Luxury Watches

[03hemi]

I love you guys. A lot of nice pieces. I have a Seiko dive Kinetic but would really like to get Grand Seiko Spring Drive. That smooth second hand is mesmerizing.

I think most of the guys posting would love a Grand Seiko! I know I would.

 

[03hemi]

Sorry, I don't have a "luxury" anything. The best I can do is my old 1961 Omega Seamaster 550 caliber Automatic with a "sunburned" dial.

Check out that expensive Speidel (corrected) "Twist-O-Flex" band too. No expense was spared.

You're kidding right? Very nice vintage Seamaster, who wouldn't love to have that ol beauty?

 

[03hemi]

...Twist-O-Flex bands were a Speidel product. Have one around here somewhere.

Be safe.

Believe it or not, some collectors are actually seeking out those old Speidel Flex bands for their old watches.

 

[GaryHK]

The lugs on that Seamaster are really cool!

 

[F4phantom]

Sorry, I don't have a "luxury" anything. The best I can do is my old 1961 Omega Seamaster 550 caliber Automatic with a "sunburned" dial.

Check out that expensive Speidel (corrected) "Twist-O-Flex" band too. No expense was spared.

I have the same watch. It was my father's retirement watch. After 42 years in the steel mill he gets a watch.

I also have a Seamaster DeVille. It was given to me by my father in 1963. He got it from someone as payment for some work that he did. I wore it through high school and through the war. I need to get it to the watchmaker to check out and make necessary repairs.

 

[TheHobbyist]

Vintage Seamaster's are nice, I only have one. Been buying more watches lately because I'm not real big on online gun purchases, although I have done 'some' because of variant and/or desirable to me at least.

Most of the gun shows are closed and the stuff in the shops...well once in a while you find a treasure around these parts but few and far between.

My latest interest is WW2 pilot watches. It is an interesting field with a lot of history; most of my buys have been for WW2 US Servicemen, but there is some interesting history with the German pocket watches for the uboats. Yes, it is horrible what happened and I am just collecting from a historical context. No need for a soapbox and I truly understand. History has components of good and bad. I know my beliefs and the kindness in my heart to my fellow man (woman).

 

[LLOYD17]

Here's my three that could be considered luxury. The SwissPL is from a guy that will do singular custom jobs. The Hamilton is from the late 20's (I think) and I picked it up out of an antique shop. The refurb and cleaning cost as much as the watch but it runs great now. The Buler was a gift to myself on my first deployment. I prefer mechanicals but this one is sentimental and good looking.

I've bought a few old Hamilton mechanicals that I may try to refurb at some point. Watches sure were smaller back in the 40's and 50's.

 

[Jet guy]

4 personal Rolexs'

All are over 40 Yrs old. Family members not into Rolex, so I will be selling over the next few years - I'm 87 now!

 

[Retired W4]

Fortis Auto GMT

Not exactly a luxury but I did not see a Fortis mentioned on this old thread. I bought it for my Army retirement. Didn't want a Chrono. Too many little dials that I would not look at. I did want the little red hour hand for Zulu time. I figured if Fortis was good enough for the ISS it was good enough for flying around this atmosphere. It needs a good cleaning.

 

[JayCeeNC]

Not exactly a luxury but I did not see a Fortis mentioned on this old thread.

I was in Southern California in 2005 for a friends wedding. He took me to meet his friend Bob Loveless the knifemaker at his house and shop.
I was wearing a Fortis and so was Bob!

 

[Retired W4]

I was in Southern California in 2005 for a friends wedding. He took me to meet his friend Bob Loveless the knifemaker at his house and shop.
I was wearing a Fortis and so was Bob!

Bob Loveless! OK. Fortis wearers tend to hang together.

 

[GaryHK]

All are over 40 Yrs old. Family members not into Rolex, so I will be selling over the next few years - I'm 87 now!

That 16250 R series Daytona is awesome! The W serial dates it to '95 so not quite 40 years but the Patrizzi dial is highly prized by collectors.

 

[Truckman]

The only story I can contribute concerns my Omega Speedmaster Professional...When I was stationed in West Germany in the 60's, I became enamored with this watch because of an article I had read (probably in Playboy)...I couldn't find one at a local USAF BX, but I happened to have gone to an airshow at a Canadian AF base, and decided to look around their BX...Lo and behold, they had one, and I plunked down the princely sum of $95 US for it brand new...

This was in 1967 before the moon landings, and before it got its official certification from NASA...Fast forward 52 years and two overhauls later when I was coming back from a gun show with a couple of guys, and one of them said, "Hey is that an Omega Speedy on your wrist?"...Turns out it had always been his dream watch, but on a cop's salary he couldn't afford one, and had never even seen a pre-moon watch...

After a few conversations in which I told him it probably needed another overhaul, and some haggling I let him become its new custodian for $2500 plus some guns I traded away at values totaling $2000...He said in 50 years he'll give it to his son (now 5 years old) and tell him the complete story of how he came by that then century old timepiece...I even wrote up the history for it in my blog so he could print out the details...

It was tough giving up the old relic last year, but sometimes if you love something, you have to pass it on......Ben

 

[Cooter Brown]

The picture of the inside of a pocket watch is an Elgin "Father Time" from 1902. It's not the oldest or most valuable but it really catches the eye! The geometric swirls on the movement are called "Damaskeening" because it makes the metal look like Damask steel. It's large (18 size), full-plate and has gold-inlaid engraving.

(Sorry that the pics are rotated to the side. They were vertical when I uploaded them!)

That Elgin is really, really neat.

The pattern on it was done with a tool called a "rose engine". It's a sort of lathe that works with pattern plates to create fantastic geometric patterns. They were used from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries by people like Tiffany & Co, Faberge, etc. to decorate some of their highest end products, like the Faberge eggs. Brits and Americans would have referred to the work as "engine turning", the French called it "guilloché" and the rest of the world uses that term as well.

Obviously a lot more involved than the engine turning we thing of on a rifle bolt!

I only know all this because my sister is one of a handful of people who restore and use these old machines to create stunning works of art. In fact, one of her machines came out of the Tiffany studio.

I directed her to your picture and she loved it. I have my great grandfather's Elgin and it has chased engraving but not the rose engine work. Really neat that Elgin did that.

 

[fhsjrm]

My father and I both recieved pocket watches from my great-grandfather when he died in 1993 (at the age of 96). They just sat in drawers until a couple of years ago when I became aware of a company called Vortic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Vortic takes American pocket watches, some of which were among the best watches in the world at the time, and converts them into wristwatches. Mine is a Burlington with an Illinois movement, and my Dad's is a Waltham. Their work is amazing and it feels very cool to wear my great-grandfather's watch on my wrist!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[03hemi]

How cool, I wish my sons gave two cents worth on watches.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

All are over 40 Yrs old. Family members not into Rolex, so I will be selling over the next few years - I'm 87 now!

I'll give you 10,000 for all four and I'll pay shipping

 

[03hemi]

I'll give you 10,000 for all four and I'll pay shipping

I bet you would? lol
That Daytona is worth what, north of $30k alone maybe more given it's production date, 40 yo?

 

[03hemi]

All are over 40 Yrs old. Family members not into Rolex, so I will be selling over the next few years - I'm 87 now!

Ding, ding, ding!
What a gorgeous, valuable collection! Very nice nest egg Jet guy.

 

[Jet guy]

As good as SOLD!

I'll give you 10,000 for all four and I'll pay shipping

I'm assuming you did not know the symbol for BITCOIN like you would for the $ being the symbol for the DOLLAR. If that's the case, I'll accept 10,000 BITCOINS for the four (4).