Greetings!

My father recently passed away and when I was cleaning out his safe deposit box I found this old watch. There was a note that said it was my grandfathers watch and that my dad wanted me to have it(I am named after my Grandfather).

I am honored to have this and in a quest to learn more about it I posted it on reddit and the helpful people over there pointed me here.

I took it in to a shop and they opened it up and I got some pictures of the movement and the numbers off the inside of the back cover. It seems like some things might be mismatched but it was confusing the people over there so they thought I might get more answers here.

The information I have is as follows:

505 caliber

The numbers on the inside of the case are

29190 and GX6546

Also here is the reddit thread if anyone wants to read it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Watches/co...fe_deposit_box_and_i/?st=JDGQ722J&sh=9f7400a5

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. This is the first nice watch that I have ever owned but everything I have learned has been fascinating and I can see why a place like this forum exists

 

GX6546 is for an American market Seamaster. This reference would be expected to house a 17-jewel caliber 500 movement.

So your watch is a marriage for franken watch since the Constellation dial and movement do not belong to the case.

 

A picture of the inside of the caseback would be helpful. Also the serial number, probably an 8-digit number.
The caliber is the model of the movement.

It's still a pretty watch, even though the value to collectors will be lower than if it had the original Constellation case.

An automatic watch, like this, will get enough energy just from picking it up that it will run for a minute or two. But it's better to run it as little as possible until it's serviced. The lubrication will have long since dried out, so running it in this condition causes excess wear. Good news is the 505 caliber was made for a long time and is generally accurate and reliable, and spare parts are available.

I hope you're planning on having the watch serviced and wearing it once in a while as a way to remember your grandfather and father.

 

I tried to take a photo of the inside of the case back but something about the gold and the lighting in the shop was making it hard for my phone to get a good picture.

I understand that the value to a collector would be lower but the value to me is sentimental and I don’t plan on ever selling it. I did get a quote on getting it serviced so I will certainly have that done soon. Finding the watch was unexpected but so was the price to have it serviced!

Was it common that a movement would be put in a different case like this. Are the movement and the case are from around the same time frame?

 

That's a beautiful case and bracelet combination. Your grandfather may have been feeling flush and decided to upgrade to a 14k case. Is the bracelet gold too?

 

The bracelet is also 14k gold. Did these originally come with leather bands?

 

I think the watches and bands were sold separately, so you could pick whatever suited your taste and pocketbook. For some deluxe Constellations where the bracelet was a matched set with the case, but this isn't a Constellation case.

 

However it came to be it's a unique and highly attractive piece.Get it serviced by a competent watchmaker and wear it in good health.

 

Despite being in the wrong case that is a very attractive watch. It's a shame we don't know the story behind its being re-cased. If I were you I'd get it serviced and wear it with pride.