An oldie Hampden wristwatch

[tamrock]

I picked this up for under 6 bucks at a antique mall. There was a box full of strapless wristwatch heads and this was the only mechanical in the box. It is a project missing stem & crown, but overall not an impossible one that could again tic with some effort. It's all American made in Canton Ohio even the great condition Deuber case that holds the movement is from Ohio.

 

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[niffler]

Cool watch, my little brother works on watches and has me on the lookout for them. I would have got that for him, it looks good.

 

[Vhoov]

Don’t know much about watches, what should I be looking out for? Appreciate any insight... nice snag BTW

 

[GeoW]

Who would be a reputable repairman for older watches? Have a Hamilton 992 that needs crystal and work.

Thanks,
Geo

 

[tamrock]

Don’t know much about watches, what should I be looking out for? Appreciate any insight... nice snag BTW

They're not as plentiful as they used to be and the list of what to keep an eye out for is pretty vast. I'd say if you run across any that catches your eye, just go to eBay and check the sales records. There are the more desirable Swiss makers both quartz and mechanical you wanna not over look, but I've gotten over $200 for early Japanese LCD watches before. These days I'll bet I see 800 cheap fashion watches to one vintage of any kind. I was surprised to see this oldie in with a bunch of worthless crap. This Gilbert & Engle book is a must to have on the shelf for an understanding of vintage models and marker. One other thing is you really do need to admire and have an interest in looking for certain treasures in the 2nd market. Without that it's really hard to understand what your looking for and the odds of picking up fakes are high. That why counterfeiters produced fakes, to take advantage of those who have only limited knowledge. Good Luck!

 

[tamrock]

Who would be a reputable repairman for older watches? Have a Hamilton 992 that needs crystal and work.

Thanks,
Geo

This is my guy, but I only take him ones I really wanna put the money into. I've got a 1930 solid gold case Hamilton wristwatch I need to take him some time. I see him at the post office ever now and then sending customers watches back and he gave me a clean and lube standard price of around $130.? recently. I know 10 years ago he charged only $90. He has a great reputation. https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...me%20Zone,ru_q:Rocky%20Mountain%20Time%20Zone

 

[GeoW]

Thanks tamrock. I bookmarked the info.

geo

 

[A2coins]

Nice those would be cool to restore

 

[tamrock]

Nice those would be cool to restore

I am working on a little collection of all American made wristwatches and designs throughout the decades and trying to assemble examples of that timeline. This one might be apart of it, as it's an early example of an all American made time piece. I believe the all American made wristwatches pretty much ended in the 1970s with the Bulova Accutron as by then most US makers started going with Swiss mechanical movements. Then came the retuning Vietnam GI's sporting there ultra cool Seiko's came home and that pretty much put every US movement makers out of business for good. I bought 4 Hamilton electric watches from a retired jeweler some time ago and sold them all. Sure wish I'd a kept at least one of those for this collection, but I buying and selling ever watch I got my hands on back then. I might have to just pay the price on one on eBay to add to the collection.

 

[Hawks88]

Good eye, great buy. Congrats

 

[trdking]

Nice tidy find. To bad its missing the ball crown. That will be tough to find. I love the sub second between 9 and 10. I tend to gravitate towards anything not the norm. Not to jack your thread but I picked up this example of oddity last week. Figure you would like to see it Tamrock.

 

[trdking]

They're not as plentiful as they used to be and the list of what to keep an eye out for is pretty vast. I'd say if you run across any that catches your eye, just go to eBay and check the sales records. There are the more desirable Swiss makers both quartz and mechanical you wanna not over look, but I've gotten over $200 for early Japanese LCD watches before. These days I'll bet I see 800 cheap fashion watches to one vintage of any kind. I was surprised to see this oldie in with a bunch of worthless crap. This Gilbert & Engle book is a must to have on the shelf for an understanding of vintage models and marker. One other thing is you really do need to admire and have an interest in looking for certain treasures in the 2nd market. Without that it's really hard to understand what your looking for and the odds of picking up fakes are high. That why counterfeiters produced fakes, to take advantage of those who have only limited knowledge. Good Luck!

Gilbert and Engle are still alvie and well. The bulk of this book was assembled by my mentor Cooksey Shuggart who has passed away. These two guys operate a fine collectable watch shop in Sarasota FL called Ashland investments. Appointment only and the bulk of their stuff is online. Nothing to see on display at their office. Have to request a viewing But what a viewing it is.

 

[tamrock]

Nice Submariner. I had a 1965 Rolex Precision in the 90s. I got it for $500. in a pawn shop in Utah and kept it about 8 years and then eBayed it for around $1600. I don't see watches like that in most pawn shops anymore. I bought a 1947 Audemars Piguet from a jeweler in Alamosa, Colorado for $1200. and got $2400 out of it. It was a rectangle shape with two colors of rose and yellow gold on it. It came with the rumor, that it once belong to Jack Dempsey. The Jeweler bought it off an older woman who told him Jack Dempsey gave it to her. The only thing I could find was Audemars said it was shipped to a jeweler in Chicago in 1947 and that jeweler wasn't around that I could find anymore. I just keep any vintage watch I come by for cheap now. They're fun to find, but I sure miss the days before the WWW and vintage watches were a lot easier to find at great prices.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Cool watch!

 

[trdking]

Nice Submariner. I had a 1965 Rolex Precision in the 90s. I got it for $500. in a pawn shop in Utah and kept it about 8 years and then eBayed it for around $1600. I don't see watches like that in most pawn shops anymore. I bought a 1947 Audemars Piguet from a jeweler in Alamosa, Colorado for $1200. and got $2400 out of it. It was a rectangle shape with two colors of rose and yellow gold on it. It came with the rumor, that it once belong to Jack Dempsey. The Jeweler bought it off an older woman who told him Jack Dempsey gave it to her. The only thing I could find was Audemars said it was shipped to a jeweler in Chicago in 1947 and that jeweler wasn't around that I could find anymore. I just keep any vintage watch I come by for cheap now. They're fun to find, but I sure miss the days before the WWW and vintage watches were a lot easier to find at great prices.

This watch Is a GMT With "pepsi Cola" Bezel. They came in Solid Black 2 tone red and blue then later available in Red and Black nick named the COKE Bezel. I have 17 Pepsi's From the first year bakelite bezel to the end of Stainless production in the early 2000's. This one is a 1969 which I purchased like you for the grand mighty sum of $600 It is worth about 9K today. the pepsi's are hands down one of my best investments, bought them because I loved them and now astronomical prices. A first year Bakelite bezel from the 50's is now north of 100K to 175K and climbing. The submariners have done the same thing and the Daytonas went seriously wonky. I kicked myself for buying a first year Paul Newman Daytona for 29K and it is very near 300K today 8 years later.I have collected since I was 10 years old and have over 450 pieces. I love the Audemars Gruen Curvexs Hamilton electrics Accutrons and every thing that ticks hums and escapes but the Rolexs have hands down out performed everything else I own. PS the Pateks have done really well also

 

[tamrock]

This watch Is a GMT With "pepsi Cola" Bezel. They came in Solid Black 2 tone red and blue then later available in Red and Black nick named the COKE Bezel. I have 17 Pepsi's From the first year bakelite bezel to the end of Stainless production in the early 2000's. This one is a 1969 which I purchased like you for the grand mighty sum of $600 It is worth about 9K today. the pepsi's are hands down one of my best investments, bought them because I loved them and now astronomical prices. A first year Bakelite bezel from the 50's is now north of 100K to 175K and climbing. The submariners have done the same thing and the Daytonas went seriously wonky. I kicked myself for buying a first year Paul Newman Daytona for 29K and it is very near 300K today 8 years later.I have collected since I was 10 years old and have over 450 pieces. I love the Audemars Gruen Curvexs Hamilton electrics Accutrons and every thing that ticks hums and escapes but the Rolexs have hands down out performed everything else I own. PS the Pateks have done really well also

Yeah, GMT. Holy Smokes your into some serious collecting. I know, owning a vintage Rolex watch has been better than owning Coca-Cola stock in the last 40 years. You never see the high end time pieces in the average pawn shops like you did 30 years ago. There was a good stretch to hunt in my sales territory from Santa Fe, Albuquerque and down to El Paso 30 years ago. They had so many vintage high-end stuff, back then. I once picked-up a brand new Jaeger LeCoultre Memovox at a old jewelry store in Roosevelt, Utah. It was in the original box and was sitting in the street show case window for years. It had to have been sitting in the sun for about 25 years the leather strap was so breached and dry as if it would crack if you tried to flex it. I bought it for $75. which was the suggested price on the tag and later sold it to a pawn shop guy who had lots of vintage watches in Albuquerque. I remember, he called a fella in Florida before we made a deal and him telling the guy on the other line, " it's like brand new". I settled for $200. on it. If only I'd a hung on to those finds from back then. There was no internet and I was wheeling and dealing as I traveled from town to town. One time I was given a new salesman fella to take on the road, as he was gonna take the central and south America territory. He saw what I was doing and was really intrigued. He got hooked on hunting jewelry and watches in those countries and started scoring some fabulous stuff. He latter quit and I believe he turned what he learned into a full time treasure hunting job. He lived in Chicago, so I'm sure he had a great retail outlet back then. If only you knew back then of what the internet would become. I kinda miss those days.