Lot Number 53

The biggest story in the watch industry, for a couple of days now, has been the Omega Speedmaster CK2915 with tropical dial that sold for 3.115 million Swiss francs ($3.4 million) in November 2021, representing the highest price ever paid for a Speedmaster. While a couple of experts had questioned the authenticity of this watch before, José Perez “Pereztroika” from Perezcope.com went on to provide an astonishing in-depth look at the many inconsistencies found on said watch in April 2023. And, as it turned out, the watch was indeed a so called “Frankenwatch,” a put-together example of the famous Moonwatch. The next plot twist: This Speedmaster was purchased by Omega and intended to become a part of the Omega Museum. As a consequence, the Swiss watch brand was forced to launch its own investigation, and “the initial findings have provided clear evidence that three former employees were involved in this operation with clear criminal intent, and to the massive detriment of Omega,” confirmed Omega CEO Raynald Aeschlimann in a statement provided to NZZ, which had picked up the story in June:

“Omega and Phillips were the joint victims of organized criminal activity involving the selling of this specific watch by auction. At the auction, hosted by Phillips, the Head of Omega Museum and Brand Heritage worked in tandem with intermediaries to purchase the watch for the Omega Museum, arguing that it was a rare and exceptional timepiece that would be an absolute must for Omega’s showcase collections, and should therefore be bought in this auction at all cost.”

Raynald Aeschlimann, CEO Omega in a statement provided to Neue Zürcher Zeitung

The global watch market was valued at around $70 Billion in 2022, with the auction houses representing about 1% of that sum. Unsurprisingly, criminal activities, be it robberies, fakes, break-ins or even tax evasion, to just name a few, are inevitable with that much money involved, but inside jobs of this magnitude are definitely exceptional. Follow this link for the articles on Perezcope.com / Neue Zürcher Zeitung / Bloomberg

Photo courtesy of Phillips