My Hunt for the SMP Bond Quartz...

[angkikee]

Soooo…

After looking for a while for the Gen 2221.80 SMP bond quartz I finally found one on a recent trip to Bangkok. By recent I mean yesterday.
It’s a funny story because I was at MBK (for those who know) and it’s generally not a place to find gens, however I was walking around practically with my eyes at counter level and I was going through all the low quality reps and I came to a counter and I was thinking “hey these are really great reps!â€. Then I did a double take and thought “Wait minute.. These aren’t reps…â€. And I dare say the only reason I can tell a gen or rep within seconds is because of these great forums. LOL.
Turns out the shop deals with used gens, and most are what people trade in. they had a few really cool ones like the seamaster electric blue dial (I forget which model exactly but you guys know exactly what I mean).
After a bit of haggling we agreed on a price. It really was risky since there was no real way to tell but as soon as I got back home to Singapore I opened the caseback and shortened the bracelet a little to suit my wrist. I’m at work and the network here doesn’t allow me to attach any pictures, but it just occurred to me that I haven’t really seen the inside of a Gen 2221.80 Quartz SMP here in RWI.
Who wants some pics?
Give me time I will try to put it up tonight when I get home.

 

[angkikee]

OK I think I may have posted this in the wrong section. It should be in the Gen section. Sorry about that guys.

 

[Rainsick33]

Lets see them pics!

 

[Mr. Pap]

Lets see them pics!

Yes, share some love!

 

[jcagara08]

pics or it didn't happen! =)

 

[Alex_P1]

Good find! There were loads of these around on the UK EBay the other year when I was looking for my SMP300, but they seem to have got rare all of a sudden...

Wear it well and enjoy it.

 

[angkikee]

Pics or this never happened! =)

Hi Guys,

I'm a little rusty at this and I'm sorry for the lousy pics. My macro lens died recently and Ihaven't had the time to send it in for a repair, so a point and shoot in crappy lighting will have to do for now.

So when buying used there's always that question - Is the movement ok? Is it real? I know the quartz was never repped properly (if at all) so it would be more or less a sure thing that this would be good, but still...

Bracelet looks good...

I think it's probably been scrubbed with a scotchbrite pad once or twice but it looks clean enough. no major misshapen links.

 

[angkikee]

Here we go.. rather than sending it to the Omega service centre for verification I figured with a rubber ball and a few minutes I should be able to have the answer to that... plus there's probably less devastating shame if it turned out to be a rep that I paid good money for...

Looks alright. The battery has what I think is the date on it? Is this common?

So this is what the Cal. 1538 looks like...

In case you're wondering, yes it does have an antimagnetic cover. Naturally this one looks a LOT better than the antimagnetic cover on my SMP Chrono rep and the UPO reps I have.

The case number is 196.1504 which does show up if you search for the bezel on Ofrei however I had difficulty finding the same parts on CousinsUK if searching by case number.

I also learned that the part number for the bezel of this watch is not the same as the SMP Chrono bezel. SMP bezel is OME-082SU1361 while the SMP Chrono Diver bezel is the OME-082SU1360.

There you go guys... =) I'm happy with the purchase. Now to save for the new CRPO!!!!

 

[angkikee]

Good find! There were loads of these around on the UK EBay the other year when I was looking for my SMP300, but they seem to have got rare all of a sudden...

Wear it well and enjoy it.

Thanks Alex. Yeah I was hoping to find one and I was hunting on WUS but came across a really shady ad and I decided not to risk sending the money. Seller's ad was for a 2221.80 and kept promising the right watch but also kept posting the wrong pics. i.e. he didn't know the differences between the 2220.80 and the 2531.80 and the 2221.80 so whan I asked for pics of the watch and the cards he sent images of the 2531.80, which was also ok with m except the price should reflect this.

He then said he had two watches and could send me the 2531.80 at a reduced price. i said i would be interested in both if he could show proof of documentation. he claimed to be the first owner and then sent me a pic of the watch with the cards. this time the cards read 2220.80. I'm pretty sure it was a scam.