6 Vintage Watches Worth Knowing About, Tudor, Bulova, Longines, Elgin, Ernest Borel
There is a normal arch of watch collecting that many collectors go through. It normally includes a stage of not knowing what to buy, thinking Rolex is the end-all-be-all of collecting, thinking watches have no creativity, and obviously a stage where vintage watches are everything. The problem many collectors face in the vintage watch stage is that there are so many watches out there, it is hard to explore all of them. Well, here is a select of six watches that might expand your collecting horizons in some way.
The 1950’s were full of design brilliance, the Bulova Ashford being a great example. This Bulova was manufactured in 1950. The watch has a 10k rolled gold case. There is some wear on the top of the lugs and caseback. The case stands out because of its knotted lug design. The watch features a cream, pie-pan dial with applied gold hour markers. The watch runs on the caliber 10BC manual wind movement.
Longines is without a doubt one of the best watch manufactures of the 20th century. This Longines was manufactured in 1943. The watch has a 10k gold filled case that is in good condition. The case features signs of light polishing. The upper section of the case features a coin-edged finishing to it while the rest of the case has a polished finish. The watch features short, fin-shaped lugs. The watch has a cream dial, with gold applied hour markers in an art-deco font, and has a subsidiary seconds dial. The watch hands are long and thin. The watch runs on caliber 10L manual wind movement.
Tudor reference 7809 Oyster Automatic
Tudor, the sister company of Rolex, produced exceptional watches throughout their history. This Tudor was manufactured in the 1950’s. The watch has a 18k gold case that is in good condition in the infamous oyster-style case. There are signs that the watch has been polished, but maintains an overall attractive look. The watch has a white, creamy dial with recessed hour markers and printed Tudor name. The watch hands are sword-shaped, and has an arrow seconds hand. The watch runs on the caliber 390 movement.
Ernest Borel Cocktail Kaleidoscope
Ernest Borel is not a brand that many collectors may have in their collectors, but they produced exceptionally interesting watches. This Cocktail Kaleidoscope was manufactured in the 1960’s. The watch has a gold shell case, with sapphire crystals on both sides of the case. The watch movement and dial sits at the center of the watch, with hour markers circling the outside of the see-through case. The watches hands are red arrows, with a kaleidoscope disc at the center of the watch that turns as the seconds indicator. The watch has long, claw lugs that make the watch sit large on the wrist. The watch runs on a manual wind, ETA based movement.
Sometimes moving away from the beaten path in collecting can be exciting. This Elgin was manufactured in the 1950’s. The watch has a 10k rolled gold case in good condition. The case features a hobnail finishing on the top of the case. The lug has short, sharp lugs. The watch features a light grey, sunburst dial with gold applied hour markers and Elgin name. The watch has rectangular hour and minutes hands. The watch has a date complication at 3 o’clock with a gold applied window. The watch runs on an automatic movement.
Bulova SVP I in Steel with White Dial
Not only is the SVP I from Bulova an attractive looking watch, it has well documented advertisements that are fun to look at. This Bulova was manufactured in 1960. The watch has a steel case that is exceptionally thin that is in good overall condition. The watch shows signs of light polishing, but maintains an overall sharp appearance to it. The watch has long, sharp, straight lugs. The crystal of the watch has a small crack at 5 o’clock. The watch features a white dial that has aged to a cream tone over time. The dial has applied hour markers, sword hands and subsidiary seconds. The watch runs on the caliber 11AF movement.
Enjoy!
