Do you ever get the sinking feeling you’re somehow missing out on something in your life, a certain “je ne sais quoi”; do you ever find it difficult to face your own bare wrist in the mirror or face your occupied wrist as you furtively contemplate some other watch, somewhere else? Do you ever wish you could be free to just pick up and wear an affordable, kind of obscure, Swiss vintage manual wind watch marketed strongly in Sweden, from a brand which has been discussed on at least one Swedish internet message board (http://klocksnack.se/threads/the-many-faces-of-vintage-lagonda-många-bilder.262/)?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, I may have just the thing for you: up for sale, ladies and gentlemen, is a Lagonda manual wind watch, “Officer” model - from my home to yours for $200 USD, shipped. Payment through PayPal, please (I will cover the PayPal fees). The watch will ship from Toronto, Canada via Canada Post/Canada Post International.

The watch measures approximately 35mm excluding the crown, approximately 37.5mm including the crown, and 43.3mm lug-to-lug. Lug width is approximately 18.8mm.

I picked this watch up nearly two years ago from a watchmaker, freshly serviced at the time. The watch works and keeps time fairly well. I have not measured its performance using any measurement devices, but estimate that it is accurate to within about a minute per day (i.e. I have not noticed it gain or lose any appreciable time for my daily practical purposes).

I don’t know the extent to which the case has been polished or whether the crown or caseback are original: I haven’t found many/any comparators. I’d hazard to guess that the dial is original and think it is in nice shape. It is a cream colour and features hour markers that are brassy in colour. The hands are also a brassy colour and are a lovely dauphine variety, lumed in the centre. Hour lume plots are in place on the outer circumference of the hour markers. Snug to the case between about 7 and 5 o’clock is the expression “T Swiss T”.

There are a few faint specks on the dial that might be dust or some other foreign fleck. An example of this is the faint fleck located about 3mm below the letter “c” in the work “incabloc” and in three other places, or the faint “c” shaped fleck inside the printed circle at about 3:17 – 3:18. I have not noticed these until now, but do want to point them out for your information. They could also be scratches or the result of some other phenomenon.

Movement looks nice and clean and purportedly contains 17 jewels (I have not counted them). I see a few service marks on the center bridge and balance bridge. I also see some kind of small and coffee coloured gash on the case-side near the crown as well as on the bottom of the 1 o’clock lug. This leads me to suspect the watch is chrome plated on top of some kind of metal (brass?) body. I’ve tried to capture these gashes - which are probably chrome flaking off - in pictures of the crown below and in pictures of the caseback (see the bottom right lug). The case, caseback and lugs contain a variety of nicks and scratches and tool marks.

The crystal has an attractive dome shape, but is cracked along the side of the dome around much of the crystal’s circumference. The crack does not affect time-reading/dial visibility, but can be seen when one views the watch while it sits horizontal (flat on a table, for example). While it has not diminished my enjoyment of the piece so far, you may want to get a new crystal for it. I’ve tried to capture these cracks in the pictures taken of the watch from the side.

I really like this watch and am selling it to declutter and refocus. It has accompanied me around the world and I have found it to be reliable and highly versatile: it works well on casual occasions, on occasions where horseplay/rough housing with the kids is involved, or on occasions where a “dressier” watch is required but where one does not want to bring out the more expensive pieces (such as when travelling/visiting certain locales). I have also enjoyed the simplicity of the manual wind movement and the charm of the “off-beat” brand – who knows maybe Lagonda’s star will one day rise?

I have one seller reference on the Forum so far and hope to have another in the coming days (please see: https://omegaforums.net/threads/severin-is-a-considerate-and-great-seller.51884/). I have purchased three watches on this Forum and each of those transactions went well. For example, please see the reference at the following link: https://omegaforums.net/threads/severin-top-notch.39979/. I will also be happy to provide the names of two other sellers on this Forum from whom I have purchased watches and who can vouch for me. I have made more purchases on eBay and have a 100% buyer’s rating, which I would gladly demonstrate to you.

Please don’t be shy about getting in touch through PM on this Forum with any questions you might have. The photos below are a large part of the description – returns will be accepted only if the watch is materially not as described. The buyer will have an inspection period of 3 days. Otherwise, the sale will be final. That said, I trust you will find I have described the watch faithfully. The watch will come to you with the used 18mm strap shown in all photos below. The watch could probably work comfortably with a 19mm strap in case you have one.

Thank you for reading this post and thank you very much, ΩF, for the opportunity.

 

Oddly as I was reading this an AM Lagonda drove past me.

Seriously what are those odds?

 

i'd say it's a propitious sign for you!

 

Pm sent.

 

On Hold Pending Funds. Thank you all for your interest!

 

You are getting unreasonably good at writing FS posts!

Take my likes! Both of you!

 

++

Thank you, kindly. I'll likely put my pen away for the next little while as I am now fully out of things to sell: psychic space all clear again!

In seriousness, I once bought a watch (not from this Forum) and it came to me with a mark on the dial that was not evident in the fellow's photos and was not mentioned in the description. It really bothered me. I ended up keeping the watch because I still loved it on balance, but I still get heated up about it. I hope my descriptions are faithful to all the little flaws in a watch - I wouldn't want anyone to feel the way I did that day when i opened the box.

 

Never mind the good photos, you had me at "Swedish internet message board"

 

With apologies, in my excitement (and surprise) I forgot to mention: thank you buyer and thank you Omegaforums!

 

For research sake the movement is an AS 1786 or 1686/1795 depending on size... If someone tracks down this thread via google search. Numbering on the baseplate seems to point to Alpina making the movement and not appearing in the ranfft DB. This conclusion is from Alpina making other AS movements with similar numbering. I do not have the knowledge of which came first and who was licensing which.


http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?11&ranfft&&2uswk&AS_1686
http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?11&ranfft&&2uswk&AS_1795
http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?11&ranfft&&2uswk&AS_1786

 

https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/lagonda-watches.1036291/ was when Severin purchased it lol