Fine Vintage Watches

Traditional 1930s Gruen Vintage Watches

Alan — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:52:07 +0000

Techni-Quadron Watches

The Techni-Quadron watches which were released in 1928 comprised of a rectangular face and were similar, to the Quadron. The top and the bottom dial were of similar big sizes, while the former consisted of the hour/minute, the latter consisted of the second hand.

The Techni-Quadrons were famously known as "doctor's watches" as this large seconds subdial was easy to watch while measuring a pulse. The watch was also popular among engineers and other technical professions. Take notice that not all dual dial Gruen watches were doctor's watches. The hour/minute hands on a Techni-Quadron are mounted above where the crown enters the case as apposed to the center of the dial. Some had an expanding buckle allowing them to be slid up the arm freeing the hand and wrist.

The Carr

French for square, which was released in 1931, was a convenient square-shaped pocket watch. The 12, 3, 6 and 9 numbers were arranged in the 4 corners giving it the shape of a diamond. It could be used by both the genders and hence was marketed as a man's pocket watch and a women's purse watch as well as a portable table clock. A number of models came with luminous hands and numbers so that the they could be seen in the dark. The Carr was terminated in the year 1934 and cost around at $55 (~ $1400 at present).

Gruen Curvex Watches

The Curvex, released in 1935, was available as the Curvex Governor for men and the Curvex Queen (1936) for women. It is the most famous of the Gruen vintage watches and was the flagship watch until the late 1940s. The watch was produced until 1954.

The unique feature of the Curvex was not only that they were curved but more so that the movement inside was also curved. These watches used a patented movement (1,855,952) in which the gears were configured in a curved arrangement. Other curved watches of the 1930s had to use smaller movements that were less accurate and more fragile.

Each and every real men's Curvex watches were Precision grade and used any one of the four movements listed at the end. As a matter of fact, what makes these watches elite and Curvex, is the movement itself. The four movements which are possible to be used are; 1935- caliber 311 which is a long, thin movement; 1937- caliber 330- which is a long, thin and a curved movement; 1940- caliber 440- which is a short, square/oval movement and finally; 1948- caliber 370- which is a short and a wide movement (Curvametric).

Gruen Ristside Watches

The Ristside watches, pronounced as wrist side, were released in 1937 and were designed to be worn on the side of the wrist in line with the thumb. These designs of watches were extensively beloved by the collectors but were very rare as Gruen did not wish to sell many. There is a possibility that a few collectors would try to sell any watch which has hinged lugs as a Ristside. Except Fraternity (mentioned below) and another one similar model all the Ristsides are rectangular in shape and have curved cases.

The Curvex-Ristside watches are components of not only the Curvex family but also the Ristside family of Gruen vintage watches. The movement 330 that is mentioned above was the primary movement used in three different watches named, The Curvex Coronet, Curvex Lord and the Curvex admiral. The Curvex-Ristside Fraternity of watches comprised of hinged lugs and utilized the 440 movement.

VINTAGE GRUEN PRECISION MENS WRIST WATCH FOR PARTS OR REPAIR
US $15.50

VINTAGE WATCH BANDS LOT OF 5 CHAMPION BULOVA SEIKO BENRUS GRUEN ALL NICE BANDS !
US $7.50

Vintage Gruen Wristwatch - Working Very Nice Condition.
US $36.09

Vintage GRUEN Guild Semi Thin 16 jewel 12 size Pocket Watch w/ chain & fob knife
US $23.50

VINTAGE GRUEN VERI-THIN CAL.427 15 JEWEL MILITARY STYLE MEN'S WATCH
US $33.55

GRUEN VINTAGE MENS DIVING WATCH ROTATING BEZEL ORIG. DIAL.
US $18.27

Vintage large antique Art Deco GRUEN CURVEX mens watch NR
US $23.27

Vintage Mens Gruen Precision 17j 415R Calibre Wrist Watch Gold Filled Runs
US $11.50

Cartier Watch Company

Alan — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:32:10 +0000

Cartier, the company, was founded in 1847 by Louis-Francois Cartier although they did not get into watch making until around 1888. They are credited with created the first men’s watch, the Santos, in 1904. The company remained in the family until it was sold by Louis’s grandchildren in 1964. Some notable vintage Cartier watches include the Santos (1904), the Tonneau (1906), the Tortue (1912), the Tank (1919), the Baignoire (1957), and the Panthère watches.

See a complete selection of Cartier watches for sale.

VINTAGE MUST DE CARTIER TANK VERMIAL WRISTWATCH
US $224.50

VINTAGE ORIGINAL "LE MUST DE CARTIER PARIS" WATCH BOX SUPERB CONDITION
US $34.76

Rare CARTIER 18k Gold Vermeil Women's Vintage Watch!
US $537.20

MUST DE CARTIER SWISS VINTAGE GREAT STERLING SILVER CASE WIND UP MEN'S WATCH
US $312.50

Gruen and Son Watch Company

Alan — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:08:42 +0000

Detrich Gruen and the Gruen vintage watches of today can be dated back to the “Center-Pinions For Watch” patent Gruen applied for in 1874. Shortly after this patent, in 1876, Detrich founded the Columbus Watch Manufacturing Company. By 1879 Columbus was producing approximately 10 watches a day. As interest in these few watches grew so did the interest of local investors. In 1882 Gruen, with some new partners, reorganized into the Columbus Watch Company. Times were good for Gruan and his partners until the “Panic of 1893”, a depression in today’s terms. Combined with fierce competition from Elgin and Wathers the depression brought Columbus to its knees and in 1894 Gruen and his son left. The company lasted a few years until it folded in 1903. It should be noted that watch serial numbers were around 229,000 and did not carry a name prior to the Gruens leaving.

Detrich and Fredrick could not stay away from the watch business for long though and in 1894 they founded D. Gruen and Son. They immediately began making high-quality watches and in 1911 were able to open a watch factory in Cincinnati, Ohio called Time Hill. They continued to grow until they hit they hit their peak sales year in 1953. This year was the turning point as the Gruen family sold their interest and later the president left under a scandal. By 1958 the company, now called Gruen Industries, had lost focus, built up huge debts, and fell into legal problems. To compensate employees were laid off and properties, including the historic Time Hill, were sold. In 1976 M.Z. Berger purchased the Gruen name as the company went bankrupt. Although Gruen brand watches are still produced today they have nothing to do with the original company and this pretty much ended the era of Gruen vintage watches.

During the good times Gruen watches were some of the prestigious watches of their time and had a price to match. The UltraThin line of Gruen vintage watches was available in a platinum and diamond case and sold for $1250 in 1929 (in today’s dollars would be over $30,000). Even the lower end watches, the SemiThin line, sold for $25 compared to $1 for cheap watches of the day. Some watch lines worth noting include: The VeriThin (1904), the Cartouche (1921), the pentagon (1922), the Quadron (1925), and the Techni-Quadron (1928).

See a complete selection of Gruen watches for sale.

VINTAGE GRUEN PRECISION MENS WRIST WATCH FOR PARTS OR REPAIR
US $15.50

Vintage Gruen Wristwatch - Working Very Nice Condition.
US $36.09

Vintage GRUEN Guild Semi Thin 16 jewel 12 size Pocket Watch w/ chain & fob knife
US $23.50

VINTAGE GRUEN VERI-THIN CAL.427 15 JEWEL MILITARY STYLE MEN'S WATCH
US $33.55

See a complete selection of Gruen Curvex watches for sale.

Vintage large antique Art Deco GRUEN CURVEX mens watch NR
US $23.27

Vintage Gruen Curvex Ladies Wristwatch 17 jewels 10K gold filled case for repair
US $5.50

GRUEN CURVEX JUMBO 43MM LUG TO LUG, MENS VINTAGE WATCH
US $28.02

TOTAL ART DECO GRUEN CURVEX MENS 14KGOLD FILL VINTAGE 30s DRESS WATCH 49MM LONG
US $260.00

Elgin National Watch Company

Alan — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:43:56 +0000

Elgin was founded in 1864 by J.C. Adams, some former employees of the Walthem Watch Company, and 35 acres of land donated by the city of Elgin, Illinois. It was originally named the National Watch Company and was changed to the Elgin National Watch Company in 1874. Their first watch, the 18-sized BW Raymond, was released in 1867 and their first wristwatch was released in 1910. Vintage Elgin watches were produced for the next 100 years until in 1964 Elgin closed down the factory, stopped making watches, and sold the Elgin name to MZ Berger. The original company now exists as Elgin National Industries.

See a complete list of Vintage Elgin Watches for sale.

VINTAGE ELGIN LADIES FANCY WIND UP PENDANT WATCH WITH CHAIN*WOW*NO RESERVE**
US $25.51

VINTAGE ELGIN 15 JEWEL 12 SIZE GOLD FILLED POCKET WATCH W/ GOLD FILLED CHAIN
US $53.00

1927 Vintage ELGIN Mens Model E-7 ART DECO Fancy Engraved 14K WGF-NO RESERVE
US $69.20

VINTAGE ELGIN CAL.659 17 JEWEL STAINLESS STEEL MEN'S WATCH
US $22.72

Hamilton Watch Company

Alan — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:05:59 +0000

The Hamilton Watch Company was founded in 1892 with the purchase of the bankrupt Keystone Standard Watch Company in Lancasterr, Pennsylvania. Expanding into Switzerland Hamilton purchased the Buren Watch Company in 1966, soon after Hamilton began using the Buren Microtor in their higher end watches. In 1969 all Hamilton watches were manufactured by Buren in Switzerland after the last US factory was closed. This lasted only 3 years as the Buren subsidiary was sold back to Swiss ownership in 1971 and the partnership between Buren and Hamilton was dissolved in 1972 ending an era in vintage Hamilton watches. Hamilton was also sold to SIHH this same year. The Swatch Group Ltd. Eventually purchased Hamilton and retains ownership to this day.

The Buren Microtor
This innovative movement eliminated the large external oscillating weight found in many other automatic winding watches. This design allowed for the construction of a slimmer automatic watch and still provide for a center sweep second hand. There is some disagreement as to who created this type of movement though technically Buren patented their design in 1954 where Universal Geneve applied for a patent in mid 1955.

Hamilton Watch Facts
The first watch released by Hamilton was the 18-size 17-Jewel pocket watch.

Some commonly collected early vintage Hamilton watches include: the Oval, the Square Enamel, the Coronado, the Spur, the Glendale, the Langley, and the Byrd.

During the Second World War Hamilton produced over 1 million watches however, none were consumer watches as all were sent to military personal.

Hamilton’s first electric watch, Hamilton Electric 500, was released in 1957.

See a complete list of Vintage Hamilton Watches for sale.

RARE * VINTAGE HAMILTON cal. 11 CHRONO-MATIC LEFT CROWN AUTOMATIC CHRONOGRAPH
US $697.00

HAMILTON VENTURA VINTAGE 14k SOLID GOLD WATCH IN FANTASTIC CONDITION!!!
US $1,501.00

VINTAGE 17 JEWEL HAMILTON POCKET WATCH ( WORKING )
US $20.50

VINTAGE HAMILTON MEN'S BLACK FACE ELECTRIC WATCH 10K GOLD FILLED
US $102.50

J. Bulova Company

Alan — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:55:05 +0000

Originally founded as the J. Bulova Company in 1875 by Joseph Bulova, the company was renamed the Bulova Watch Company in 1923. Bulova is known as airing the first TV commercial in 1941 before a Dodgers Baseball Game. In 2008 Bulova was purchased by the Citizens Holdings Company. Combined they are the largest watchmaker in the world.

The Accutron was one of many notable vintage Bulova watches. First released in 1960 it is considered the first electronic watch because of its use of a single-transistor electronic oscillator circuit. This circuit drives a tuning fork which replaces the balance wheel and escapement used for time keeping for over 300 years. Because of this new system the Accutron lacks the “ticking” time pieces for centuries. Instead you hear more of a hum from the tuning forks vibrating. They vibrate at a rate of 360 times a second breaking the second into 360 equal parts. For this reason the second hand appears to glide smoothly across the watch face. The vintage Accutron was discontinued in 1977 after over 4 million being sold.

See a complete list of Vintage Bulova Watches for sale.

** RARE** VINTAGE 1930 MENS COMMEMORATIVE BULOVA "SKY KING"- ART DECO DESIGN
US $206.06

Huge Mixed Lot of Bulova Accutron 218 2180 Watch Parts New and Used Vintage
US $55.90

BULOVA ART DECO STEPPED CASE MENS VINTAGE YELLOW G.F.
US $46.99

Vintage Men's Bulova Watch L1 10K RG Manual Running 7 Jewel Bretton USA Band
US $71.30