happy it reached you and you like it

 

Getting it back from service this week, excited to have it on my wrist rotation!

 

New arrival, the bracelet is GF with UM end links + box and paper

 

Just snagged the holy grail of WatchCo builds -- a no-date SM300 built and serviced by the Lewis Watch Co Can't wait!!!!

 

UG three hander on the small side but REALLY cool lugs and dial ! View attachment 645042

 

Hi,

I’m new to this forum and watches. I bought this omega seamaster de ville automatic with a box yesterday. Does anyone know when this watch was made? I think its a original strap and crown and clasp. Im eager to find out more about it thanks in advance / Peter

 

Not in original state, but I like the looks. Bulletproof but sort of elegant. Put it on a new nato strap and it was made waterproof again by Seiko, so it can actually be used. Pepsi (no diet).

 

The 2018 Diver 300m, purchased 15 minutes ago. Delighted. Spent some time with a loupe making sure it was flawless, and it really was. First one in New Zealand, I'm told.

 

Nice one! Why did you pick the silver color over the more standars blue/black dial?

 

Thanks Partly I bought the silver one because, as you rightly said, an awful lot of people are going to get the blue. I also liked that the text on the dial is all blue, rather than a range of different colours. I bought the blue rubber strap as well, as I like the contrast with the silver dial more. I also really like the way the engraved waves look on the silver, especially at an angle. I cannot overstate how well finished and beautifully made it is...I did have a deposit down on a no-date Submariner which I'd also have been able to collect this month, but I'm glad I went with this instead. I think it represents massively better value.

 

There very underrated enjoy !

 

I recently won the watch below on an eBay auction. What caught my eye initially is the lugless case with integrated bracelet and sweep second hand -- two features never recalled seeing in a vintage Movado "Museum Watch".

At first glance the watch appears to be a Movado "Museum Watch". However, the watch is branded, "Gensler-Lee", which turns out to be a higher-end jewelry store chain located primarily in California. The case design, and it being 10 karat gold filled, led me to believe the watch was circa late 1950s to mid-1960s. The auction listing did not include any photos of the case interior or movement, nor did any of the photos or auction text indicate who might have manufactured the watch, although the dial indicated that the watch was Swiss made. An internet search of the Movado "Museum Watch" piqued my curiosity, and convinced me that the watch was not a Movado.

A short history of the "Museum Watch" -- Movado is not responsible for the design, rather it was created by American industrial designer, Nathan George Horwitt, in 1947. Horwitt created four prototype watches which incorporated his now famous Bauhaus inspired black dial having a single disc marker at the twelve o'clock position -- which represents the sun at high noon. The four prototype dials he created were affixed to Vacheron & Constantin-LeCoultre watches. The prototypes used silver finished cases and disc markers rather than yellow gold, which is more commonly seen in subsequent production pieces. Horwitt then shopped his design around to numerous watch companies, but none were willing to license his design and manufacture it.

Movado began manufacturing a watch using Horwitt's design without license beginning in 1948. Horwitt initiated legal action against Movado. In 1960, the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan placed one of Horwitt's prototypes in its permanent collection. Movado settled with Horwitt in 1975 for $29,000...around $125,000 in today's dollars. Three of the prototypes are currently in museums...one remains in the possession of Horwitt's family.

When I received the watch I took it to my watchmaker for a quick inspection. It turns out to have a monocoque case which requires the crystal to be removed to access the movement. The backside of the movement did not have any clear indication of its manufacturer. It was marked with "Gensler-Lee", "Unadjusted", and a serial number. We did not remove the dial to inspect the top of the movement. The interior of the case is marked "10K Gold Filled" and includes three several serial numbers and a manufacturer's hallmark. The manufacturer's hallmark is an oval, however, the symbol or writing inside the oval had been etched over to conceal the identity of the manufacturer. I apologize for the quality of the photos of the movement and interior of the case included below. They were taken with a poor camera and without benefit of my reading glasses.

I consulted the Ranfft watch movement database to identify the movement's manufacturer. I searched Movado movements first, then other suppliers of movements to Movado, such as Zenith. No luck. I then researched Gensler-Lee, and learned that their private-label watches were supplied by a number of manufacturers. I began searching images in the Ranff database for each of the manufacturers. It's amazing how many movements some of these manufacturers have developed over the years, and how much Bourbon one has to imbibe to look through them all!

Eureka! I finally found a movement that looked like the one in my watch. The movement appeared to be a Girard-Perregaux 130, which is based off the A. Schild 1900. I couldn't find much useful info on the movement beyond what is on the Ranfft database.

The next part of my sleuthing involved looking at thousands of pictures of Girard-Perregaux watches on the internet, and switching to Scotch as the Bourbon had been depleted. After fruitless hours of searching, I began to fear that the Girard-Perregaux movement might have been fitted into a non-Girard-Perregaux case, and I would have to switch to vodka or gin.

My search was complicated by the fact that due to the monocoque case, I would occasionally find a picture of a watch that looked like it might have a similar monocoque case, but the person posting the picture didn't go through the bother of pulling the crystal to provide pictures of the movement inside. There were plenty of pictures of Girard-Perregaux watches having easily removable case backs, and pictures of the movements hidden inside, but I still hadn't found one with a G-P 130 (AS 1900) movement. Moreover, while I found G-P cases that looked somewhat similar to mine, none of them were lugless with integrated bracelets.

After several days of on and off internet searching, I finally found photos of a watch that makes me pretty confident that my watch is actually a circa 1960s Girard-Perregaux "Sea Hawk" with a "Museum Watch" dial. The Sea Hawk in question appears to have the same movement as my watch. Two of the three serial numbers on the interior of the case also match mine. I assume that the third number indicates date of production. If this is the true, my watch would be slightly older. Inside of the oval hallmark on the interior of the case, which has been etched over on my case, appears "G/P". This hallmark differs from the one more commonly associated with Girard-Perregaux, an eagle atop a shield having an anchor inside which is flanked on either side by a G and a P. My subsequent research leads me to believe that the hallmark on my case was used on 10K gold filled cases.

Despite viewing thousands of related photos online, I have yet to find another Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk having a lugless case and integrated bracelet. Nor have I found an image of another Gensler-Lee "Museum Watch" of any configuration. One of the other features of my watch, which I have yet to find on another "Museum Watch" of the same period, is a center sweep seconds hand. I find the animation of the sweep seconds hand a pleasing feature of the otherwise austere, but handsome, Bauhaus design Nathan George Horwitt created in 1947.

Finding this watch on eBay, winning the auction, and researching its mysteries are to me a significant part of the joy I find in our hobby. I hope you have shared in some of that joy if you have read this far. The last two photos below are an image of the Girard-Perregaux 130 movement from the Ranfft database and the case which helped me to identify my watch as a Sea Hawk.

Wishing you all health, happiness and good hunting,

Wayne

 

Wow, that is quite some digging you did there. And the watch itself is wonderful! I love classic vintage dress watches, and yours is beautiful. Enjoy it in good health!

 

Thanks, it is a handsome piece, and it keeps very accurate time. The fun of solving the mystery was well worth the "beer money" invested to win the auction...also the cost of the Bourbon and Scotch consumed while solving the mystery.

Cheers!

 

Nice purchase

 

What did I buy recently??...........nothing......have come up dry for nearly 6 weeks and it is killing me. I am having chills and the shakes......am deep into withdrawals. I missed @ConElPueblo's Connie earlier today while driving home from going around to all my local, known, maybe have a vintage watch shops. Damn me and obeying the rules of the road. I should have been on my cell phone buying a watch!!

McK

 

18k Universal Geneve Polerouter Electric. Most likely paid way over the odds for it but as it's a watch I've coveted for years (and have never previously seen for sale - I'd only seen one photo of this particular model prior to finding this) I had to have it. Original box, strap, buckle, crystal and crown make it a bit special.

 

Touché

 

... bought this one . ...

 

Wow, that gold Polerouter with the box, that is sweet! Congrats and enjoy!