Omega Speedmaster achieves record – and then turns out to be a scam

Shortly after the auction, the ” was a case for the history books. Although the auction house “Phillips” had already generously estimated the watch with a price range of 80,000 to 120,000 Swiss francs, the bidders exceeded even their wildest expectations. The hammer fell with a record result of the equivalent of 3.2 million euros, making the brown watch with a leather strap all at once and by far the most expensive Omega ever sold.

The willingness to pay such an astronomical price for the watch was explained as follows: The “CK2915-1” model from 1957 was part of the first Speedmaster series that Omega manufactured. The watch was only built for two years and is now a coveted collector’s item. Added to this was the condition: after the sale, Omega declared that the watch had “perfectly aged” and that such a condition was correspondingly rare after more than half a century.

Only months later did the suspicion arise: the condition was no coincidence, but presumably targeted manipulation by Omega employees, who are said to have not only worked on the watch, but are also said to have been actively involved in the bidding dispute.

Omega Speedmaster Allegedly “Made to Fit”

Even at the time the auction house announced that such an Omega would soon be on sale, some connoisseurs and collectors had the feeling that they knew the specimen, reports the “”. A Bernese watch dealer had previously sold a very similar Speedmaster for a fraction of the auction price and had great trouble getting rid of it at all. Understandable: Because the dealer played with open cards. His “CK2915-1” was an original, but important parts got mixed up over the years and historically no longer fit together.

This is – if you communicate it openly – not bad at first. If the clock is running, it serves its purpose. But: With vintage watches, especially such rare ones, every component plays an important role. And it’s only really expensive if the watch is near or equal to its original condition. With newer service parts or even replica parts, the value shrinks considerably. If a seller states this correctly and the buyer is less concerned with collector value and more concerned with the watch itself, this is neither illegal nor a problem. It becomes critical when you remain silent – and illegal when you actively try to hide the truth.

According to “NZZ”, that’s exactly what happened with the record watch – and as it turned out later, it got even more dramatic. The report describes what allegedly happened after the watch was purchased. Since the clearly visible and indeed exemplary aged dial was the main selling point, the new owner is said to have prettied up the watch in places that no longer corresponded to its original condition. Side note: Even the dial looks critical now, because the aging is too even for them.

The almost perfect craft project

But back to the preparation of the watch: First, the heart of the Omega, the movement, has been given a new serial number, they say. Because the original number did not match the year of manufacture of the watch. The owner at the time received the information about what had to be engraved correctly from a contact at the manufacturer. He obtained the parts from a “professional watch supplier in western Switzerland”. The work was then manipulated.

Further manipulations were allegedly carried out on the bezel, the second hand and the luminous material, which is often demonstrably radioactive in a watch from the fifties – a feature that is no longer found in modern watches for safety reasons. When the watch met the owner’s expectations, it was put up for sale at Phillips, a renowned auction house with an impressive history of record selling prices.

Despite rigorous checks, there is no suspicion there until the sale. In conversation with the star Shares Phillips: “We do not offer watches that we are not 100% confident in their authenticity. In the extremely rare instances where a watch is so important that it can be offered even though a part is not original or authenticated was made at a later date, this will be highlighted in the catalog notes or condition report. Until last week no one had ever claimed that this Omega watch was not authentic. The watch was examined by specialists, experts and even the manufacturer at the time of sale, and no one has raised any concerns. As of now, we have not seen any reports or had access to the watch to conduct an in-depth analysis of the watch in light of these claims.”

Omega buys the watch for the company museum – from its director, among others

At first nobody noticed the dizziness, although, as mentioned at the beginning, there were doubts. Only after more detailed comparisons did the idea become clearer: it had to be the watch from the Bern retailer – or at least parts of it.

In another report by “”, which was published shortly after the original story, it becomes clearer why the scam worked so well at first – and how the high price could have come about. Omega itself bought the Speedmaster. The head of the in-house museum argued that it was so important that it had to be acquired at any price. At the same time, however, he also participated in the manipulation – and probably belonged to the group of sellers.

The manufacturer has now confirmed a lot. To the star Omega explains the incident as follows: “At the auction hosted by Phillips, the head of the Omega Museum worked with intermediaries to acquire the watch for the Museum. He argued that it was a rare and exceptional timepiece that was a is an absolute must for the display collections from our house and should therefore definitely be purchased in this auction. In fact, the watch is a compilation of mostly authentic components. Something that is commonly called a “Frankenstein” watch. This timepiece is currently an important piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation, which must also bring to light the seller of the watch.The false components allowed the dealers to justify a grossly inflated bid made through the intermediaries, allowing those involved to recover the profit made from the sale collect and distribute.”

CEO Raynald Aeschlimann told the “NZZ” that evidence had been found that “three former employees with clear criminal intentions were involved in this operation”. After being confronted with it, they confessed. The case is now before the court and criminal proceedings have been initiated.