Found: Lip Mach 2000 Valjoux Chronograph

 

A returning customer from Brazil asked me to see if I could find him a LIP Mach 2000 watch. At first he claimed it could be in good condition but was also willing to pay a top price (2000USD) for a mint version. After some looking around there were none for sale on the internet. All just sold, in used condition (the black case and coloured pushers can be scratched easy and when used often the colours wear through. Not a pretty sight.

 Also the Mach 2000 was produced all black. And a few years ago the LIP factory started to produce a lot of reedition for the Mach 2000 series (yes there are many models), including the chronographs, only this time with quartz movements. Needles to say the customer wanted the mechanical Valjoux version. Most collectors of LIP watches are in France since LIP is produced there. But no luck with the collectors from France I know. But a great collector of watches from  the book "Watch" from the author mr. Pieter Doensen is living in my own country "The Netherlands", this being mr. Doensen himself. After contacting mr. Doensen he told me he had the perfect unworn version that I could buy from him. He even included an extra rubber strap so the collector could wear it every now and them because the original rubber strap got all hard and was no longer fit for use.

You can imagine for the final price of a 1000 euro (about 1200 USD at the time) the collector in Brazil was very happy to pay me my 10% fee.