I've been offered the following Heuer Cortina for $4200. It's the variant with the red date dial (supposedly less common). Seller says it was last serviced three years ago and gains 30 seconds per day. I'm wondering if anything looks amiss, or if the price is out of line given the condition (no box/papers). Thanks for your help.

 

I saw your post on WUS as well. No expert on these I'm afraid. What I will say is that the case looks nice and sharp.

 

yes there seems not to be much info about them. would you happen to know whether a gain of 30 seconds for the Calibre 12 movement is typical?

 

It's OK. Could do better. I have modern watches that gain that much. though - they just need servicing/regulating. The Calibre 12 in my Autavia keeps almost perfect time, but then it has just had a service.

 

Have you tried demagnetizing it? That kind of rate gain only 3 years after a service is a bit odd.

Given your first photo - do you often rest it on your laptop, tablet or near TVs or stereo equipment?

 

I don't think he's bought it yet

 

Looks in great shape, with original brushing. Photos don’t highlight everything so there might be a surprise or two, you never know. Price is a dealer price, not exagerated but not easy to resell at this price should you choose to. I was offered a near mint Cortina last year from a dealer in Milan for around this price. It looked so good, one of my regrets. A very very nice Cortina with box sold at auction recently for about half. That was exceptional but I’m just putting it out there. 30 seconds a day is a lot. Could be magnetizing but usually loses time in that case. Count on a service and a part or two, might set you back a couple of hundred.

 

Thanks, this is helpful information. Is this the auction you were referring to?

I'm currently in Europe (as is this watch). Is there anyone you might recommend to perform the service if I end up going through with the purchase? I see Abel Court's name mentioned here but it appears there's a long wait for him.

 

Stefan Stefansson in the UK at vintagewatchfever.co.uk @ursmidur has done a very nice job on two Heuers for me recently including one with a few mechanical difficulties!

 

Yes that's the auction. With premium and tax well over 3k, so not that for off.
If you're not in the UK maybe wait a bit to send your watch there for service with Brexit looming.

 

Ah, fired off a suggestion without reading the full post Eh.

Most of the watches I've found to be magnetized have run extremely fast, not unlike this one. Could be that it needs a new mainspring too, but I'd want to rule out magnetization first. He's sunk if it's a balance issue

 

yes you are correct, I mixed those up.
The two watches I ever had magnetized I was able to detect with the lepsi app. Works well, at least on iphone X.

 

I'll usually just give it a go on the degausser and see what happens.

They only cost like $12 or so, here's a standard one on eBay.Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

The cheap ones are apparently preferred by watchmakers, even