Gallet-made Desert Storm/Desert Shield watches

I call BS. I went to Desert Storm (hate that name, something only a politician would come up with) and I didn't get one nor did anyone I know. There was not a whole lot of time to prepare either. Adhoc deployment bases were set up to move people quickly. We were lucky to get weapons. They ran out of desert camo. Watches? Not likely. Maybe Dick Cheney got one.

Gallet did make did make a GG-w-113 for a few years in mid-80s using the marathon trademark under contract so there is some military history. They are probably one of rarer GG-W-113 out there. Below is my example.

This story though seems completely made up.

The watches produced by Gallet under the Marathon trademark are well-attested, certainly. The "Desert Storm" prototype, on the other hand, comes with a shifting mythology provided by the people at Gallet USA, who also 1) own multiple examples, and 2) make fantastic claims for its monetary and historical value.

Gallet vaguely describes their watches in a way that imbues them with a military connection, but they've also made some specific claims that I have yet to see any specific evidence for aside from assertions from Gallet USA themselves, whose directors are also in the business of selling off their own personal collection on eBay. Two of these claims are:
- Gallet Flying Officer chronographs were issued to the Swiss Air Force in the 1970s
- The WWII-era Flying Officer sold in 2016 had genuine US military markings

See for example, the eBay listing description for the "prototype" watch on eBay.

Now it's a pilot watch, and we again are asked to believe that Gallet's managing director was somehow privy to "the code name of the upcoming mission." The roll call of the whereabouts of the other five watches is interesting as well:

This watch, currently poised to fetch 800 bucks on eBay, is so important that not only is one example on display in a museum, but another one is personally owned by the former director of that museum. The seller of the watch above is married to Gallet's American managing director, who also owns one of only six of these treasured pieces.

I don't mean to equate marketing puffery with dishonesty. My point is just to note that every single authority on the rarity, importance, and pricelessness of these Desert Storm prototype watches also personally owns one of them, and if you want to see proof of its provenance, just wait until after it's sold and you can purchase a book that provides all the receipts.

What consistently confounds me about this behavior is that it actually serves to drive down the value of vintage Gallet watches. If this current auction is like every other conducted by the people who run Gallet USA, the final selling price will be some small fraction of the claimed value of the watch. It will be hard to square the purported $10,000 value of the "Desert Storm Prototype" after the only one on the market is hawked off for far less than that.

Update on the priceless relic of military history: It went for about $1300 in a not-terribly-contested bidding. https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/233648940514?item=233648940514&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

I'm merely intrigued by a marketing strategy that seems designed to lower the value of the thing they're selling.

Seems like a 1000 too much.

The "Desert Storm" prototype Gallet watch was put back up for auction after the original buyer backed out. Possibly a huge blunder on the buyer's part, as the value of this "priceless treasure of military history" has gone up by $76 in a little less than a week.

Hi Scott,

Sorry, I never saw this reply. We did speak via Facebook in June of 2018 and you kindly answered my nosy questions about your amazing and historic watch. I was specifically curious about whether anyone from Gallet had tried to contact you about studying and/or photographing the watch, and you answered that you hadn’t shown it to anyone. That was three and half years ago, so I assume Gallet’s interest came sometime after that?

At any rate, I thank you for these photos of the watch. They confirm some things I’ve been curious about, such as the variations in the spelling of “Bagdad” (which became “Bagdag” at some later point) and “San Francisko” (which remains a mystery as to what language this is meant to represent).

I have lost my motivation in pinning down the truth of anything Gallet USA claims about the historical significance of their watches and haven’t even looked into whether the book they were talking about in 2018 ever saw the light of day. I truly do believe that your grandfather’s watch is priceless relic of American history, and as I said to you in 2018, as a watch enthusiast, I’m grateful that the Red Tail watch is in such good hands.