This is a bit of a surreal moment... no I haven’t found a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms for 5 euros— but on this a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Paris in the middle of a pandemic, in a sunny flea market I found for the total sum of 30 euros two cute little watches that deserved rescuing — usually there is nothing because everything that’s remotely interesting gets funneled through the dealer circuit or to watchmakers.

I admit few people would find them worthy of attention but I do.

And to top it all off, just right next to this a jazz band is playing and people are dancing with masks on the plaza of a closed museum built by world famous architect Jean Nouvel.

Enjoy.

 

What a wonderful day! Congratulations also on the watches

 

Great catches and they are both very Syrte style. Do you think that Elgin is a) a very early wrist watch or b) a pocket watch conversion? Nice to see some level of normalcy returning.

 

Love the energy all around! That is a fantastic diver. I've never seen one marked "Ebauche Suisse" is that common with vintage French brands?

 

Very nice catch. I love the minute hand on the diver.

 

Elgin is a conversion and very nice, both nice finds


Jazz goes with watch collecting

 

Any watch found in the wild is at least 5x as interesting and fun.

 

Thanks gentlemen, actually it’s a good question, the Elgin could be a converted pocket watch- as there are signs of soldering on the lugs.

However I thought the dial and hands were very pretty and I kind of banked on the case being gold.
That may be a mistake though, the guy said he could noy open the case but I have to believe he must have tried to figure out if it was gold- and there is a strange stain on the back which I didn’t examine too closely.
I might just give it to my watchmaker....

Thanks @TexOmega and @Dan S, I think I was a bit blinded indeed by the fun of finding them « in the wild » - thankfully it didn’t break the bank.

 

It made me think of you when I saw it as it’s right up your alley!! I have never seen this « ebauche suisse » marking either; the brand « Michel Herbelin » still exists, it’s a cheap to mid range French brand but I had never seen any vintage one, let alone with this quality level.

I’m afraid surface scratches cannot be polished off a mineral crystal?

Unfortunately we’re very far from normalcy dear @Larry S, that is actually why the moment is surreal. With the British variant spreading I expect we’ll have to be in full lockdown very soon, a friend’s brother who’s 45 was just taken to hospital with a severe Covid, I’ve been seeing a couple of friends and relatives in the past couple weeks but with extreme precaution, masks, ventilation, and with significant fear — no we’re definitely not back at normal.

 

Love that Elgin. I have a case conversion Elgin of the same time period (you could order a case/dial/hands and convert your ladies pocket watch to a wrist watch).
I have seen a few of the Herbelein men’s divers- they fly under the radar but some people know what they are- and they go for real money- they are quality pieces. I have never seen a ladies.

 

Well aware. I’ve been talking to friends and relatives in UK/EU. Things are most definitely not good. It’s was just nice to see a Paris Flea market on a sunny afternoon.

 

That was quite magical indeed. In fact I almost feel to go back out and have hot chocolate by the river just to seize the moment.

Thank you dear @gatorcpa, so many Americans have come here over time it’s probably hard to say when it may have made its way to Paris- and a bit of a pity to hear it may be hard to fix (not even mentioning cost), but this advertisement you posted it very cool — thank you for the info

I will definitely update once I’m able to open it. Considering its limited financial value I might even venture to open it myself.

That Ebay watch looks unbelievably similar !

 

I've seen quite a few watches with this marking, and vintage Herbelin divers can be quite OK quality wise. I've seen Herbelin divers with all steel cases, AS or ETA movements, 20 to 30 bars.

 

My Elgin conversion was a 7-jewel, not really worth fixing. BUT, with the help of @Canuck i was able to source a much higher grade movement in a ladies pocket watch on eBay for very little money and it was a drop-in.

 

Great trouvailles!!! Those blue hands on the champagne dial of the Elgin are gorgeous.

Would surely be interesting to see how it feels on wrist.

Congrats, Madame!

 

Wow, fantastic finds! Congratulations!

It takes a keen eye to spot treasures like this, so your success is partially due to luck but mostly to your experience as a serious collector

 

Great find and looks like a fun day in general

 

I like the diver especially. A mini baby ploprof!

The watches are all well and good, buut the best thing about this thread is a preview of the soon-to-be-here Paris spring.