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The vintage minute repeater – who made them? Patek Philippe? Sure, but not many.  Vacheron Constantin? Yup, but even less.  In fact, Vacheron only made 36 watches in the early to mid 20th century that were minute repeaters, and all of them (as far as we know) bore the reference 4261.  And, out of those 36 minute repeaters, only ten used a 13mm diameter movement, inside an oversized case.  All 36 minute repeaters were in fact ultra-slim, with a movement of just 3.1mm thick and were typically made from yellow or pink gold, sometimes platinum.

And then we have the watch we saw yesterday at Christie’s, which will be coming up in their May Geneva sale.  This is indeed a vintage Vacheron repeater, and indeed it uses a wide (13mm ligne diameter) but ultra-slim (3.1mm) movement in an oversized case (36mm, but it feels more like 38mm), but it is not a reference 4261 like all the others. 

From:HODINKEE

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We’ve discussed the glory of vintage Vacheron Constantin before.  You’re talking true top level work at prices often well below where one might expect to see them (see here, here, and here for examples of what we mean). 

In Antiquorum New York’s coming auction, there an exceptionally cool vintage Vacheron that you rarely see offered publicly.  The watch is a 1950s triple date moonphase VC, that you often find in gold.  But this one isn’t gold, it’s steel.

From:HODINKEE

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We popped over to the Park Avenue Armory today to see how the 40th Anniversary of the Royal Oak Exhibition is coming along (we’ll be posting a video of a behind the scenes look at that tomorrow).  And, while we were there, we caught an exclusive look at what must be one of the most important Royal Oak watches in the world.  You see, AP has brought over 100 museum pieces to show to the public (and us, exclusively, this Friday night), and in some cases, they reached out to a few friends for special pieces. 

One such friend is the widow of the late Gerald Genta, the designer of the Royal Oak, and one such special piece is the Royal Oak Jumbo Mr. Genta designed, constructed himself, and wore throughout his lifetime.  What makes this Royal Oak so interesting is that A) it is not a super early watch, though it does date to the mid 1970s, B) this configuration was never made!

You see, the case is a 5402ST case, meaning it shows a series (e.g. A, B, C, or D) and a serial number.  The bracelet it made entirely of steel.  But, the watch has an 18k yellow gold bezel on it.  Also, though it doesn’t look like it in this picture of the watch taken today, Genta’s RO has a dial that is a shade darker than most RO’s of the time.  This means Mr. Genta pieced this RO together himself.

Pretty cool to see the Royal Oak worn by the man who designed the Royal Oak, don’t you think?  Mr. Genta’s Royal Oak will be on display starting tomorrow at the 40th Anniversary of the Royal Oak Exhibition in NYC.  More details to come on that very soon.

From:HODINKEE

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The Paul Newman Daytona is undoubtedly a watch most vintage Rolex guys strive to own, but it’s also quite possibly the most dangerous watch to buy.  You see, a Paul Newman is an expensive watch, and Newman waters are murky, and full of sharks – often times Italian, Dutch, and Vietnamese sharks that know a thing or two about manufacturing dials.  So, when buying a Paul Newman, you’ll want as much faith in your seller as possible, and preferably, some original documents too.

Which brings us to this Paul Newman above.  This watch was purchased from the original owner who wore it only to weddings and funerals, and it retains the entire, complete original package as it was when purchased on January 1, 1974 at Bucherer in Zurich (something tells us he received a little bit more than the 656 SFr he paid for this when he sold it).  The quality and condition of this 6241 is superb, and the white of the dial is as bright as any we’ve seen.  Just a great watch, and if you’re looking for a PN, it’s worth looking at this one.

Detail here.

From:HODINKEE

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It’s every car lover’s dream to come across a Ferrari in a barn. Similarly, watch collectors hope to stumble upon a pre-Moon Speedmaster at a garage sale or in a relative’s sock drawer. Well, it does happen and today we’ve got one of those stories. Ian Brown, owner of a jewelry store in Woodstock, Georgia, recently acquired a 1940s A. Lange & Söhne Beobachtungsuhr, or “B-Uhr,” that was found in a toolbox at an estate sale.

If you’re a regular reader of HODINKEE, you know we’ve covered these World War II pilot’s watches before. But here’s a refresher. The German air force, or Luftwaffe, commissioned five companies to build watches for its pilots and navigators: IWC, Laco, Stowa, Wempe and A. Lange & Söhne. All of the watches were built to the same specification – a 55mm case, hand-wound movement with center seconds, an oversized crown for easy winding while wearing gloves, an extra long riveted leather strap for wearing over a flight jacket and distinctive, legible dial markings. There were two dial variations of the B-Uhr: the Type A dial had a more standard outer minute track and a large triangle at 12 o’clock. The Type B dial had an inner hour track and a prominently demarcated outer minute track. The Lange you see pictured here is a Type B.

The B-Uhr style is extremely popular, with many modern watch brands, big and small, selling some variation of it. But it’s not so common to come across the genuine article from the 1940s. Last year we featured a remarkable collection of five Fliegers that was up for auction at Antiquorum, including a Type A dial Lange. Of the five makes that still are occasionally found today, IWC’s version seems to fetch the most when sold, perhaps because they only made them in 1940 and therefore are not as common. But to find any of these wartime relics, the majority of which were flown, is a rare treat. So when Ian Brown contacted us with his story, we knew it was special. Here’s Ian’s description, in his own words, of how he came to possess this Lange B-Uhr:

From:HODINKEE

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There are vintage Submariners, and then there are watches like this.  You guys are familiar with the run of the mill mega-Rolexes – the Paul Newmans, the MilSubs, and the COMEX pieces (seen together here), but as we’ve told you before, there exists an even higher level of vintage Rolex collecting.

In this world, you’re not dealing with “a” watch, you’re dealing with “the” watch, as in this world revolves around singular pieces, not vague groupings like “a meters first Submariner”.  Specifically, here we are talking about “the Rolex 6538 Big Crown Submariner with an explorer dial, red depth rating, and officially certified chronometer marking, in spectacular original shape.”

The watch dates to early 1956 and retains all of its original parts, and even original beveling on the case edges.  This is, according to its owner, only the second watch of this configuration to surface, and in certainly the better condition of the two.  Based on the reaction on VRF, we tend to agree that this watch is absolutely something very special.  

We do not know how much was paid for this particular example, but based in similar (lesser) Submariners that have sold publicly in the recent year or so, we would put this one at $ 250K+.  Oh, and if you’re curious who sold this watch to its new owner?  It would our old friends Eric Ku (who we interviewed here) and Matthew Bain, who we work with on our GILT sales and pop-ups.

For more info on this spectacular and hyper-rare Rolex Submariner Ref 6538 Big Crown with explorer dial, red depth rating, and OCC markings, click here.

From:HODINKEE

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Most people know the tale of Panerai’s rise in the early 1990s, thanks to the enthusiasm for the brand from a certain action film star. In the early Eighties, Officine Panerai, then based in Florence, was still only a small producer of instruments for scientists and the Italian navy. At that time, the head of Panerai’s mechanical design department, Alessandro Bettarini, found some old records and drawings in the archives from Panerai’s days making the now-famous dive watches for the Italian and Egyptian navies. He was interested in reproducing these watches, updated to modern specifications and usable as wrist instruments for Italy’s naval divers and a few prototypes were built, like the one pictured above from 1984, which was tweeted by our good buddy Kristian Haagen of TimeGeeks.dk.

While there was some interest in serial production of watches, Panerai was still small, and to undertake this task was too much for it to handle. The idea sat dormant for some years until the publication of a book about Italy’s World War II attack divers and some strong interest from Japanese collectors convinced the company to start building watches again. A first batch of watches – the Luminor and Mare Nostrum models – was built in Switzerland. The second production run of watches was built entirely in Italy but the company fell into financial difficulty and was soon sold to the Vendome Luxury Group. Bettarini worked with Panerai for a few more years designing the new timepieces, by then getting famous thanks to the interest of Sylvester Stallone.

But the company’s sale to a large conglomerate left Bettarini dissatisfied and he left Panerai to start a new watch company with Florentine roots, with his friend, Luciano Nincheri. They called their new company, Ennebi, a sly combination of their surnames’ initials (NB). Ennebi’s watches to this day bear a striking resemblance to the Panerai prototype pictured here, with the minimalist design and naked bezel, devoid of markings other than the raised descent marker.

So if you like the looks of the 1984 Panerai prototype shown here, you’ll either need to be wealthy and well-connected enough to acquire one of the few that exist, or you could just order an Ennebi.

(image via @KristianHaagen)

From:HODINKEE

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I found an old ladies watch cleaning out my aunts things and all I could see on the face of the watch was “ALPA”. I opened it up but all I could find was 14k. I tried to do research online and didn’t come up with much on alpa watches. Is that the brand of the watch? I know it’s old but thats about it. Thanks.

Answer by Alister Clark Rose’s
your answer lies here valuable watch by the look of this link .

georing watch company maker should be marked inside Alpa is the brand…. lucky you..

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-solid-wht-14k-gold-alpa-119574023

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On July 1, 1941 the Brooklyn Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies. This game was televised, but before it began, something was shown that had never been seen before – a televised advertisment for a consumer product.  And for what was the world’s first televised advertisement?  A watch, of course.

The ad that begat all other ads was for Bulova wristwatches, one of the great American timepiece companies.

The ad is pretty simple by today’s standards, but that’s ok – it only cost Bulova $ 9. Priceless. 

(Thanks for the tip Charlie)

From:HODINKEE

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Remember Eric Ku? He’s the vintage Rolex dealer we interviewed over the summer who, while owning and operating a bakery outside San Francisco, also happens to travel the world searching for the world’s great timepieces belonging to, occasionally, great men.  But, for every great man that owned a Rolex, there was a man who made some, how do we put this, questionable decisions?

Syrian dictator Hafez Al-Assad ruled the arab nation from 1970 through 2000, and while he invested heavily in infrastructure, education, medicine, literacy and urban construction, he also committed several heinous acts against his own people.  We won’t go into the details of all that, but needless to say, Assad had his fair share of (rightful) detractors.

Assad was something of a watch man, actually.  In fact, we’ve shown you a Rolex (an Explorer II) that belonged to him before.  Here, Eric has found a vintage Sea-Dweller (Ref 1665) that Assad himself wore for several years.  Then, on Ramadan 1979, Assad was so pleased with his chef that he gave the man the Sea-Dweller right off his wrist, complete with his signature applied in red, just like the Explorer II above. 

The watch is in original condition with a nicely aged dial, though there are a few minor oil stains (not that anyone buying this watch would care about that.).  Along with the watch will come a letter from Mr. Allahu Akbar (Assad’s chef and owner of the watch) as well as an autographed picture of Hafez Al-Assad.

Imagine if this watch could talk….

For more details on the personal Rolex Sea-Dweller of Syrian Dictator Hafez Al-Assad, click here.

Related Posts: In our exclusive interview with Eric, he revealed that one watch that has always escaped him is the incredibly rare Rolex Deep Sea Special. 

From:HODINKEE

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