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Syrte
·Not much into women's watches, but I always feel it's unfair that even very special ones retail so low.
A couple of years ago I bid on one, but was not the highest bidder. A Olga Tritt Lemania in 18k. 😲
Now to the thing: Who was Olga? Some digging was required......
Designer Olga Tritt was a Russian beauty who trained as a goldsmith in Brazil.
She opened her first shop in New York in 1910.
In 1939, the Brazilian government commissioned her to design a collection of jewelry to showcase Brazilian-sourced colored gemstones for the New York World's Fair.
This is an extract from an article about her dating back to 1912 from US magazine. Typos I guess comes from the OCR process.
A Girl Watchmaker
Miss Olga Tritt, a pretty little Russian girl, now only twentyfive years old, was apprenticed fourteen years ago to the trade of watch-maker. She found it necessary at eleven to earn her own living; but to her dismay, when she started out to search for work, she learned that there were few avenues of employment open to her.
Deep down in her heart she was a craftsman ; she had always had a real love for precious metals, and at last, after using all her powers of persuasion, she succeeded in interesting an old watch-maker in her efforts to earn her living in the field she had chosen, and ho apprenticed her for seven years.
She was first taught to be a watch-maker, and from that advanced to the designing of jewelry; for the two arts go hand in hand. At the end of her apprenticeship, she stayed on with the old watch-maker, and by the time she decided to emigrate to this country she was acknowledged to be an expert in fine metal work of all kinds.
But, though she can execute the most intricate bits of jewelry, she does not disdain the smallest job. One of her specialties is the mending of shell fans, and she supplies to distracted owners copies of antique jewelry that has been lost or stolen. Incidentally, she might show you, as she did me, a rare and beautiful watch of old Venetian enamel, the works of which are more than 200 years old, which she has just repaired.
The time-piece is not much larger than a dime; the work had to be done under a powerful magnifying Aand required supreme patience, ow, every one takes an interest in the little Russian, and from the Pt she landed at Castle there were many to hold helping hand to her. Down wholesale district, where alers in expensive gems heir quarters, she is alelcome, and they will give might refuse it to a man.
Not only are they glad to see her succeed, but they appreciate her value as a craftswoman of the highest type.
Misa Olga Tritt
Fantastic story, and beautiful watch. As for the "unfairness" of the lower prices of vintage women's watches, well of course it's because nobody buys them!!! and that means also that if a woman purchases one of those "cheap" women's watches, that will never appreciate as men's watches have. Military Blancpain Fifty Fathoms (ie Tornek Rayville 900s and BP milspecs) could be purchased for as little as 350 USD about 20-15 years ago -- and now they're at 100K!!! That never happens with a woman's watch. The New York times in 2004 wrote an article saying women's watches were undervalued and should appreciate and guess what: they haven't!!
So if today I were to spend on a vintage woman's watch, I'll never be sure whether I'd be able to recoup the expense if I need to resell. So where's the unfairness??
