Morning guys... I have a couple of watches from my late father... I'll be totally honest, I know nothing about watches, I don't even wear a watch myself. I've had a little look online but can't really find anything about them, I have attached some images to this thread in the hope that visuals are better than my poor discriptions. The DeVille watch has an inscripion on the back from my Mum to my Dad and is dated 1990, so I'm assuming that the watch is roughly around that age... The seamaster watch has nothing on it at all, it has an elasticated bracelet which is stamped Speidel USA on evey link, so I'm unsure if this was original to the watch or a replacement at some point during it's life. It is still in working order, I wound it yesterday and it has kept time since, I have no idea when this watch was last wound as I never recall my Dad wearing it, so it could literally be donkeys years ago. What I would like to know is how old the Seamaster is? Is it of any value, not that I intend to part with it, but I was wondering if it is of any value would it need to be listed on my house insurance... I love its face but the bracelt is a little too large for my wrist and if I could get it altered or a different bracelet then I would most certainly wear it, because I like it.. Sorry this is a bit long winded, but any help/advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you Leandra
hi and nice watches you got there. The band on the seamaster is just a generic that was commonly sold to fit any watch, so if you want something to fit better I suggest taking the watch to a watch shop and see what's available in leather. the seamaster looks like it's in nice shape and you might want to have it opened and serviced before running it for very long. i'm sure there are members that can suggest a shop once you let us know what city you are near. Value-wise I would say being gold plated/filled it might be worth $300 to $500 USA.
I would replace the generic strap with a leather one. Have a watchmaker to open it and see what is inside. The scripts inside the caseback will tells you more about the watch, the serial numbers on the movement will tell you how old it is. This look like something from the late 50s and after.
Thank you so much for your advice... I really like the Seamaster and although it's a gents watch, I would like to wear it myself as it's not overly domanaiting on my wrist. I suspect that my father bought the watch in Canada before coming over to the UK in 1962 at the age of 21. I will find a local shop and have it professionally serviced and cleaned and have a look at what strap would be most fitting for its face and body Thank you so much guys! Leandra