looks like. Unless you get a close-up on some of these restored cases, they may look like and may even be described as never worn but buyer beware. My pics show the difference.
bbart caseback pic: Notice the feathered transition edge. That graining and transition edge look restored and not NOS an unworn. But pics are hard to decipher sometimes.
My examples below. Both are 1961 White Gold Alphas. The left watch has hardly seen any arm time and is very crisp and clean. The right watch has been restored by Replateit. Both at a distance look very similar.
But if you get a close-up of the casebacks you can see a sharp contrast of hardly worn vs restored. Notice the difference in the edge transition area.
Restored caseback edge transition area. Notice what the graining work will do to the transition area. It cuts into it.
Compare the above pic to this: Unrestored and barely worn edge transition area with a factory look. Very crisp and sharp edge. You won't see a nice case restoration up close that looks like that. Only the factory can produce clean lines like that.
So I would be asking bbart for very specific pics to determine if that Chapter Ring watch case has been restored and advertised as NOS. Restoring that case would only cost about $85.00. These are just a few questions I would have if I was looking at that watch but I would pass on anything he was selling. IMHO.
The second one sold and is a Swiss Chapter Ring Spaceview. As far as I recall, the hands on Swiss Chapter Rings should be case color (silver or gold and not white luminous so they are probably replacement hands. But Chapter Ring Spaceviews, in general, are not converted Spaceviews, although they can have the wrong hands and replacements movements in them.
Two Swiss Chapter Rings Ads.
Stainless Version with case-colored hands
Gold Version with case-colored hands.
A good Spaceview website detailing many Spaceviews and tech info. This website was created by a fellow WTF forum member and highly knowledgeable Spaceview collector.
Accutron Spaceview Tech Link
