I guess we are all guilty at some level of being pernickety with the very fine details of Heuers.
It is something that I've pondered many times.. if a model has been changed from 'stock' at some point in it's life, then is it still original. There are obvious pieces that are clearly 'bad' watches, but many of us wouldn't consider a watch any less if it had service hands. The question of originality is a wide and wonderful discussion. If I had a watch with service hands, and found a set of 'from the factory hands', and fitted them, is the watch actually less original, as I have intervened in the real honest history of the watch.

I think it's fair to say that we all love a watch with a story, with patina and history.. what if that history involves the watch having an accident, and a caseback, or bezel gets replaced.. is the watch any more less original, or less-worthy than a NOS version kept in a safe it's life with nothing to tell. It's a good question, and one that I think is very personal to each collector. If a watch is technically incorrect, but has a story behind it, then does it matter?!

Sorry for rambling, just thinking out loud, as they say!

Cheers
Stewart

: So after all the debate and discussion, the "Siffert"
: with the MH bezel and Schmitz case-back sold for $5,731 --

: http://www.ebay.com/itm/110837658772#ht_883wt_1165

: I'm not so sure why this one was such a mystery. If we study the
: photos carefully, we see that inside the case-back, there was a
: watchmaker's mark that said "bezel". To me, this
: confirmed that the bezel had been replaced during a servicing. I
: imagine that the case-back had also been replaced at some point.

: Some people just didn't like the seller's way of doing business.
: But in the end, I believe that the photos, with this
: "bezel" marked in the case-back, told us what we
: needed to know.

: Jeff