Sotheby’s 105.003
We have five watches here, quite a selection. Lets see if any are any good.
Lot 24 105.003-65 Soft Grey 24’537’868 $20,000-30,000 
Lot 28 105.003-65 24’535’839 $20,000-30,000 
Lot 29 105.003-63 20’522’557 $10,000-15,000 
Lot 34 105.003-64 20’527’270 $10,000-15,000 
Lot 43 105.003-65 SERVICE DIAL 24’001’394 $10,000-15,000
Lot 24
This is a soft grey dial, very rare and almost always degraded to some extent. Something about the manufacture of them leads to really poor longevity. Most have chipping and paint loss, but this one is much better than many. This photo does not capture the true essence of this dial which i am sure is more interesting in the metal. It has a good bezel and a good case, and so this is a very unusual Ed White.
Lot 28
Here we have a good looking Ed White, with reservations. The bezel is a little tired, and the hands have lost colour at the centres. The hour sub dial hand is creeping. The hand lume is miss matched but it doesnt signal anything bad. The watch seems correct. The question is, is it worth the estimate? There have been a lot of Ed Whites on the market recently, with wide ranging qualities. Will this sell at Estimate? Probably.
Lot 29
Are those to different size/shape pushers? Or is it just the light/post processing? The bezel is spectacular. The dial is imperfect, with wide plot colour variation and blurry plots at 5, 6 and 7. Case looks ok. Next step is get another photo of those pushers, which make me uncomfortable until I know. The estimate does reflect the dial condition, but overall I think this is another seller.
Lot 34
A blue pulsations bezel. That is something I have not seen before. Of course as always these coloured bezels change in different lights so it will be good to see some natural light photos. In any event I expect someone will fall in love with this blue bezel and buy it, though it wont be me. I have never been a huge fan of the pulsation bezel, while others will value them the same or more as a DO90. Note this one is a vintage one, as evidenced by the line between the numbers and the markers.
The dial is without most of its luminous material on the plots, and what remains is not attractive. Now this might be something to do with post processing used to enhance the blue bezel.
Lot 43
Here is the Faux-Pas of the sale. Service dial anyone?
A 105.003 with a service dial is not going to sell for this money to an informed buyer, and so further assessment is a waste of my time. Perhaps Sothebys will halve the estimate to make it saleable.
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