Okay, we've had a number of discussions on various descriptive terms which are being abused to hype up the value of certain watches. I've just seen one too many misuses of the term "art deco", so I'm creating a thread. Did I miss anything? -"Calatrava": (a Patek Philippe model with flat bezel which Hodinkee and dealers started misusing in reference to other brands); - "military": in the strict sense should only be appropriate for watches issued or at least purchased by a government for its military; stainless steel watches with reference numbers at the back are not "military" just because they have numbers. - "tropical" - which in the strict sense refers to black dials which have softly aged into a brown color and is now being misused for any brownish or blakish looking damaged dial; - "art deco": a style of architecture and design named after the linear and industrial style whose name was created during the 1925 universal exhibition, but which can be appropriately used also for some earlier example of the style; typical of 1930s architecture and design, but also seen on 1940s watches. Totally misused to describe just about any 1950s watches with parallel or geometrical lines.
Rare - EBay users are the worst offenders Mint - most watches called mint are no where near it. (Unless your mike)
Maybe "gilt" could be on here too? I've seen it thrown around and I'm not 100% sure of the correct definition.
'All Orignal' - When used to describe an obvious Fraken. Sure all the parts maybe original, just not original to the watch. Most commonly seen on Ebay.
"Tri-Compax" Universal Geneve's way of indicating number of functionalities/complications on a wristwatch - now basically meaning "three subdials".
Many good ones here https://omegaforums.net/threads/sin...rching-for-vintage-watches.29852/#post-334297
I put this together long ago... RARE = obscure, and typically undesirable MINTY = leaves a fresh feeling in your mouth if you suck on it for several minutes (remember though: sucking on a non-waterproof watch could cause damage to the timepiece; conversely, the safer diver's models tend to be very big, and the large crowns may scrape sensitive tissue) VINTAGE = manufactured sometime prior to 2000 MID-SIZED = smaller than 33mm (without crown) UNISEX = smaller than 30mm (without crown) REDUCED = the seller either initially priced the item ridiculously high, or is unlikely to be sold at any price REDUCED AGAIN = see above (and probably the latter) FINAL REDUCTION = seller will probably accept 70% of the stated "final" price, and pay postage plus the Paypal fee SPRING CLEANING = seller will likely accept $50.00 for the whole lot STUNNING = just remember that's it's quite possible to be stunned by ugliness BEAUTIFUL = perhaps in the eye of the beholder, who happens to be the seller COLLECTIBLE = somebody in the world owns more than one LNIB = cosmetically fine, but less accurate than a $19.00 quartz watch LIKE NEW = excellent condition MINT = excellent condition EXCELLENT = very good condition VERY GOOD = good condition GOOD = fair condition FAIR = unsalvageable condition
lillatroll: A troll of 3 to 5 inches. As apposed to a tinitroll which is under 1.5 inches or a pinitrol which fits on a pencil
"Desirable" and/or "beautiful" when applied to "patina" can sometimes mean "the dial has degenerated to a nearly fubar condition and I've added 100% to the asking price"
A bump for this thread with some additions. “Calatrava style” watch = a watch in the style of a calatrava. Below for clarity are a Calatrava, and Calatrava style watches. Middle picture my own.
Below, watches most definitely *not* calatrava style. - the first one doesn’t even have the same shape, it’s angular on every side with its straight lugs and virtually no bezel, I’ve seen Italian collectors call this “barrelletto”, ie “barrel case”. That’s a nice word, to me it could also be called a “tube case” as it looks like a cut tube, but that’s just a suggestion. - the ones below...chunky waterproof screwback cases, not calatrava style!
“Cassa a barilletto”, which translates as “barrel case”, posted on Orologi e Passioni by a well known Italian collector of Longines. Credit @Britishshorthair. The picture is no longer apparent on the forum when you click but it’s been retained by some cache in the Google image search, and the caption refers to a cassa a barilleto with salmon dial.
This is not a misused term, exactly, more sales gloss I suppose. Dealers stating “running well and checked by our watchmaker” clearly does not equate to “serviced” and yet I find it remarkable how often it is passed off as the very same.
