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Seamaster Grand Luxe

X350 XJR
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In all other respects these seem to be very typical Seamasters of the period, gold capped case, steel back, non-chronometer movements, etc. I've not seen any period advertising on these, so I'm not sure how they were marketed.
 
Melhadary
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Are there any definitive sources of information on Norman Morris models?
 
gatorcpa
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X350 XJR X350 XJR
Actually not true, the dials on these are 18K gold.

OK, learned something new today!

X350 XJR X350 XJR
I've not seen any period advertising on these, so I'm not sure how they were marketed.

Here's a list from 1959 that shows the original pricing of the entire US model line:

price.jpg

Note that the gold-top Seamaster Grand Luxe is only $35 (in 1959 dollars) more than the standard gold-top Seamaster. That's likely the cost of the 18K gold dial. However, the Seamaster Grand Luxe with the 18K dial is $55 less than the cheapest gold-top Constellation that didn't have a solid gold dial.

To my knowledge, there were no Seamaster Grand Luxe watches with solid gold cases. But of course, I've been wrong before in this thread.

You do have to remember that the US-only Grand Luxe and the Globemaster at this time were using the obsolete cal. 501/503 movements while the other Seamasters and Constellations had moved on to the cal. 55X/56X series, which were brand new for 1959.

Hope this helps,
gatorcpa
 
hoipolloi
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Is it possible that Norman Morris only made the dials then put them on the stocked Seamasters, then sold to the US market ?
 
kyle L
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I've always wanted one of these...this is maybe the 3rd or 4th one I lost? 🤬 Some more pics I saved from past auctions:
 
$(KGrHqZ,!hYE3u3,igjuBONtEVYCIQ~~0_3.JPG 12472787_1_x.jpg 12472787_2_x.jpg 12472787_3_x.jpg
Melhadary
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
OK, learned something new today!







Here's a list from 1959 that shows the original pricing of the entire US model line:



price.jpg



Note that the gold-top Seamaster Grand Luxe is only $35 (in 1959 dollars) more than the standard gold-top Seamaster. That's likely the cost of the 18K gold dial. However, the Seamaster Grand Luxe with the 18K dial is $55 less than the cheapest gold-top Constellation that didn't have a solid gold dial.



To my knowledge, there were no Seamaster Grand Luxe watches with solid gold cases. But of course, I've been wrong before in this thread.



You do have to remember that the US-only Grand Luxe and the Globemaster at this time were using the obsolete cal. 501/503 movements while the other Seamasters and Constellations had moved on to the cal. 55X/56X series, which were brand new for 1959.



Hope this helps,

gatorcpa

Awesome info there, Gator! Thanks.
 
Melhadary
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kyle L kyle L
I've always wanted one of these...this is maybe the 3rd or 4th one I lost? 🤬 Some more pics I saved from past auctions:

Thanks for the pics, Kyle.

Again, none with that same crown as the one posted (?)

Also, AJTT mentions that the 2846/2848 case had both the small and large variations of the seamonster... have you come by a SM Grand Luxe with the large seamonster caseback?
 
mac_omega
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U ulackfocus
The US version of the 14.324 or 14.350 from what I can see. IIRC, the .324 was usually in solid 18k gold and the 14.359 was gold capped.

The above watch looks a bit too polished - the facets on the hooded lugs are completely rounded.

I think ref. 14.324 has a very different case - lugs are not similar at all...
 
U
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mac_omega mac_omega
I think ref. 14.324 has a very different case - lugs are not similar at all...


Yep, it is shaped more like the .350 - rounded edge between the lug horns that follows the bezel arc.
 
JM251
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These seamaster deluxes have a great look. Is the dial solid gold? In addition to the polishing the dial looks a slight bit weathered. What does the caseback on these look like? To my eye the movement is clean. Based on the fact that the main complaint here is the polishing (no objections to originality) I made a lowball offer and he counter offered with 1400 pounds. What do you guys think?
 
JM251
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Found caseback pictures. That was tough 🤦 My apologies for silly questions. The mine detector is far from up to par. If I don't get there soon I'll give up and liquidate my collection 🍺 Then I will have finally contributed something to this forum!
 
gatorcpa
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I did a quick Google search and found that there was another G-6565 sold some years ago. Most of the pictures were taken down from the internet a long time ago, but I was able to snag this one:

03-12-1310-07-091207056catphoto.jpg

The case looks the same, but this one is not a Seamaster DeLuxe. According to the original sales listing, the above was a cal. 354 bumper movement. What I don't know is whether Norman Morris, Inc. ever made any DeLuxe watches with the older bumper movements. I don't think the dials on these watches were solid gold. In fact, I'm not sure that any 14K Omega had a solid gold dial. These were usually reserved for 18K cases only.

In any case, I think $2,300 is way too much for a watch like this, rare as it is.
gatorcpa
 
dsio
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The SMPPs are all 14K with solid gold 18K dials but they're a bit of a weird exception
 
JM251
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Very good to know! I would not have guessed that to be the case even though it's 14k in polished condition. But if the dial is not solid gold then it starts to make sense.
 
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