Historically Important Vintage Watches and their Stories
Research is an important aspect of collecting vintage watches. One can discover some interesting watches that might be under-appreciated by the larger collecting community. Today we take a look at four watches, each historically significant for each of their brands and absolute gems as part of a larger collecting. The IWC is a more rare configuration of the time-only IWC watches produced with the caliber 89 movement. The Zenith has a extremely beautiful sector dial and was likely sold in the Slavic market. The LeCoultre was the first reference to have a power reserve indicator. And lastly, the Omega Seamaster was the first Omega reference to have the date complication.
Omega Seamaster reference 2627
In 1952, the date complication was a fairly common complication to see on a watch. But interestingly, the reference 2627 was the first Omega to feature the date complication. This reference 2627 has a 35mm 14k gold capped case that was manufactured in 1952. The case is in good condition, with small signs of wear. The watch features long, chamfered lugs that extend from the case. The watch has a silver dial with gold applied hour markers and lume plots for each hour. With its sword hands, and gold applied Omega logo, the dial is overall very attractive. At 6 o’clock, there is a gold window that proudly displays the date. The “Seamaster Calendar” text is darker than the “Omega Automatic”, so it is likely that it has been refinished. The crystal is in good condition and the crown is signed with the Omega logo.
LeCoultre reference 8986 Power Reserve Automatic
Displaying the percentage of battery left on a phone is what a power reserve indicator was when it became a mainstream complication on watches. LeCoultre is a brand who did this complication so well. This LeCoultre automatic has a 35mm 10k gold filled case and was manufactured in 1957. The case is in good condition, with the age of the case being displayed. The watch features concave fluted lugs the make the watch sit nicely on the wrist. The dial has evenly faded with patina that gives it an attractive look. The LeCoultre logo is printed on the dial. Below the applied hour marker at 12 o’clock is a display window showing the power reserve remaining in the watch, of which the maximum is 40 hours. The crystal does have a few scratches, most notably at 2 and 3 o’clock. The watch has an unsigned crown. The gold filled caseback has an engraved dedication “To Skip, B.S. in E.E, 5-26-57, O.S.U., Mom-Dad-Pete-Larry-Mike”. The inscription likely points to the sale and gifting of the watch to Skip from his family in 1957 upon graduation from Ohio State University with Bachelors Degree of Electrical Engineering.
Zenith Curvex Tank with Sector Dial
Tank-style watches. Either you love them or want to avoid them. While Zenith is known for many other great accomplishments in their history, they did produce some outstanding rectangular watches. This tank-style watch was produced by Zenith in 1936 and features a stainless steel case. The case shows signs of wear but is in overall good condition. The case has a curved case that hugs the wrist subtly. It also features fixed lugs. The watch features a sector white dial with printed hour markers. The lume on each numeral are still visible, and have faded nicely. The crystal of the watch does have a few scratches, particularly by the 11 o’clock hour marker. The watch has blue-steeled hands that stand out nicely. The stainless steel caseback has a engraved dedication to “Upomika na Rodici 1937”. This likely is Slovak for “Reminder of Parents 1937”.
IWC Time-Only in Rose Gold with Bombé Lugs
Dress watches were made in so many variations. IWC competed nicely with other watch brands to create truly beautiful watches. This time-only piece from IWC comes in a 36mm case made of rose gold. The case is in good condition, with only a few scratches on the caseback. The lugs are truly what makes this watch stand out, with their bombé lugs, what collectors often call ‘twisted’. The lugs are long and make this watch sit largely on the wrist. The white dial has aged to a cream tone, with gold applied hour markers that match the hours, minutes and seconds hand. The IWC, cursive name is printed on the dial.
Enjoy!
