Zelus Chronograpgh 18ct gold 1950c

Posted on 07/06/2011 by robswatches

 

The Zelus is an obscure brand that I was unable to find any information on. I’m guessing that the brand is probably Italian with a Swiss movement.

This is an 18ct gold three register chronograph with no dedicated second hand. It’s from around the late 40’s to the mid 50’s. The movement is Landeron 48 of which over 3.5million was produced from 1937 to 1970.

This type of watch was popular with young latins of the era who wanted to impress with the features of 18ct gold style and chronograph technology. He probably aspired to drive an Alfa Romeo.

To make it a bit more affordable the manufacturer was very mean with the gold; the back could be easily buckled with just finger pressure and had to be re-enforced with a brass inner back. The case was equally thin and the lugs where hollow. Needless to say it was nowhere near water or dust resistant nor was the balance shock protected.

These watches where not rare when I was an apprentice in the late 60’s but now, there seems to be few that went the distance; they didn’t travel well because of their fragility. A dealer once told me that most of these watches that came his way, he melted down.

HELP! If you have any information on the Zelus brand please let me know.

 

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Cortebert Braille 1968c

Posted on 07/06/2011 by robswatches

 

 Here I have a less glamorous specialty timepiece; a braille watch.

The braille watch is unique in that the wearer tells the time by feeling the position of the hands.  This means that the hands must be very sturdy and anti corrosive, the dial must be able to resist constant touching and have raised braille markers instead of index batons. Aso the movement must be tough enough as to not be effected by pressure being put on the hands. 

Pressing the crown further than the rest position lets the bezel and glass spring open, accesses the dial. 

All of these special requirements need to of good quality; imagine how many times a wearer would flip the lid to feel the time in the course of a day.

This watch is hard to date because with these watches styles did not change for decades but a few little things indicate to me that it’s from the late 60’s.

This watch uses a Unitas 6325, so called Wehrmachtswerk (army movement), remember I said it needed to be rugged. 

Cortebert is a typical Swiss brand that started in the 1800’s (1855 as Cortebert but was founded in1790), has a good pedigree in producing high-grade, mostly pocket watches, went to Ebauche movements in the 1960’s before disappearing in the late 1970’s. 

Most famous for developing the first jump hour (digital) watch in the 1920’s and being the official supplier of railroad watches to the Turkish and Italian railways in the first half of the 20th century. 

I needed a Cortebert and a braille watch in my collection; here I have both! But I can still use a nice railway pocket watch from the 30’s, preferably a Turkish one.

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Buren 9ct Gold 1948c

Posted on 06/06/2011 by robswatches

 

This is a 9ct gold Buren from the late forties. It’s in very good original condition with a heavily aged dial. If it was produced anytime after about 1960, it would be categorised as a dress watch but in the forties it was an ordinary, high-grade watch. The only advanced feature here is a sub second hand. It uses an in-house 410, well finished movement.

Buren is a little known brand that has a huge pedigree dating back to it’s establishemnet in the tiny town of Buren, Switzerland in 1873. Buren made their own movements up until the 60’s and have been very innovative along the way with several patents. In the 1962 they collaborated with Hamilton, Breitling, and Heuer in developing an automatic chronograph. It was launched in 1969 and they claimed to be the first but this is disputed by Zenith/Movado who released one at about the same time. To complicate the question further, Seiko where the first to hit the market with own auto chrono. 

Buren was purchased by Hamilton, an American company, in 1966 and Hamilton moved their operation from Lancaster to Buren in Switzerland but they soon fell victim the quartz onslaught and was liquidated in 1972. 

This is a worthy addition to my collection.

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Ornata Dress 1975c

Posted on 04/06/2011 by robswatches

 

This watch is part of my collection only because I like it. I know nothing about this brand, it’s probably the only example I’ve ever seen.

From the mid seventies with a Peseux 7046 incabloc (shock protection) movement, date and signed three times, it’s different by having the date where the name normaly is and the name where the date would be. Its a nice watch.

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Certina Dress 1965c

Posted on 04/06/2011 by robswatches

  

The is one of my best ever finds, I bought this for peanuts as a wreck suitable for parts only.  It did look rather sad when I first saw it but all it really needed was the case and glass buffed, the movement overhauled and a new strap, the only thing wrong with it was a worn crown that I haven’t been able to replace. 

So, did I rip the unsuspecting seller off? No! it was a dealer who knew the ropes and knew what he had, he just couldn’t see the potential of it. 

By virtue of their beautiful movements the Certina is the watchmakers’ favourite. This dress watch from around 1965 has one of Certina’s prettiest movements and every part, from the screws to the train wheels is a little heavier and thicker than most top quality rivals. And then of course is the legendary Certina finish; second to none. With a little TLC this 23-36 movement would run forever. 

The movement is let down by the rather ordinary case, not water or dust resistant but the gold plating is good quality. The dial is plain with nice, fine index markers and is in great condition with only slight aging. The plain but highly polished gold hands are perfect for this simple style. 

It was a pleasure to restore this beautiful watch.

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Citizen Chronograph 1973

Posted on 30/05/2011 by robswatches

 

Within a few months of each other Zenith, Heuer/Breitling and Seiko, released Automatic wind chronographs. Zenith was probably the first with its El Primo but Seiko got the jump with marketing, price and availability. For the next 10 years or so, Seikos dominated the chronograph market.

When Citizen introduced its Auto chronograph, sometime in the early 70’s they were behind the 8 ball and couldn’t match the Seiko in sales even though they had, in my opinion, a superior product. The Swiss where priced way out of it.

This 1973 Citizen has, minute and hour chronograph recorder, day and date with quick set for both, auxiliary hand winding, crystal glass, water resistant case.

The Seiko lacked the auxiliary wind and the hour recorder, although the upmarket Seiko 6138 model did have these.

The Citizen movement was much more sophisticated than the Seiko. The return mechanism for the hands is spring loaded resulting in a much better action than the Seiko.

This Citizen 8110 movement out-featured the Swiss also and was more efficiently designed.

So, as far as consumer acceptance, why was the Citizen left in the wake of the Seiko? Even today the Seiko chronograph is much more desirable with collectors.

I think it was a combination of image, designs and price (the Seiko was cheaper)

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Roamer 1960c

Posted on 29/05/2011 by robswatches

Not a very spectacular watch but the Roamer has a special place in horological history and this is very much a typical example from around 1960.

Like most Swiss manufacturers, the company was established in the 1800’s, 1888 in fact but the first Roamer brand watches didn’t appear until 1952. In 1955, Roamer patended the Amfibio, a super water resistant one piece (monocoque) case that eliminated the case back and therefore one less avenue for moisture to penetrate. The technology was later adopted by many leading brands; I have examples by Omega, Citizen, Mido, Wyler, Breitling and even IWC. Coupled with non-complicated, well-finished in-house movements the Roamer soon gained a reputation for good sturdy, reliable watches without being bulky.

I’ve had trouble finding a good example from this era so I did a complete restoration on what was a rather sad example. I fitted new hands, glass and a balance complete, overhauled the nice MST430 movement and polished the case.

When a watchmaker repairs a watch it is customary to scribe a number or coded date in the back so as to record the repair. This watch had eight such inscriptions and with mine, made nine. From this, I figure that this watch has been used for most of its 50 years of existence! I find that amazing and a testament to the overall quality and of the hard gold plated case in particular.

It is signed five times including the watermark “R’ in the centre of the glass

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Patek Philippe 1873

Posted on 29/05/2011 by robswatches

 

In 1842 French watchmaker Adrien Philippe invented the keyless wind mechanism which allowed watches to be wound and set by means of crown rather than a key. In 1951 he formed a partnership with Polish watchmaker Antoni Patek and the name Patek, Philippe was born. That same year Queen Victoria purchased a Patek Philippe for her husband Albert, liked it so much that she purchased one for herself.
Since then the Patek Philippe has become a favourite with Royalty, Popes and anyone who’s anybody with unlimited funds. Complicated rare pieces by this company breaks auction records on a regular basis.
This immaculate 1873 example would have been very similar to the ones that queen Victoria had.
Unusual for the period is its plainness, quite bland in fact. Most quality and even ordinary timepieces of the day were highly decorated on the dial, case or movement or all of the above.
The 15 jewel movement with lever escapement is very plain; the watch is signed only on the inner case lid. The dial and hands are elegant but plain. A watchmaker examining this without noticing the signature would never pick this as product of one of the greatest watch manufactures of all time.
Having said all that, when I tell some one who knows anything about watches that I have an 18ct gold Patek Phillipe, from 1873, in immaculate condition, in it’s original box I get a slightly unbelieving exclamation, “Yeah!!”
One of my best pieces and I consider myself fortunate to have it.

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Bulova Accutron Spaceview 1971

Posted on 27/05/2011 by robswatches

When Bulova introduced the Accutron in 1960, it was cutting edge technology, electronic and capable of unprecedented consistent accuracy.
This example is a spaceview from1971. The spaceview has a clear dial so the inner (non)workings could be seen, this was so the wearer could show off his state of the art technology. Ironically, the Spaceview was never intended by Bulova to be sold; it was a salesman’s demonstration tool and a display model for jewelers. While Bulova used a solid gold Spaceview in an intensive advertising campaign for the new Accutron, they only expected to sell a few hundred, strictly to distributing jewelers for use as a merchandising display. However, many customers, seeing the watch in the window, wished to purchase it. Realizing that there was a consumer demand, Bulova came up with the name “Spaceview” and started manufacturing them in stainless steel and gold filled for retail sale. The popularity of the Spaceview is very high amongst collectors.
At the dawn of the space age, the Accutron was electronic and accurate.
It was marketed well and was well accepted.
The technology was clumsy but, somehow, functional and held it’s place in the market place until quartz technology took over in the late 70’s.

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Roamer Dress Watch 1975c

Posted on 26/05/2011 by robswatches

In the middle seventies, good Swiss brands had trouble holding their place in the market and started to compete on price by cutting quality.
The Roamers were renowned for there virtually indestructible, leak proof cases and excellent gold plating. Not in this example, the case is cheap without any seals. Okay, it’s a dress watch, but in its day, even the dress watches had some degree of water resistance.
It is signed on the dial, movement and crown, but not the back……cost cutting
On the plus side, the dial has raised markers and the movement is the nicely finished and efficient in house MST414. And that’s what gets this watch over the line

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