Tales from the mega estate sale!

[rkman11]

Hey OF,

As you saw with my recent sales listing on the LeCoultre I was able to get into an incredible estate here in Los Angeles recently. Amazing 85 year old owner who has been collecting watches longer than I’ve been alive! Awesome pieces, will continue to list a few here, but also wanted to throw this out, there were many cool art deco Gruens, Bulovas, Wittnauers, Elgins, and Vulcain, that I picked up. Not sure I will list all of these separately, but would love to see some of them go to forum members and be worn and enjoyed as they should.

Again, I believe them to be one owner watches, many in original boxes! A few quick pics below. Hit me up if you want some more information, and let’s get these on wrists where they belong!

(Mods, if this isn’t cool I’m happy to delete)

 

[JwRosenthal]

I would love to see the entirely of what this guy collected. What I find interesting is that he collected Bulova and Gruen as well as LeCoultre. To me that speaks to the reverence with which people held those watches at the time. We may see them as “lesser” brands now, but not then.

 

[rkman11]

JwRosenthal

I would love to see the entirely of what this guy collected. What I find interesting is that he collected Bulova and Gruen as well as LeCoultre. To me that speaks to the reverence with which people held those watches at the time. We may see them as “lesser” brands now, but not then.

It was pretty incredible to see, not just the sheer volume of his collection, but like you said, the range. From gold filled Elgin to solid gold Vacheron! The one uniting factor was uniqueness. Like the LeCoultre, he clearly had an eye for watches that were a little different, whether it was the dial or the lugs, art pieces that you wouldn’t see every day. I appreciate that!

 

[bombaywalla]

yes, looks like a good collection.
But, wont these watches be too small for today's wrists?
what size are the watches in your pix? 34mm or less? thanx.

 

[rkman11]

bombaywalla

yes, looks like a good collection.
But, wont these watches be too small for today's wrists?
what size are the watches in your pix? 34mm or less? thanx.

Really depends on your style and what you are used to wearing. I am almost exclusively a vintage guy, so regularly wear 34 MM. A lot of these, as was the style back then, are more tank shape. Thin and long. Like 22 MM wide or so, but some are 38 MM long, others like the Gruen Curvex and are over 50 MM long. So they wear well. Otherw like the Vulcain are definitely small, again something I would happily where, I have a 6.5 inch wrist, but others might consider unisex.

 

[JwRosenthal]

bombaywalla

yes, looks like a good collection.
But, wont these watches be too small for today's wrists?
what size are the watches in your pix? 34mm or less? thanx.

34mm was pretty large before 1955, 31-32 was more the norm. I once thought I couldn’t do anything under 34mm until I bought my first WWII watch which was 31mm. I didn’t have a choice if I wanted a real military piece, so went with it. After 3 days on the wrist it felt totally normal and going back to bigger watches made them feel heavy and cumbersome (and I have a 7.5” wrist). The key with getting used to small is to wear them under long sleeves. They slide under the cuff effortlessly and look totally normal when you pull back the cuff to read the time. Small watches on big arms with short sleeves tends to look like you raided the wife’s jewelry box.

 

[bombaywalla]

>> Small watches on big arms with short sleeves tends to look like you raided the wife’s jewelry box.

 

[Scarecrow Boat]

Oh wow! I too would love to see the entirety of this collection and agree with James’ sentiments above. That Bulova… I can’t stop looking at it.

bombaywalla

But, wont these watches be too small for today's wrists?

I personally don’t think so. I have just over a 7” wrist and 34mm feels right at home as did my Sub and Speedmasters. Depending on the design of a watch, a 34mm could “wear larger” than it is. An example is this 34mm UG. The white dial and case shape makes it visually have more presence on the wrist than it does



This UG tank, on paper, has small dimensions but wears really well


Yes, these are definitely small in todays world of 40+mm watches but definitely don’t let the small size fool you- these are an absolute blast to wear

Like this 34mm tool watch for the military. Its black dial does make it “wear” smaller (visually) compared to the UG above but it still has plenty of wrist presence.

 

[Larry S]

Were the folks running the sale clueless or zeroed in on value?

 

[rkman11]

Larry S

Were the folks running the sale clueless or zeroed in on value?

I’m calling it an estate sale because it’s a huge estate and he is starting to sell. But this was not run by a company, or at least hasn’t set that up yet. He is a collector I have become friends with, so I was able to get in there first. All good for both of us.

 

[JwRosenthal]

rkman11

I’m calling it an estate sale because it’s a huge estate and he is starting to sell. But this was not run by a company, or at least hasn’t set that up yet. He is a collector I have become friends with, so I was able to get in there first. All good for both of us.

That’s the best kind of situation- he gets rid of what he wants to part with at this stage in his life and gets a fair price with no hassle of trying to broker them.
You get nice pieces at a fair price and hopefully keep a few for yourself and sell off the rest with just enough profit to cover your costs on the ones you want to keep.
Win-win-win,

 

[rkman11]

All right, Gruen Curvex has found a new home! Will be posting another one from the estate separately later today. Not pictured here… Rhymes with Schmomega Connotation…

 

[JwRosenthal]

rkman11

All right, Gruen Curvex has found a new home! Will be posting another one from the estate separately later today. Not pictured here… Rhymes with Schmomega Connotation…

Schmegma collaboration??

Oh, I thought this was a game

 

[rkman11]

JwRosenthal

Schmegma collaboration??

Oh, I thought this was a game

Better than that… (if you can believe it!)

 

[Dan S]

The Gruen dial looks original. That's a nice one.

 

[rkman11]

Dan S

The Gruen dial looks original. That's a nice one.

Yeah, it was a beaut. I mean, it still is a beaut, it’s just on to a new home now. Sold quickly! Next one I am listing from the estate should be popping up on the site any minute now…

 

[TheGreekPhysique]

JwRosenthal

Small watches on big arms with short sleeves tends to look like you raided the wife’s jewelry box.

See this is why I don't work out my arms. So I can wear small watches.

 

[JwRosenthal]

TheGreekPhysique

See this is why I don't work out my arms. So I can wear small watches.

A photo I love to illustrate the point…do you think anyone told these guys that their 29-31mm watches look like girls watches?