Reunification of a "Scattered" 992B Boxed Set -- C20441

It's been a couple of years since this reunification odyssey was completed, but it wasn't until today that I finally got around to getting the set out and taking some pictures.

The Quest Begins . . .

This all started in September 2004, when I posted a Pitfalls topic about an eBay auction for an unusually nice set of inner and outer boxes for an early 992B. At the time I thought it was interesting that the inner box had a label as well as the outer box and the labels said "992" instead of 992B.

One of the things that came up in the discussion topic was what a terrific boxed set this would be if only the watch that was originally sold in these boxes could be recovered. It was then that one of our members chimed in and mentioned that he had recently unknowingly sold the watch that matched the boxes on eBay. What a coincidence!

It was then I resolved to pursue the reunification of the set. Anyway, I was high bidder on the first auction at at $275, but failed to make the seller's reserve. "Oh well, hopefully it will be relisted and make sure you get it then," I thought.

Following up on the watch sale thru eBay (it would be impossible to do this now), I contacted the buyer of the watch, a railroad engineer for Union Pacific, explained about the possibility of putting the boxed set back together, and asked if he would consider selling or trading his watch. He was lukewarm to the idea, but didn't tell me to get lost.



Inner and Outer Boxes in First Auction

Going After the Boxes . . .

The inner box was auctioned about a month later by the same seller who had originally put both boxes up. I made sure I won the auction, but it cost me what I thought was a lot at the time -- $425. Then I casually asked the seller if he happened to have the cardboard box too. He said he did and agreed to sell it to me for an additional $100 -- again, I thought that was a lot, but didn't let that stop me.

So now I had spent $525 on the two boxes and only needed the watch to complete the set.


Going After the Watch . . .

Starting in December 2004, I began dickering with the watch owner via Email. This proved to be a rather drawn out task, simply because the owner wasn't very anxious to give up his watch and he kept changing his mind about what he wanted for the watch, first cash, then a similar but nicer watch and finally cash again.

I must say that Lin's assistance and patience during this process was invaluable. He advised me on negotiating strategy, he helped me obtain an extremely nice tutone 992B for trade and helped me compose a half dozen Emails back and forth over a 4-month period.

At last the owner offered to sell C20441 for $1000, twice what he had paid for the watch. Then later after I had agreed to that, came back and hit me up another $25 for postage. That annoyed me, but I just added on the $25 and didn't say anything. So after spending $1550 I had a very nice Signature Type 1 boxed set.

Now I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.



Watch in Inner Box . . . Back Home Again

What is it they say Ed, patience is a virtue?

I'd say it was all worth it, because that is nothing short of a breathtaking early 992B set. Thanks for sharing it with us, and the story.

Glad it all worked out and it has a good home again.

Ed,

Congratulations! Your patience and persistance paid off in this instance. What a beautiful set.

Mike

Amazing story! Thanks for sharing it.

Hi Ed:
Congratulations! I love the story. You have done a great job. Thank you for sharing!
Cheers!
Joel

Ed,

Wow! A great story and a super looking completely original boxed set! An oddessy well done!

Joe

Ed

I remember a discussion on the dial and whether the one on the watch matched the label. This took us into HG dials, HG with RWS, etc and we seemed to drift a bit without a definitive answer. Do we know more now?

Without researching those old posts, if memory serves, I think we concluded that either the RWS or plain HAMILTON signature could both be correct on a DS porcelain enamel "HG" dial on a 992B of 1941-1942 vintage.

However, to avoid arguments and meet the normal expectation of 992B collectors, the RWS version of the HG is what's on there now, even though I bought it with a non-RWS HG dial on it (see pic).

BTW, I also replaced the crown and tube with NOS ones. These are normally considered replacement items and do not affect originality.


C20441 "As-Bought" (Photo from eBay auction)