Something I have not seen before: Lemania Bridge

Selling on Ebay, and fully declared by the seller, is this 145.012 with a bridge that is labeled Lemania. Here is an example of what it should look like:

So we can see the “horseshoe”shaped bridge is identical except for the markings. I must say that I may have been caught out, had it not been brought to my attention. Going forward, I will not as it has been added into my brain’s automatic checklist.

Now since we are here lets check out the watch, and see if its worth buying. The ebay link is here

Its an unusual combination of silver degraded bezel and bright yellow plots on a black stepped dial. That is definitely a super-ghost bezel for sure, and the dial plot colour is strikingly even and fresh, like cake icing. The rest of the dial looks in very good condition. The hands in contrast are a little grubby.

Lets have a close look at a plot.

What I see here is a very even colour throughout the plot, and also that all the plots are exactly the same. They all have a fresh look to them, and the colour is pleasing. So pleasing in fact it is the colour one might chose if one could. One of the contributing pieces of evidence against a re lume is that the hands are so degraded by comparison – most people will do the hands and the dial at the same time.

Now we look at the bezel. A bezel as degraded as this has seen a lot of something to cause that level of fade, and indeed abrasion damage. This is not reflected in the state of the case – not at all, look at this:

We see pretty well defined lines and finish on the case, so suggests that the case has not been through what the bezel has.

So we have a dial with fresh looking plots, grubby hands which are unlikely to have experienced life in the same watch until now.

The same goes for the case and bezel that also show different levels of aging.

So my conclusion is that this watch has been assembled with parts that originally came from other watches.

It is possible the dial has been re lumed, or that it is a very fine dial, out of keeping with the rest of the watch. If I had to bet, I would say it was re lumed and that the hands simply were not done.

The movement has a non Omega part – understandable if done during the time when 145.012’s were trading for about double what a service cost, so people sought independents and cut corners.

Currently this watch sits at about $3600 and at that level its going to give someone some pleasure if they go in with eyes open, and prepared to find the lume is re applied. If it heads much higher, and by that I mean in excess of $5000, then I think that might be a little strong.

This watch underlines my attitude that at the right price, and incorrect watch can give pleasure for the wearer, as long as they know what they are buying. After all, a top example of a 145.012 will be over $12,000