The Watch Enthusiast

July 2005

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 1. Welcome! Welcome to the July 2005 issue of The Watch Enthusiast of The Watch Enthusiast. The Watch Enthusiast is a free monthly newsletter about watch collecting. Our goal is to provide:

• Original articles about the enjoyment of collecting and wearing wrist and pocket watches.

• Up to date information based on reliable sources.

In this issue is my latest report on market conditions, a short articles on backwoods and one on a major historical jewelry and watch retailer. Please let me know if there is a particular watch or style of watch that you would like to see discussed in future articles.

2. Market Conditions

With monetary conditions continuing, dollar prices are still climbing on quality pieces. The NWACC show in Florida earlier this month demonstrated this almost across the board. Most dealers had a very good selling show, but were not able to buy many replacement pieces due to strong prices. Quality and rare pieces were in short supply so there were few reasonably priced pieces and even fewer bargains.

Antiquorum just posted a very successful auction in New York this week comprising of only 283 lots (84% sold) which realized $4,274,449. The strength of this auction was the newer multifunctional wrist watches with a 250th anniversary Brequet selling for $417,500 and seven other pieces (5 Patek Philippes and 2 A. Langes) selling for over $100,000. On the vintage side, there were major jumps by various Universal Compaxes with two steel Aero-Compaxes selling for $2530 and $3335 and an 18k yellow gold Tri-Compax realizing $9,660. Panerai also was a mainstay of this auction with almost all pieces bringing in more than their hefty reserves and the only 1940’s piece, by Rolex, commanded $44,850. It appears that basic Vacheron’s have stopped their march up the $$ level with several failing to hit their $2,000+ low estimates, however, unusual pieces like a curled lug platinum wrist watch from the 1950s sold for $5,060. Rolex remained strong while Omegas were divided -- 18k pink gold Constellation sold for $2,013 while many Seamaster sold for considerably less than their estimates. Christie's followed with similar success in wrist watches and quite high prices for pocket watches. For example, a lot consisting of 2 Walthams with wind indicators realized $5,040 while an unsigned non-working Bras En L’air keywind sold for $3,840. Fine enamels did extremely well with a George Prior realizing $9,600 and a stunning enamel piece, with movement by Adams of London, fetching $14,400."

 LeCoultre made backwinds for women from the 1920s

... More detail ...

Similar in size and shape were pieces made by Movado.

... More detail ..

Backwinds have an unusual look and certainly have a place in any wrist watch collection as well as in a lady's jewelry box for those special occasions.

5. Musings... We are now at midsummer with no major shows or auctions on the near-term horizon. This is certainly the time to catalogue ones collection and see what's available on the Internet. Hopefully, you'll visit http://www.tias.com and http://captainhucksbooty.com over the next couple of months.

Please provide your comments about this newsletter and let me know if there is any watch collecting area you would like to see explored in this newsletter. Also, if you enjoy reading this, please let all you friends know about it.

6. Helpful Resources 
You can check out the history of LeCoultre at http://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com and Longines at http://www.longines.com but don’t be surprised by the gymnastic pictures on the Longines main page as it is announcing 3 gymnasts as its new Ambassadresses of Elegance.

To see what Bailey Banks and Biddle now sells, check out http://www.baileybanksandbiddle.com or to see where it fits in within its parent corporation, there is http://zalecorp.com

I do not see a need for an archival record for items that are fully signed, dial, case and movement with proper serial numbers and style numbers. (see example at right) The maker of such pieces is clear and getting an archival record is just additional time and expense.

Where pieces are not fully signed, like the Bailey Patek in the Bailey Banks & Biddle article, where the curvette is marked "made for Bailey Philadelphia by Patek Philippe Geneve" having the archival record is helpful, but still the piece itself does provide the manufacturing history. When pieces are only signed by the retailer, common with Tiffany and other major jewelry stores worldwide, it is important to provide a history of manufacture. (below right)

While the archival record may not be needed for the very knowledgeable collector, it certainly is the guarantee that the watch is what is being purported for the lesser savant.

Longines Tiffany Watch

Audemars Piguet Tiffany Watch