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In remembrance of Gerry Lupino, Speedmaster lover, space nut, educator, scientist

  1. pseikotick Apr 9, 2020

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    I meant to post this in March, as Gerry passed in March of 2016. Some of you here probably knew him and his collection. He was one of the kindest, most generous collectors and humans I have ever had the privilege to know. I'll post a link or two with some info re his careers, but I have nothing of his Speedmaster collection to share but memories. If any of you knew him and his watches, please chime in.

    I ran into Gerry in the 90s while just getting started collecting Speedmasters, when Chuck Maddox was the center of that universe, rightfully so. Many of you know of Chuck, I'm sure. He didn't write a book with photos of Speedmasters. He owned them and wore them. Gerry was similar but on a smaller scale. He had some of the most beautiful examples of 2915s and 2998s I have ever seen, but he was not prone to showing off his watches. He had one each of the 2915 iterations, all in display boxes, and all nearly perfect. He had all but maybe two of the 2998 iterations in the same incredible condition. I know this because he was after me to buy a -4 and a -61 when he passed.

    Once he had gathered up some of the nicest Speedmasters, he veered into Tourbillons. He lost me there. Without spilling too much, Gerry had made a good bit of money creating technology for use in space, and he enjoyed using that money to buy very cool watches.

    We used to exchange parts for Speedmasters, as he had a substantial collection of parts. And if I had nothing to trade, he would likely just give me a bracelet or bezel...or crown. He was very generous and always encouraged those who were new to the hobby.

    I think he was on this forum. Maybe some of his photos are still in the archives here. I wish I had just the photos of the straight lug watches he owned, but I don't.

    This is a very weak remembrance of him, but he passed quickly and unexpectedly at age 56, and I never got to say goodbye. So I'm saying goodbye here. The world needs more like him. God Speed, Gerry Lupino.

    http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/front_page_news/GerryLuppino.pdf
    https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/179955467/gerard-anthony-luppino
     
    tmad03, Wuza72, Thommas and 4 others like this.