In November 2021, an early Omega Speedmaster Ref. 2915-1 ‘Broad Arrow’ featuring a stunning tropical dial went supersonic at a Phillips auction in Geneva, reaching a face-distorting G-force of CHF 3,115,500 incl. buyer’s premium. An absolute record for an Omega. The previous record-breaking Speedmaster had “only” fetched CHF 408,500. As with many of the multi-million dollar lots gaveled by top auctioneer Aurel Bacs, the watch is an assemblage, a Frankenstein watch that did not leave the Omega factory like that. Short after the auction, the breaking parachute kicked rapidly in after pictures of the watch surfaced in Omega circles, showing it with greenish lume, different hands, different bezel and a much later movement. People in the know were scared as rumours had made the rounds that the individuals involved were supposedly members of a potentially violent gipsy clan. An ideal case for Perezcope I would say.
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Lot 53 – Omega Speedmaster Ref. 2915-1, 15500066

In November 2021, an early Speedmaster with spectacular ‘tropical’ dial was offered at Phillips in Geneva. While the watch face was truly striking, the body of the watch – the case – was not. With mirror polished and rounded lugs, the watch was far from perfect. Also, the lume on the hands looked weird, too grainy, probably relumed.

Auction link: Lot 53 – Omega Speedmaster Ref. 2915-1, ‘Tropical’ dial (Phillips)

An interesting observation is that Phillips listed the wrong serial number in their catalogue on/offline. Instead of 15500066, they wrote 15500006.

A few days after the sale, I received the following pictures which showed the very same dial combined with different components, most notably the tachymeter bezel and the ‘Broad Arrow’ hands. The lume on the dial was strange as it had a bright ‘greenish’ colour as opposed to the “attractive golden tone” praised in Phillips’ catalogue.

The movement was from a much later ‘Speedy’ or possibly a different Omega chronograph model altogether. Due to the low quality of the picture, the movement serial number is difficult to decipher but it appears to be 25005330 or somehting like that. In any case not period correct by any stretch of the imagination. Since Omega did not work with case numbers at the time, it is difficult to assess whether the case was the same or not.

The inside of the caseback was stamped with reference number 2915-1. Early Speedmasters are pretty rare. One of the reasons could be that since they were of such poor build quality, most people simple threw them away.

Included was also a picture the back of the watch showing the early Speedmaster logo and the famous Seahorse or ‘Hippocampus’ from Greek mythology. The latter, however, was a clear indication that at least the caseback was not from the earliest batch but from a model from movement numbers 16.6 million onwards.

The trained eye can already see what this watch was all about. A project watch, assembled from bits and pieces found here and there, at least that is the way I see it. Sure, the dial is exceptional but did the tropical patina occur naturally? The “milk-chocolate shade” is too even for my liking. Tropical Speedmaster dials which in my opinion have developed a natural patina feature lots of ‘freckles’. The comparison below gives you an idea of what I mean. Also, check the hand on the Phillips watch (left). In my opinion, that is not natural patina and certainly not consistent with other early pieces.

The dial on the right-hand side belongs to a 2915-2 made for the Fuerza Aérea del Perú (Peruvian Airforce) in 1959. The watch sold for a more realistic price of almost Euro 200k at another auction house in 2019 and is now part of the collection of the WatchGuru. Anyway, whether dial an hands patina are real or not is minor in the ‘grand scheme of things’ regarding this particular watch. Let’s now take a closer look at the dial and see how it compares, shall we?

Dial And Lume

The following comparison of the dial shows several matching blemishes, the most obvious one being the long scratch within the 12 hours subdial.

All lumed hour markers are identical in shape and feature the very same dark spots. With so many matching points, there can be no doubt this is one and the same dial.

While the body of lume was essentially retained, the initial ‘greenish’ colour of the lume, which could be an indication that the dial had been relumed at some point – or – perhaps a side effect of an artificial ‘tropicalization’ of the dial ?, was obviously darkened to achieve a more “attractive golden tone”.

Now that it has been established that the dial is one and the same let’s take a closer look at the bezel.

Tachymeter Bezel

As mentioned earlier, the tachymeter bezels are different. A quick search in my extensive database revealed that the current bezel was taken from a later Speedmaster ‘Broad Arrow’ Ref. 2915-2 with movement number 16648304, auctioned by – suprise, surprise – Phillips Geneva in November 2018.

Auction link: Lot 114 – Omega Speedmaster Ref. 2915-2 (Phillips)

The following two comparisons prove this observation to be a fact.

More matching dents and scratches. There can be no doubt that this is one and the same bezel.

It is interesting how these watches seem to always end up in the same hands. In the above comparison, you can also see that the inner bezel is wrong. Compare the distance between inner bezel and minute track and check the dark line in the middle (arrows). That is probably a mark left by the original bezel, wherever this tropical dial was installed in previously.

Caseback

A comparison of details found on the exterior of the caseback shows that it was retained.

The back of the case is mirror-polished as well. It is impossible to assess whether the case was retained as well or if this is a different case. What can be assessed to 100% is that the ‘Hippocampus’ or Seahorse on Speedmaster casebacks was only introduced with movement numbers 16.6 million. Clearly the caseback cannot be period-correct to movement number 15500066.

Since the caseback is the same, it can be assumed the case was kept as well.

Movement

Today, the watch features a much earlier movement (or movement number) and comes with an ‘Extract from the Archives’ issued by the Omega Heritage Department. Since only movement serial numbers were recorded in the archives during the period in which these watches were made, the extract is meaningless as it only relates to the movement number. It is also important to understand that these extracts do not attest in any way to the authenticity of the watches or any of their components which is explicitly stated on each such document.

Yes, the parts may be original but as we have learned, this “grail” was not born like this. Nobody knows what happened to the original watch with movement serial number 15500066 which was sold on November 2, 1957. The present watch is certainly not it. The shortcomings of Omega’s archival system are in full display here. It is also interesting to note that the person responsible for issuing this certificate resigned only days after the auction. According to information received, that person had been working for a longer period of time hand in hand with the seller of this watch, issuing a number of highly contested certificates to said dealer. Basically, if you have an insider in the archives, you get exclusive access to movement numbers used for certain prototypes. If you just so happen to have a prototype dial, creating the rest is a walk in the park.

Update June 2, 2023:
According to reporting in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, one of the largest Swiss newspapers, Omega investigated this case and found evidence that three former employees with criminal intentions were involved in this operation. The three confessed to having acted fraudulently and criminally. Omega examined the serial number engravings 15500066 featured on the movement and established they are fake. The movement is still the same later caliber but the fakers replaced the original escapement wheel bridge bearing the 25 million number with a fake part featuring the number obtained through the archives. In a turn of events, it was also revealed the buyer was actually Omega themselves.

English article: How a pieced-together watch became the most espensive Omega ever (NZZ.ch)

German article: “Kriminell und betrügerisch”: Wie aus einer alten, zusammengebastelten Omega Uhr eine 3-Millionen-Franken-Rarität wurde (NZZ.ch)

German follow-up article: Überraschende Wendung im Krimi um eine millionenteure, aber zusammengebastelte Vintage-Uhr von Omega (NZZ.ch)

Thoughts

The record-breaking sale of this ‘Cheatmaster’ took the watch collecting world by surprise. Nobody expected this lot to break through the one million dollar barrier, let alone three. How it happened is not much of a mystery actually. My understanding is that the watch specialists at Phillips had ‘groomed’ a very wealthy collector from Mainland China known as ‘Ghost’ months in advance and once a certain price level was reached, the guy got into a bidding frenzy. I know for a fact that the Omega Museum was bidding on this thing as well but they dropped out at around 600k. Omega is trying to elevate the brand in the same way Patek Philippe did in the early 2000s when the Genevean luxury watchmaker acquired watches at auction to create their museum.

As so often with auction lots, the consignors are actually watch dealers. With a vested interest in ever raising prices, they will bid on their own lots, through dealer friends or other means. It is a fabricated hype in which auction houses are naturally complicit.

After receiving pictures of the watch in its previous condition, I contacted Aurel Bacs to give him a heads up on a possible exposé. At the time, I was still helping Phillips with the authentication of certain watches and bound by my sense for loyalty. Bacs never replied to my message.

Update April 15, 2023
The more I think about it, the less the official story makes any sense. No seasoned collector would pay six or more times the amount of money a watch is worth (if it was legit that is). This sale was probably not about a watch but something else entirely.

There are more multi-million dollar ‘legends of the fall’ sold at Phillips whose true nature needs to come to light.

Thank you for your interest.