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1960s Birks catalogs (Eterna, Omega, Longines, Rolex)

DirtyDozen12
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Below are photos of the wristwatches in some Birks catalogs from 1965-1969. For those who don't know, Birks is a Canadian jeweller that began in 1879.

One observation is that there were many varieties of gold watches, which makes price comparisons difficult. These include gold-plate, 10k gold-filled, 14k gold-filled, 14k gold top, 14k gold cap, 14k gold, and 18k gold.

Regarding price comparisons, it was neat to see how an Eterna compared to a Patek Philippe of somewhat similar design. In the 1967 catalog, a Patek Philippe ref. 3503 (my guess) cost $795, versus $225 for (C) an Eterna-Matic dress watch in 18k gold. I was also interested to see how an Eterna compared to a Rolex. In the 1968 catalog, a Rolex Air-King ref. 5500 (my guess) cost $160, versus $165 for an Eterna Kontiki with date.

Lastly, a watch that I was surprised to see was a Rideau-branded Enicar Sherpa Super-Divette. In the 1967 catalog, this watch cost $99.50. I wonder if anyone has ever come across one of these?

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JimJupiter
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Great find! Enicar is known to have some "Birks" labeled watches. Two more recognizable I have seen, but I bet some others are simple re-brandend three hand Enicars as well.

1768760087894.webp 1768760104872.webp
 
DirtyDozen12
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JimJupiter JimJupiter
Great find! Enicar is known to have some "Birks" labeled watches. Two more recognizable I have seen, but I bet some others are simple re-brandend three hand Enicars as well.
Thanks for the info. I had wondered about that chronograph. There seems to be a dial on eBay with the same design.

Link to listing.
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Dan S
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Thank you for scanning and uploading all of that excellent reference information. A few years back, I brought a 1960s Eterna to my watchmaker, and he got a little nostalgic about it, recalling that Eterna had a 5th Avenue boutique and was considered to be at the same level as Rolex. At least that was his memory and these ads do seem to support it. I often recommend Eterna watches to new vintage watch collectors, but they rarely have any interest in them.
 
Russ Murray
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Great share! My Mom worked at Birks for years. At one point, I guess you could consider them the Tiffany's of Canada. But once they lost the right to use The Royal Court of Arms as registered purveyors to Her Majesty, things started to go downhill so to speak. Birks are now a shadow of what they once were but then again, time marches on. Just wish I was into watches back then and use my Mom's employee discount 😉
 
DirtyDozen12
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Dan S Dan S
Thank you for scanning and uploading all of that excellent reference information. A few years back, I brought a 1960s Eterna to my watchmaker, and he got a little nostalgic about it, recalling that Eterna had a 5th Avenue boutique and was considered to be at the same level as Rolex. At least that was his memory and these ads do seem to support it. I often recommend Eterna watches to new vintage watch collectors, but they rarely have any interest in them.
I wonder if the lack of interest in vintage Eterna is related to the brand's relative obscurity today. The following advert mentions 677 Fifth Avenue.

Link to source.
1768844860231.webp
 
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CalgaryJim
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Russ Murray Russ Murray
Great share! My Mom worked at Birks for years. At one point, I guess you could consider them the Tiffany's of Canada. But once they lost the right to use The Royal Court of Arms as registered purveyors to Her Majesty, things started to go downhill so to speak. Birks are now a shadow of what they once were but then again, time marches on. Just wish I was into watches back then and use my Mom's employee discount 😉
Very interesting fact about your family background Russ! They use the Tiffany colour, at least to my eyes. I guess the company wasn’t able to copyright robins egg blue, the birds established rights to it millions of years ago.
 
DirtyDozen12
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Russ Murray Russ Murray
Great share! My Mom worked at Birks for years. At one point, I guess you could consider them the Tiffany's of Canada. But once they lost the right to use The Royal Court of Arms as registered purveyors to Her Majesty, things started to go downhill so to speak. Birks are now a shadow of what they once were but then again, time marches on. Just wish I was into watches back then and use my Mom's employee discount 😉
I agree with the Tiffany's comparison. They even use similar hues for their boxes. How neat that your Mom worked there!
 
CalgaryJim
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Dan S Dan S
Eterna…was considered to be at the same level as Rolex. At least that was his memory and these ads do seem to support it. I often recommend Eterna watches to new vintage watch collectors, but they rarely have any interest in them.
Thanks for the tip Dan, I am very interested to learn this. Looks like I’ll need to start shopping for Eternas now.
 
Waltesefalcon
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Dan S Dan S
Thank you for scanning and uploading all of that excellent reference information. A few years back, I brought a 1960s Eterna to my watchmaker, and he got a little nostalgic about it, recalling that Eterna had a 5th Avenue boutique and was considered to be at the same level as Rolex. At least that was his memory and these ads do seem to support it. I often recommend Eterna watches to new vintage watch collectors, but they rarely have any interest in them.
From a time back before Rolex's hype machine was in full swing.
 
Russ Murray
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DirtyDozen12 DirtyDozen12
I agree with the Tiffany's comparison. They even use similar hues for their boxes. How neat that your Mom worked there!
Yeah, our house was littered with those blue boxes 😉
 
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