It could be a plot straight out of a Hollywood movie where a ‘Frankenstein’ Omega Speedmaster watch sold at auction for over $3 million.
The watch, a 1957 Speedmaster CK2915-1, was sold at a Phillips auction in November 2021 for CHF 3,115,500 (about $3.3 million).
This was a shocking result, as Phillips had given the watch a pre-auction estimate of CHF 80,000 to 120,000 (about $87,000 to $129,000).
Even when the first million was reached, bids from Texas, Oman and China kept coming in – until the watch finally was sold for 3.115 million francs ($3.4 million). That’s 30 times the appraised value, about eight times the highest price ever paid for a Speedmaster, and a record for Omega.
But soon it became clear especially to watch aficionados that there was something wrong with the watch.
The originally black dial, bleached out by the sun into a brown tone, is striking. This should be rare, but it looked just like the dial of the watch that Bern watch collector and dealer ‘Paul’ (whose name has been changed) had offered for sale to various people a few months earlier, in vain. Paul had asked 50,000 francs for his Speedmaster, but couldn’t get rid of it at that price because the watch was pieced together and some of the components didn’t even fit together.
Used watches are particularly valuable when they are as close as possible to their original condition. For example, service work or repairs must have been carried out by the watch manufacturer itself or by authorized specialists using original parts. If a watch consists of parts that are original to the period but come from different watches, this detracts from the value. Even less collectible are watches with components that come from a later period or are refabricated.
An investigation by media houses Bloomberg and NZZ found that the watch was a fake. It was made up of parts from other vintage watches, and some of the parts were even fabricated. Omega has accused three former employees of being involved in the fraud. The company is demanding that the auction house return the watch and refund the buyer.
The scandal has raised questions about the authenticity of vintage watches and the integrity of the auction market. It is also a reminder that even the most expensive watches can be fake.
