Is there any such thing as an honest frankenstein?

Ron_W

Dr Victor Frankenstein is the scientist and CREATOR from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

His name is often confused with his stitched-together creation who never received a name. So a Frankenstein watch refers to the Creator, like Victor, who is a brilliant but reckless university student who unlocks the secret to life and assembles the creature from harvested parts. The creature is intelligent and eager to learn. He does kill Victors wife after being wronged by him but soit, we all have flaws.
So it is actualy a badge of honour 😁

Here are some of my creations build from original parts, or Mod`s/ modifications as a more general term. Though I wouldn`t label myself as brilliant.......reckless is quite accurate.

Referring to the monster side of things, presenting watches as "original" which have been made up from parts from different/other referrences or years ( a nice cal 321 1983xxxx popped up on Chrono24 in a 105.012 ) is of course a no-go. Not that anyone would be fooled by the Mark II on my dial 🙂 i think.

pdxleaf

I think...

There are gradients of Frankenstein. The monster who is put together from parts that were never connected is a clear Frankenstein. But the man who had a heart transplant is not.

A heavily serviced watch might be called an honest Frankenstein. Consider a watch sent to Omega for service. The watch required a new crystal, crown, pushers, dial, hands, mainspring, wheels and bracelet. The manufacturer of the original watch has replaced parts with newer parts made by the same manufacturer. I don't think it would be fair to call it a Frankenstein, even if it looks similar.

One factor in accepting a Frankenstein is rarity. There are thousands, if not millions of watches. It's hard to justify making a put together watch. But a car where there may be less than five built? People will accept a car that was rebuilt with only the original vehicle id plate as being a valuable replacement if there are only a few extant cars. But not so much if there are mass production items.

It's generally considered that a Frankenstein is put together to deceive. We call put together watches mods if they are done by the owner because the owner likes a different look (I own one and it's a favorite.) But if a vintage watch has a scuffed and chipped bezel that gets replaced by a better looking vintage bezel, is that a Frankenstein? It's not done due to service, it's done for appearance. Is this also an honest Frankenstein?

Over time, there are fewer untouched original watches and there are going to be even fewer. A watch wears out and needs new parts. A perfect vintage watch probably can't keep time. Is that better than a non-original watch that has been serviced and keeps good time?

Maybe a Frankenstein watch is like porn, we can't define it but we know it when we see it.

Felix_La_PuBelle

Coincidentally, here’s a vintage watch I just got a couple days ago and posted about here, describing it as “honest”:

https://omegaforums.net/posts/2607605/

Felix_La_PuBelle · Fri. 12:45am

This just in. Heuer Camaro 73643.

Been keeping my eye out for one of these for a bit. With an affinity for racing dials, I decided my collection of watches to go racing with probably needed a vintage Heuer.

Bought from the original owner who says he bought it new and wore it almost daily until the 90s at which point he had it serviced and stored it away.

It’s in wearable condition for my tastes, but for the crystal is a bit rough. I’ll see what some polywatch can do and go from there.

The dial looks pretty good but hard to get good pics through the scratched...

Whether or not any parts have ever been replaced on it, I can’t yet tell.

Peemacgee

in principle you are absolutely correct.

The reality is that if you could find all-contemporaneous parts no one would actually know it was a franken watch. (Without an extract)

But that must be such a rare occurrence and we couldn’t even know how many ‘correct’ Frankens are out there - but it will be a tiny number.

In real life, such is the collector knowledge and scrutiny of vintage watches that incorrect watches are spotted a mile away.

Felix_La_PuBelle

As it seems you’re looking for the parts that would have come on your watch when it was new from the factory, I might describe it as “restored with period correct parts.” If you’re transparent about that then I don’t think I’d call it a Franken watch.

SOG53

You bought your watch because you said you liked the clean look with the replaced bezel and hands and pushers,
When you swap this dinged up bezel then the service hands will stick out like a sore thumb. Most collectors appreciate when the watch looks consistent, ie the dial and case and bezel look like they belong together.

Tony C.

Ok, but do keep in mind that you are likely to be the subject of ridicule at the annual APWC* meeting.

*Association of Pedantic Watch Collectors 😀

Felix_La_PuBelle

Pedantry is both a blessing and a a curse in this hobby.

pdxleaf

There's probably some truth to the idea that we fetishize (is that a word) originality above everything. There are some gorgeous heart-stopping vintage speedmasters that look untouched. Part of that same obsession is to value originality so much that we place it above function and appearance. For example, black green molded lume may be original, but I wouldn't want that over a relume (for the most part, depending on rarity.) Similarly with bezels. A few scratches and nicks are expected and can add to the beauty, but some nicks and chips make it look glaring and less attractive. It's all part of the same obsession, but one brings a price premium and the other not so much.

jolyon

But I also agree that some modifications are common sense. Changing seals and gaskets, replacing worn movement parts, and yes, changing out tritium that has become unsightly.