JACK'S TREASURE CHEST OF TIME PIECES: August 2014

Sunday, August 17, 2014

HARD TO FIND AUTHENTIC ORIENT MASQUERADE AUTOMATIC DIGITAL JUMPHOUR GENTS WRISTWATCH

BRAND : ORIENT

MODEL : MAQUERADE JUMPHOUR DIRECT READ

ORIGIN : JAPAN

CIRCA : 1970's

CASING : SOLID BRASS and STAINLESS STEEL BACK

MOVEMENT : ORIENT 21 JEWELS AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT
DIAL: TWO TONE BLACK/GREEN WITH QUICKSET DAYDATE AT 6:00
HANDS: BLACK ARABIC DIGITAL ON WHITE DISC, RED SWIPE CENTER HANDS
BEZEL: NONE

MARKINGS : DIAL AND CASEBACK

BAND : GENUINE ORIENT BROWN LEATHER BAND
CROWN: UNSIGNED ORIGINAL CROWN
LUGS SIZE: 20mm
BAND WIDTH: 20mm

LENS : MINERAL

MEASUREMENT : 35mm without Crown and 38mm LUG TO LUG
WATER RESISTANT: NOT STATED

CONDITION : GOOD, WORKING AND KEEPING TIME. Comes with Original Orient Box and Guarantee Paper (expired)
PRICE: USD250 NEGOTIABLE
LISTING USD250.00 SOLD RM
BRIEF HISTORY OF ORIENT WATCHES

Orient Watch was founded in Tokyo by Shogoro Yoshida, more than a century ago in 1901. And though the world was a very different place back then, everyone still needed to know what time it was – much like today’s world.

In those early watch making days, Orient Watch had some competition in the watch industry at home. Seiko and Citizen were big names in the watch making industry, and for many years Orient was ranked number three when it came to watch companies.

From the early beginnings, Orient Watch has been focused on making the best mechanical watches that money can buy. The history of Orient Watch is interesting because Orient Watch is a company that started out with a good idea, and never once veered onto a different course. The long years have helped Orient Watch to produce high-quality, long-lasting watches that anyone can afford.

In 1985 Orient and Seiko established a joint factory. Orient produces a range of automatic and quartz watches ranging in price from reasonably inexpensive (about 50USD / 50Euro) to very expensive (7000USD). Orient Star and Orient Star Royal are the middle and high-end brands, with the Royal Orient being their flagship line." - quoted from Orient Watch Company, Wikipedia

Today, Orient Watch is known all over the globe. With manufacturing facilities in Singapore, Brazil, and Japan, Orient Watch today offers more styles and types of watches than ever. Today, Orient Watch offers watches in many designs including quartz, light powered, and of course mechanical.

Mitsuo Mimura, President of Orient Watch in 2006 quoted in Orient Watch website “In the Japanese market, we supply high-quality watches, such as "Orient Star Royal," our prestigious mechanical watch series, which our customers want to carry with them for many years. In overseas markets, our strategy is to develop new outlets for our products mainly in countries and areas with high potential economic growth, and increase our sales of budget-price watches."

For more than a hundred years, Orient Watch has been a well-known and respected name in the watch making industry. Today, many other companies try to reach the success and the high standards that Orient Watch has set. When it comes to mechanical watches, Orient Watch is the first name in the business. For high quality at an affordable price, Orient Watch is one of the better choices in watches. But don’t just take my word for it. Let the history of Orient Watch speak for itself.

AUTHENTIC VINTAGE GRUEN PRECISION DIGITAL JUMP HOUR AUTOWIND GENTS WRISTWATCH

BRAND: AUTHENTIC VINTAGE GRUEN PRECISION DIGITAL JUMP HOUR AUTOWIND GENTS WRISTWATCH

MADE IN: SWITZERLAND

CIRCA/TAHUN: 1970's

MODEL: DAYDATE PRECISION AUTOWIND DIGITAL JUMP HOUR

CRYSTAL: ACRYLIC

MOVEMENT: SWISS AEGLER GRUEN 17 JEWELS AUTOMATIC WINDING MOVEMENT CAL. 550 SS CD

DIAL COLOR: YELLOW AND BLACK

FUNCTION: HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND DIGITAL ROTATING DISC

HANDS: NONE

MARKERS: RNONE

CASING : GOLD PLATE BEZEL and STAINLESS STEEL BACK - 37mm without crown and 42mm lug to lug

LUGS: 19mm

CROWN: GP UNSIGNED

BACK CASE INSCRIPTION: GRUEN, SWISS MADE, 16 KARAT GOLD ELECTROPLATE BEZEL, STAINLESS STEEL BACK

STRAP: NEW GENUINE STRETCH FLEXI BAND

STRAP SIZE: 8.5"

WORKING CONDITION, KEEPING TIME, DISCONTINUED MODEL & HARD TO FIND. Comes with original Gruen Wooden Box

PRICE: USD275 (NEGOTIABLE)

Gruen Watch Company

On June 12, 1874 Dietrich Gruen applied for a patent on an improved safety pinion, which was granted on December 22. He was 27 years old.

In 1876 he formed the Columbus Watch Manufacturing Company in the basement of a downtown Columbus, Ohio bank building.

In his Columbus workshop, Dietrich modified, finished and cased raw movements that were imported from Switzerland. These new watches included his patented safety pinion. Dietrich introduced 16-size watches as an alternative to the heavy and thick 18-size and larger watches that were prevalent at the time. He also introduced the first stemwind watches sold in the U.S. market.

As the company grew, they moved to two floors in a commerical building a few blocks away.

In 1882, in collaboration with a number of new partners, the company was reorganized as the Columbus Watch Company and moved to a newly-constructed factory building located on Thurman Street, in the 'German Village' section of Columbus. Dietrich was President of the new corporation.

By 1888 production was about 45 watches per day; the company would grow to 300 employees and output to 150 watches per day. Although the company continued to issue stemwind watches, they also manufactured keywind movements for some of their less-expensive models.

After a series of disagreements with the other partners, Dietrich Gruen and his son Fred left the Columbus Watch Company in 1894, shortly before the business went bankrupt. Dietrich had lost his share of the company to the investors, and was faced with the prospect of staying on as a salaried employee at the company that he had founded. He chose to leave rather than bear this indignity. After the departure of the Gruens the firm was reorganized, refinanced and renamed "The New Columbus Watch Company."

The New Columbus Watch Company survived until 1903. The contents of the factory, including all the tooling and stocks of movements, were eventually purchased by the Studebaker family, moved to Indiana (along with many key employees) and used to start the South Bend Watch Company. Some early South Bend watches were sold with signed Columbus movements in them.

In 1894, Fred Gruen and Dietrich Gruen decided to try to start a new watch company. Using money borrowed from friends and relatives, Dietrich and Fred formed the partnership "D. Gruen and Son.".

These first Gruen watches are of very high quality and are beautifully made. Both 18 and 16 size versions were manufactured, each in both open face and hunter styles, and in 18- and 21-jewel versions. The earliest D. Gruen & Son serial numbers started around 62000. The Gruens dealt directly with individual jewelry stores; there were no wholesalers or jobbers involved in the distribution of their watches.

In 1898 George Gruen joined the firm as treasurer and financial officer. The company incorporated and its name changed to D. Gruen, Sons & Company.

In 1903 Gruen introduces its "VeriThin" line of watches.

In 1908 Gruen introduced both men's and women's wristwatches. These proved popular only with women. Gruen was one of a very few companies to take wristwatches seriously this early, seeing their potential in spite of disappointing early sales to male customers.

Gruen made both wrist and pocket watches for the military during World War I. Most had silver cases, which would tarnish but would not corrode under adverse conditions. To satisfy U.S. military regulations, these watches all have luminous dial markings and hands.

1911 Dietrich Gruen dies suddenly. Fred Gruen takes control of the company.

In 1913 the company purchased Nanny Goat Hill, a pasture just outside of Cincinnati, and renamed it Time Hill. Work began on a new building designed by architect Guy C. Burroughs at a construction cost estimated at $50,000 USD. The company moved to the new location in 1917.

1921: Gruen introduces The Cartouche wrist watch calling it "The logical wrist watch shape".

1922: Gruen introduces "The Pentagon" pocket watch. "the Croix de Guerre of American achievement"

Up until 1922 there had actually been three Gruen companies: D. Gruen, Sons & Company; The Gruen National Watch Case Company of Cincinnati; and The Gruen Watch Manufacturing Company of Biel, Switzerland. In 1922 all three businesses were merged to form the Gruen Watch Company, with Fred as President.

In 1924, Gruen released a special pocket watch in an edition of 600 to commemorate their 50th anniversary. The watch cost $500 at the time.

In 1925, Gruen introduced the men's Quadron. These were rectangular watches containing very high-quality 15-j or 17-j tonneau-shaped movements.

In 1928 Gruen releases The Techni-Quadron. The famous Techni-Quadron "doctor's watches" are so-called because the large seconds dial was handy for timing a patient's pulse.

In 1935 Fred Gruen, now 63 years old, became Chairman of the Board and Benjamin S. Katz was brought in as President of the Gruen Watch Company. In 1935, Gruen was about $1.8 million USD (roughly $36 million USD today) in debt; nervous stockholders and investors were behind the change. Fred would retire in 1940, but continued to sit on the board for the rest of his life.

In 1935 Gruen introduces the most famous Gruen wristwatch- "The Curvex". These watches are one of the greatest examples of 1930s streamlined design.

1937: Gruen introduces "The Ristside" or "driver's" watches.

In 1938, continuing the success of their VeriThin pocket watches, Gruen also launched a series of Veri-Thin wristwatches. Contemporary Curvex and Veri-Thin movements often are closely related, and can share many parts. By the 1940s, most Gruen wristwatches were either Veri-Thin or Curvex models.

Although Gruen did not manufacture watches for the U.S. military, they offered the public a collection of eight military-style watches, to be used as personal watches.

In 1949, the company introduced their first watches made entirely in the U.S., a line of 21-jewel men's models called the "Gruen 21". The movements are marked "Cincinnati" or "US" instead of the usual "Switzerland."

Fred Gruen retired in 1940 and died in 1945, and his brother George died in 1952. In 1953 the Gruen family sold their interest in the company. The same year, Gruen president Benjamin Katz was forced into retirement after a scandal, and in 1954 the company bought out his shares for $2 million USD.

In 1953, the Gruen Watch Company had its highest sales in its entire history.Gruen, Rolex and Aegler

One of the most deeply-held myths about Gruen is that Gruen and Rolex at one time manufactured movements for each other's watches. Both firms did use some of the same movements—the best known examples are the Gruen Techi-Quadron and its twin, the Rolex Prince. In reality, these movements were manufactured by a third company, Aegler, who was a very close neighbor to the Gruen Precision Factory. They were Aegler's biggest customers, and were both large shareholders as well—the full company name at one time was, Aegler, Societe Anonyme, Fabrique des Montres Rolex & Gruen Guild A. Gruen and Rolex both occasionally showed pictures of the huge Aegler factory in their advertising, making the implication that this was a Gruen- or Rolex-owned facility, although ownership at the time was divided among Gruen, Rolex and Aegler itself. Gruen sold their Aegler shares in the 1930s, after they moved all production to the Precision Factory. After this time, Aegler became increasingly tied to Rolex through the sale of stock. Today, the main Rolex building in Biel is the old Aegler factory, and though it is now owned by Rolex, it is still run by the Aegler family.

This article taken from Complete Price Guide to Watches, American Wriswatches, Rolex Wristwatches: Best of Time and Gruen Master Book

Sunday, August 10, 2014

AUTHENTIC HAMILTON SQUARE GENTS WRISTWATCH

MADE IN: SWISS

CIRCA: 2000's

MODEL: HAMILTON SQUARE

CRYSTAL: ACRYLIC CRYSTAL

MOVEMENT: HAMILTON SWISS 17JEWELS AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT CAL. 357

DIAL COLOR: SILVER TONE TEXTURED DIAL

FUNCTION: HOUR, MINUTES, SECONDS AND QUICKSET DAYDATE WINDOW AT 3:00

HANDS: LUMINOUS SS HANDS

MARKERS: LUMINOUS RAISED STICK MARKER

CASING : SOLID STAINLESS STEEL

BEZEL: STAINLESS STEEL

LUGS: 20mm

MEASUREMENT: 33mm DIAMETER EXCLUDING CROWN and 43mm LUG TO LUG

BACK CASING INSCRIPTION: E (C) HAMILTON, STAINLESS STEEL, WATER RESISTANT S/N 897927-3

CROWN: ORIGINAL HAMILTON CROWN

STRAP: ORIGINAL FLEXI STRECHT SS BAND BUT NOW CHANGED TO NEW GREY CANVAS TEXTILE BAND

STRAP SIZE: 8.5" FULL LENGHT

CONDITION: WORKING AND KEEPING TIME, EXCELLENT CONDITION. NO BOX NO PAPER BUT GUARANTEED AUTHENTIC

MY PRICE/ : USD400 (NEGOTIABLE)

LIST USD400 SOLD RM

BRIEF HISTORY OF HAMILTON WATCHES
Founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892. Hamilton Produced its first watch in 1893, designed by H.J. Cain, one of the company's founding members.
1893 Hamilton introduces "The Broadway Limited", a railroad watch that was dubbed "the watch of Railroad accuracy". Initially manufactured to provide the country's railroads with reliable timing devices, the Hamilton railroad pocket watch was adopted as the official watch of the American Expeditionary Forces worldwide. A wrist watch version of the railroad watch was issued to General Pershing and his doughboys in WWI, accompanied Admiral Byrd on his expeditions to the North and South Poles, served the Picards well on their first balloon ascent into the stratosphere, and was on the wrist of the first American to scale Mount Everest.
1928 The Yankees win the world series. Hamilton introduces the Yankee Watch, establishing it as a leader in watch design. Hamilton helped America keep pace with the energy of a new lifestyle. New Hamilton designs, such as the Yankee and the Piping Rock, projected the independant spirit of the day.
1930 Hamilton continues to capture the soaring spirit of the 1930's. The world turns to the skies as commercial aviation takes off. Hamilton soon becomes the official timepiece of the most famous industry leaders --- TWA, Eastern, United and Northwest.
1940 WWII Hamilton stops production of watches for consumers and creates new timepieces exclusively for military use. Close to one million Hamilton military watches are produced. Today, the 'Hack' has become very collectible among watch and military collectors.
1957 Hamilton's leadership in engineering and innovation creates a significant breakthrough in timekeeping. Hamilton introduces the first electric watch in 1957. The Ventura becomes an instant success. See "Hamilton Electric"
1965 Inspired by the sleek lines of the Cadillac tailfins of the 50's, the Ventura becomes the watch of choice for the icoms of american style. Elvis Presley chooses to wear the Ventura in his movie, 'Blue Hawaii.'
1972 The furure is close at hand and Hamilton shocks the world with a completely new kind of watch. Manufactured at its headquarters in Pennsylvania, Hamilton introduces the world's first digital watch - the Pulsar.
Today, Hamilton s primary collections include the American Classics collection and the Khaki collection, updated versions of the legendary military timepieces of yesteryear. Manufactured at its headquarters in Pennsylvania, Hamilton introduces the world's first digital watch - the Pulsar.

AUTHENTIC VINTAGE CITIZEN LEOPARD 8 HI-BEAT GENTS WRISTWATCH

BRAND : CITIZEN LEOPARD SUPER BEAT 28800

MODEL : LEOPARD SUPER BEAT GN-3-5

MOVEMENT :CITIZEN HI BEAT 28800 26 JEWEL CAL. 7200

ORIGIN : JAPAN
SERIAL NO. : 11031131

CIRCA : 1970

CASING : SOLID BRUSHED STAINLESS STEEL

FUNCTION: HOUR, MINUTES, SWIPE CENTER SECOND HANDS, DAYDATE KANJI AT 3:00
DIAL: SHINNING SILVER GRE TONE
BEZEL: SS

MARKINGS: DIAL,BACK CASING, MOVEMENT, BANDS

BAND : FULL LENGTH ORIGINAL CITIZEN WIREMESH BAND
CROWN: ORIGINAL CITIZEN "C" CROWN -
LUGS SIZE: 20mm
BAND WIDTH: 20mm

LENS : HARDLEX MINERAL

MEASUREMENT : 36mm w/o CROWN and 41mm LUG TO LUG
WATER RESISTANT: 200 Meters

CONDITION : MINT, WORKING AND KEEPING TIME
PRICE: USD400 (NEGOTIABLE)

BRIEF HISTORY OF CITIZEN WATCHES

Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd. (シチズンホールディングス株式会社 Shichizun Hōrudingusu Kabushiki-gaisha) is the core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Tokyo Japan. The company was originally founded as Shokosha Watch Research Institute in 1918 and is currently known as the manufacturer of CINCOM precision lathe machine tools as well as CITIZEN watches. The trade name originated from a pocket watch CITIZEN sold in 1924. It is one of the world's largest producers of watches. For almost eight decades, Citizen has been ahead of its time. Citizen brand has always stood for innovations and high precision that make life better for everyday people and now they are raising their sights to meet the needs of the new Millennium.
In 1924, when Citizen's forerunner, the Shokosha Watch Research Watch Institute produced its first pocket watch the "CITIZEN". The then Mayor of Tokyo, Mr Shimpei Goto, named the watch "CITIZEN" with the hope that the watch, a luxury item of those times, would become widely available to ordinary citizens and be sold throughout the world.
Time and again Citizen has pioneered groundbreaking technologies and helped to make watches an indispensable part of modern life. Introduced in 1956, Parashock was the first shock resistant watch made by a Japanese manufacturer. And three years later, Parawater was hailed as the country's first water resistant watch.
One of the latest milestones is our Eco-Drive system. Bringing new thinking to the art of watchmaking, this is a light powered solution that eliminates the need to change batteries - a revolution that made it the first watch technology to receive the Japan Environment Association's Eco Mark for environmentally friendly products.
And in 2003, Citizen continues to evolve and be ahead of its time with the launch of Stiletto. This is the World's thinnest light powered watch - a watch so revolutionary it combines eco-drive technology with a refined, sleek and sophisticated case and bracelet from 4.4mm thick.
Citizen is, however more diverse then simply watches. In fact watches only represent less than 40% of the company's business. Today Citizen is drawing on a heritage of proven quality and technologies as we develop the market for watches, clocks, jewellery, eyeglass frames and health care products.

BRIEF INFORMATION ON RARE COLLECTION OF CITIZEN LEOPARD HI-BEAT

Some 40 years ago, as the 1960's drew to a close, the development of Citizen's automatic wrist watches was reaching its peak, in terms of both range and quality. Around the middle of that decade the company switched from it's geared 'jet' rotor design to the more reliable and widely used oscillating weight type, and the late '60's saw the launch of the Chrono Master high grade automatic alongside a range of other new models.

In 1969 Citizen launched the evocatively named Leopard line, based on the 7200 calibre. Although this movement was used in other models, the Leopards were distinguished by one key characteristic not to be found in the others – they were all high-beat, running at either 28,800 beats per hour (bph) or 36,000bph. These were Citizen's first watches to run at these speeds, reflecting the quality and reliability they could achieve by that time. These fine movements also all feature a micro adjuster on the balance to assist with accurate regulation.

In a relatively short space of time the Leopard line offered an extensive range of watches, with different jeweling, styles and price points, and can perhaps be best described as 'upper mid' to 'high' grade pieces.

Besides the high-beat common denominator, the Leopards are also characterized by their jewel counts, which are always even numbers – i.e. 28, 26, 24, and later in the production run, 22. Other models using the same base movement usually carry odd number jewel counts, for example the Custom V2 and Seven Star V2, with jewel counts of 25, 23, and 21 (the only exception to this I can identify is calibre 7790, running at 21,600bph with 22, 24 and 26 jewels).

The production run of the Leopards was short-lived – just as the development of mechanical watches was reaching new heights, the introduction of the much more accurate and soon the much cheaper quartz module in the early to mid-1970's brought that development to a halt. The latest Leopard movements entered the market in 1971, just two years after the first model was introduced.
(This articles on Citizen Leopard was brilliantly written by Mr Stephen Netherwood, who has made a lot of research about this watch. His original article on this Citizen Leopard can be viewed at http://seikoholics.yuku.com/sreply/344/Citizen-Leopard)