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Finally got an Abercrombie & Fitch watch

erpin9
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It took a while but i finally caught an Abercrombie & Fitch chronograph watch made by Heuer and based on the ref. 2444. The dial is in decent condition for its age and the 36mm screw down case appears unpolished. The val. 72 movement is very clean and keeps good time. Overall a well preserved example of a 50s era watch. Another great addition to my collection.

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JwRosenthal
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I love these old A&F watches. I remember going to the stores with my father when I was a kid and marveling at all the fine leather goods and beautiful hunting clothing (tweed, not camo). My father was 6’2” and they stocked tall dress shirt and long ties.
I still have an A&F tie and my favorite wool field jacket (going on 25 years old) that always makes the yungins who only know A&F as a hip teen clothing store marvel that they used to make clothes like that.
 
erpin9
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So A&F was originally a maker of outdoor sports apparel and accessories?
 
Duracuir1
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erpin9 erpin9
So A&F was originally a maker of outdoor sports apparel and accessories?
I bought a Mont Blanc pen for my brother at the Montreal store in (circa) 1990. It was a beautiful store. Last year I watched a Netflix documentary about their switch from high end outfitter to the current format. Worth watching. Nice watch!
 
Davidt
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erpin9 erpin9
So A&F was originally a maker of outdoor sports apparel and accessories?

Yes they were traditionally a quality outdoor retailer, camping, hunting, navigating etc. a world away from what they are now.
Hence the vintage Seafarer, Solunar etc watches, functional timepieces for navigation, sailing exploring etc.
Edited:
 
Duracuir1
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They peaked (financially) in the 90s and early 2000s and the documentary explains what occurred after that.

I was the only one to recognize Bernie Ecclestone at the Indianapolis store in 2001. He was with Flavio Briatore and was buying a pile of clothes for his daughter.

He would have been a great client to the previous - and much more upscale - version of Abercrombie and Fitch. My wife rolled her eyes when I asked Bernie if he could afford all of those sweaters.

Late entry. I removed my photo with Ecclestone after doing a Google search.
Edited:
 
JwRosenthal
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erpin9 erpin9
So A&F was originally a maker of outdoor sports apparel and accessories?
Yeah, they were basically akin to Orvis. Beautifully wood paneled stores (think old Ralph Lauren or Brooks Brothers stores) with leather and sterling travel cocktail sets, custom fishing reels in their own leather cases with matching wicker creel basket, Harris Tweed shooting jackets, wax cotton field coats- you get the image.

And they had dressier clothes in the Ivy League style (Oxford cloth, repp ties, lots of grey flannel and tweed sport jackets)- all part of the “sporting mans” lifestyle they were selling.
Such a loss to those of us who loved good field apparel and gifts for snobby friends.
 
Dsloan
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Would love to pick up an A&F watch some day. Would pair well with my A&F shearling 😀

PXL_20230409_140830692.jpg PXL_20230409_140734998.jpg


I used to find quite a lot of vintage A&F items when I went thrifting. Not so much anymore.
 
Dsloan
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OP, have you had it serviced? If so, was the Val 72 much trouble? I'm starting to get more into vintage Heuer, but also trying to be careful about which movements may be more difficult / costly to get serviced.
 
erpin9
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Dsloan Dsloan
OP, have you had it serviced? If so, was the Val 72 much trouble? I'm starting to get more into vintage Heuer, but also trying to be careful about which movements may be more difficult / costly to get serviced.

Yes it was serviced by my watchmaker before i took delivery. I have around 15 watches with the Val 72 movement and they are very reliable.
 
erpin9
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Dsloan Dsloan
Would love to pick up an A&F watch some day. Would pair well with my A&F shearling 😀

PXL_20230409_140830692.jpg PXL_20230409_140734998.jpg


I used to find quite a lot of vintage A&F items when I went thrifting. Not so much anymore.

Nice jacket. Looks really top quality.
 
JwRosenthal
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Dsloan Dsloan
Would love to pick up an A&F watch some day. Would pair well with my A&F shearling 😀

PXL_20230409_140830692.jpg PXL_20230409_140734998.jpg


I used to find quite a lot of vintage A&F items when I went thrifting. Not so much anymore.
If you figure that those that could afford this stuff were in their 40’s+ at the time (A&F was not cheap), most of it was coming into the thrifts 30-40 years later…we are about a decade or two past that main wave.
 
Mark020
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About 15 years ago Abercrombie was very hot in Amsterdam. A tourist asked me once where the store was and could not believe the closest one was in London. Then then opened a store in Amsterdam, which closed recenty, and the magic was gone
 
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