New acquisition and the story of Winegartens London

[Dr.Sascha]

Winegartens was a famous London jewellers that sold in-house branded watches with movements and cases commissioned from well-known Swiss watchmakers such as Nivada and Ollech & Wajs. This one was acquired from a chap who bought up a significant amount of their remaining stock when they closed permanently. It's never been worn, and the case has never been cracked, so still trying to determine the details about it. In many ways, it seems to epitomize the late-60s skin-diver, with its wide black bezel, broad-arrow hands, and dial that evokes the iconic Blancpain 50 fathoms.

Edited: Feb 8, 2023

 

[Tony C.]

Nice dial and hands, for sure! However the quality of the case, and especially the bezel, are well below those of the better divers of the era.

 

[Dr.Sascha]

Tony C.

Nice dial and hands, for sure! However the quality of the case, and especially the bezel, are well below those of the better divers of the era.

Oh absolutely, it's noticeably below the Bulovas, for example, and even below their more affordable Caravelle line (though the 665-1 Caravelles, which are all-Swiss are now consistently fetching higher prices than the Bulovas). This was made in homage to the higher end divers, not in competition!

 

[Dr.Sascha]

They certainly didn't skimp on the movement. This was sold as a hand-winder, but I suspected that, given the convex caseback, there was a good chance it was an automatic. Inside, it turns out, is a spotless ETA 2472.😀

 

[Tony C.]

Yes, that movement compares very favorably to most of the vintage divers.

 

[Anthony Lane]

Dr.Sascha

Winegartens was a famous London jewellers that sold in-house branded watches with movements and cases commissioned from well-known Swiss watchmakers such as Nivada and Ollech & Wajs. This one was acquired from a chap who bought up a significant amount of their remaining stock when they closed permanently. It's never been worn, and the case has never been cracked, so still trying to determine the details about it. In many ways, it seems to epitomize the late-60s skin-diver, with its wide black bezel, broad-arrow hands, and dial that evokes the iconic Blancpain 50 fathoms.

Very pretty

 

[jantjewgm]

I really like the dial and hands!

 

[noelekal]

I enjoy this thread and learning about Winegartens.

The watch is neato with its history.

 

[southtexas]

Very cool looking. Is it Tritium or radium?

 

[Dr.Sascha]

southtexas

Very cool looking. Is it Tritium or radium?

Given the date (late 60s), I should think tritium.

 

[rootbeer7]

I am the lucky new owner! Lovely little piece. I’ve been trying to find out a bit more information about Winegarten the store. I have friends in the jewellery trade who remember supplying them. They were highly respected in the trade & it would appear that they used some good eta movements in their branded watches and in some watches made their own cases. I’ve had a few skindivers and this one is of great quality, both case, bezel & movement (compared with some of those single jewel manual movements)