Glad Friday, completely satisfied Valentine’s Day, and welcome again to Carry A Loupe! After writing, studying, and re-reading a close to dissertation on Rolex Daytonas with Panda Paul Newman dials, my thoughts continues to be firmly centered on “unique” subdials. That mentioned, I’m fully conscious that $400,000+ Newmans are usually not for everybody. The main focus this week is a little more accessible. The picks embrace an unique dial for lower than $5,000 and a Sixties London bathtub-shaped wristwatch for lower than $200.
However first, outcomes. Two for 4 final week, ok for the Baseball Corridor of Fame, I am going to take it. Our Patek ref. 1486 in Barcelona offered fairly rapidly (and to a Carry A Loupe reader!) on the asking value of €12,000—congrats on the pickup, SB! That oddball Doxa actually caught steam on eBay, and it ended up hammering for a shocking $3,650. And lastly, our Rolex ref. 6424 from two weeks again lastly completed up, promoting for $2,325.
And now, picks!
1959 Tudor Submariner Ref. 7928 with Sq. Crown Guards and Purple Triangle Insert
Did I simply say that the main target this week was on accessibility? Sure. Is that this watch $80,000? Additionally, sure. Let me let you know why it is right here. First off, each BAL has to have one thing that is actually simply eye sweet for eye sweet’s sake. Costly classic, particularly classic Rolex or Tudor, seems method too good in a photograph to omit a watch like this fully.
Now, I will not completely make the case that this watch is comparatively cheap as a result of that is a big quantity, after all, however it’s price understanding the place the worth is right here. Firstly, Tudor Submariners of the Fifties and Sixties have been made in decrease portions than their Rolex counterparts. So, whereas the motion is “off-the-shelf” and never of the Crown’s full high quality, this Submariner is “rarer” than its ref. 5512 sibling. In the identical situation, a 1959 5512 could be priced at about double what we see right here. And the costliest a part of both model’s 1959 Submariner is the purple triangle insert. The identical precise half was used on each Subs and is extremely exhausting to seek out in 2025. A classic Rolex sycophant may pay $30,000 for this bezel alone.
Eradicating value and worth from the equation, this watch is objectively particular among the many huge sea of classic Subs. 1959 is the primary yr of Submariners, that are visually nearly the identical watch that Rolex provides immediately. That is the primary yr of crown guards, with the square-shaped extrusions seen right here being the primary iteration. The ensuing look is totally not like another Submariner ever produced. It is virtually like Rolex was nonetheless designing a correctly formed guard and pushing these out the door. The awkward ergonomics—which made unscrewing and adjusting the crown a real problem—led to its transient one-year manufacturing run. Rolex and Tudor quickly adopted the extra sensible “eagle beak” guard design.
Discovering a sq. crown guard Submariner is one factor. Discovering one with a seemingly unpolished case, appropriate purple triangle insert, and gracefully aged “tropical” dial, now we’re in needle in a haystack territory.
The vendor, Michael Morgan of Iconic Watch Firm in California, has listed this Tudor Submariner on his web site with a value of $80,000. Get all the particulars right here.
Seventies Lip Chronograph with Unique ‘Paul Newman’ Dial
As somebody who wrote a complete article about why Rolex Paul Newmans are price a whole lot of 1000’s of {dollars}, it feels contradictory to spotlight this watch then, however oh properly! Lip is a French watch model that dates again to 1867 in Besançon, the cradle of French watchmaking. All through its historical past, Lip had an actual repute for pushing the boundaries of watch design. Simply begin poking round Google or eBay, and you will see some funky stuff. So, it is no shock that from the ebook of choices that Singer supplied to manufacturers within the Sixties and Seventies, they selected an “unique” design that may come to be generally known as a “Paul Newman” dial.
In these twenty years, Lip was struggling as a enterprise. The quartz disaster hit whereas Lip had already skilled gradual gross sales, in order that they needed to get inventive to make product. These Newman chronographs are the results of a partnership between Lip and Breitling, the latter dealing with manufacturing and the previous distributing the Swiss chronographs to their community of French retailers. Different outcomes of this partnership are the varied co-branded Breitling fashions we discovered from this period, such because the ref. 765 AVI, Navitimer, and Superocean.
All this provides as much as a Swiss-made chronograph with a Valjoux motion and a Singer-made “unique” Newman dial that you’ll find for lower than $5,000 when you’re fortunate. Flat out, it is a nice look ahead to a fantastic value, it ought to promote fairly rapidly and as I write this I hope it would not promote earlier than I can publish BAL!
An eBay vendor in San Francisco has listed Lip for a Purchase It Now value of $4,900. Test it out in full right here.
Thirties Geneva Sport Chronograph with Sector Dial and Breguet Fingers
Whereas Geneva Sport seems like a generic model title that may be virtually not possible to seek out details about, it seems that that is greater than your customary “Hey, the necessary factor to know is that this watch was made in Switzerland, Geneva, to be precise, which means it is good” branding. And I say that as a result of there are loads of classic manufacturers like that, Chronographe Suisse involves thoughts, however Geneva Sport has bonafides. The model was early to wristwatch chronograph motion manufacturing and is well-known for its small diameter calibers, notably these with mono-pusher activation produced within the Nineteen Twenties and 30s. A Geneva Sport was auctioned off by Phillips in Start-Stop-Reset, some of the legendary themed auctions ever. Rolex even used a Geneva Sport caliber in a small run of mono-pusher “child” chronographs.
Whereas the model clearly produced its personal calibers, this Thirties chronograph encompasses a Valjoux 22. I assume that is as a result of measurement of the watch. Geneva Sport could have been nice at producing small chronograph actions however bought ébauches from Valjoux for bigger diameter fashions. I see loads of classic chronographs each week whereas searching for BAL, however this one actually floored me. It has all of the little particulars that make a classic nerd like me go loopy. A 37mm coin-edge case? Sure, please. A sector dial? Uh-huh. How about Breguet palms? Why not? Let’s get nuts.
The vendor, Dylan of Goldfinger’s Classic in New York Metropolis, obtained this Geneva Sport yesterday and is asking $6,300. You possibly can go to his Instagram web page and message him about it right here.
1968 Outdated England ‘Jumbo Baignoire’
Should you’re a daily reader of Hodinkee, you possible know the story of how London’s Swinging Sixties knowledgeable the designs of Cartier’s London workshop, leading to watches just like the Crash, Pebble, and Maxi Oval. That is all identified and celebrated—look no additional than the costs of these aforementioned Cartier London designs.
Picture courtesy of agnautacouture.com.
What I’ve by no means seen anybody else discuss is Outdated England. On the reverse finish of the standard spectrum, Outdated England watches weren’t offered on Bond Road however quite supplied within the Apple Boutique, the short-lived retail enterprise of the Beatles.
The Apple Boutique was vivid, psychedelic, and aimed to be revolutionary. As Paul McCartney put it, it was “a stupendous place the place lovely individuals should purchase lovely issues.” Many years forward of their time, the Apple Boutique was the Beatles constructing a world the place followers and the cool individuals of London may work together with and purchase band-adjacent gadgets. It was additionally revolutionary as a result of each merchandise within the retailer was on the market. In observe, most issues within the store weren’t of the best high quality, and Outdated England watches aren’t any exception.
The shop ended up closing eight months after its opening primarily as a result of a lot of the product was “stolen” every day. I put stolen in quotes as a result of most of this theft was because of workers both giving issues away or not realizing what was on the market and what was introduced in by prospects.
Anyway, Outdated England watches have been offered on the Apple Boutique and the varied designs are very Swinging Sixties knowledgeable. There are a ton of various fashions, principally with gold-plated or chrome circumstances and primary manually-wound Swiss actions. I fairly like this one which is clearly impressed by Cartier’s Maxi Oval. Primarily, it is a 1968 London trend watch.
An eBay vendor in Brooklyn has listed Outdated England for a Purchase It Now value of $199. For the total itemizing, click here.
Nineteen Eighties Bulova Accutron for Hershey Chocolate Firm
I just lately listened to an episode of the Acquired Podcast centered on the historical past of Mars Inc. and coated the story of chocolate within the U.S.– I extremely advocate checking it out. Among the many enjoyable information I discovered (which I’ll pressure right into a dialog in some unspecified time in the future) was how Milton S. Hershey principally introduced mass-market chocolate to the States and single-handedly produced virtually all American chocolate for many years. For instance, Hershey provided a lot of Mars’s chocolate to be used in its bars. Anyway, I noticed this Bulova Accutron on eBay and knew it deserved a spot this week.
Most likely relationship to the Nineteen Eighties, this watch was awarded to a 38-year worker of Hershey by the title of Richard A. Fortna. The vendor contains some details about Richard, which definitely comes from an obituary (fairly bleak, I do know), however the watch itself is a ton of enjoyable. I am a sucker for branded dials, and this one is admittedly, actually branded. Hershey began utilizing this “Cocoa Bean Child” brand in 1898, and past it being charming, it was meant to represent the novelty and promise of the younger firm. The watch is seemingly in “New Outdated Inventory” situation and has no noticeable put on on its unique strap.
An eBay vendor in Whitehall, Pennsylvania has listed this Hershey Accutron for a Purchase It Now value of $749. Test it out right here.
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