D Day Relic

[Reanm8er]

Greeting Folks,

I'm posting this in Todays finds because it's appropriate for the day and it took me 8 hrs today to find it, seems right to me!

Many years ago, when I was relatively unschooled in the concept of provenance, I stopped at a yard sale nearby and met an old man there that really looked in bad health, (ashen gray)! At that time I was hunting scrap gold and silver with a side game in mechanical
wristwatches. I looked through the items and didn't even see a worthy tool to snatch.

As was my custom I always asked the homeowners about gold and silver jewelry and mechanical wristwatches. Imagine Samuel L. Jackson asking "What's in your sock drawer?"

He simply replied "Just this!". He opened his hand and showed me a sandwich bag with this really unique wristwatch in it. He handed it to me and I examined it with my loupe. There was a break in the bezel where the crystal mounted and I could see that at least the outer case was solid gold. When my attention returned to what he was saying I heard "I got in Normandy a few days after the landing! Well, you know if you see something valuable you proceed on what you see, not so much on what you hear. So, when he asked for 15 USD I payed him and was on my way. I was never one to tarry around after making a deal. After I got home, I did a bit of research and found out is was indeed a French watch. I’m trying to learn to use a new camera but here it goes.




The best I can find out is that this is a generic French watch that is (Recontoir) manually wound. I really wished I’d returned and asked him to tell me more about it but sometimes things don’t work out that way.
Best wishes and thanks for viewing! Happy and thoughtfully D-Day!

 

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[dirtlooter]

cool, yes, hind sight brings back to us that we wish that we had done things better. cool that you still have it too

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[thrifty76now]

It is not nice to rip off elderly people.

 

[Reanm8er]

Thrifty, I don't think paying his asked price is ripping off anybody. I was off for a Friday of yard saleing and this was my first stop. I had many others. It would be basically a French Timex, as far as timepieces go. No name on the dial no name or serial number on the movement, it may or may not be a jeweled movement. And after all a cheap watch, is just a cheap watch!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice looking watch!

 

[Reanm8er]

Thanks guys for all your likes and comments!

Best wishes.

P.S. Just wait till VJ day!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

What a beautiful watch Phil.
I'd get it serviced, put a new band on it then wear it with pride.

Dave

 

[Reanm8er]

That's a nice thought Dave!

I've considered doing that but it would require repair by a good jeweler first. The front bezel that holds
the crystal is split. I expect that parts would be non-existent for this thing so everything would have to
be custom made. Or I could graft a better quality quartz movement into the case.

Best wishes!

 

[Hawks88]

Nice old watch with a little bit of history. Congrats

 

[Trezurehunter]

Very nice piece with a lot of history behind it. Great find.

 

[Inspector]

Nice looking watch & good story, congratulations

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

That's a nice thought Dave!

I've considered doing that but it would require repair by a good jeweler first. The front bezel that holds
the crystal is split. I expect that parts would be non-existent for this thing so everything would have to
be custom made. Or I could graft a better quality quartz movement into the case.

Best wishes!

I hear what your saying about the cost of potentially restoring your watch Phil, it's not like it's a family piece with sentimental attachment. I have picked antiques for the past 30 years and I've made the occasional mistake when I've bought a piece with the intention of having it restored for resale.

Here is a beautiful Italian 1950s majolica water dispenser & basin that I bought last fall east of Toronto for $35. I knew that it could potentially bring in the range of $500 - $600 in restored condition. I also couldn't bare the thought of the basin getting scraped, as the dealers intention was only to sell the water dispenser due to the damage to the basin. I ended up taking this piece to a porcelain restoration specialist in Toronto who I've used for years. It was only after I was told that to do a proper restoration would cost me in the range of $250 - $300 that I decided to sell it on Kijiji for $75.

Take care buddy,
Dave

 

[A2coins]

Very nice people like someone to have stuff like that just because they will appreciate it. Great watch and relic

 

[Reanm8er]

Thanks for the flowers guys! I expect the repair on the case would be in the $200 range and as this as
it is, I'd have to find a jeweler with a TIG welder they're few and far between. I suppose I could soft
solder it and make model for casting one. I'm still not sure if it's solid or plate but the dolor is pale rose.
I could alloy myself blue in the face and still not get it right. I think it may have one jewel in it so at best
it might run 6 months on a cleaning. I've been spoiled by my antique Seikos. Pull a 50 yr old one out
of the case put it on and wiggle my wrist a couple of times and we're off. I've had most of them thirty years
and I've never had them serviced.

 

[Reanm8er]

Shame about the pitcher and bowl Dave, its a beauty!