Found

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Up for Sale: One of Elvis Presley’s Favorite Watches & More Vintage Watches

This week in Found, our weekly roundup of cool vintage and pre-owned watches from around the internet, we’ve got an obscure but affordable Swiss automatic, one of the first Hamilton Ventura watches ever made and a strange but captivating 1960s skin diver watch for under $1K.

The Affordable Option: Cerberus DS Revue Thommen

Photo: Derek Dier

What We Like: If Revue Thommen is an obscure watchmaker, then Cerberus is even more so. Don’t worry about that too much, though — some otherwise great-looking vintage watches are priced well because they’re either too small for modern tastes or because of an unknown name on the dial. In this case, it’s the latter, but what’s important is that you’re getting a lot of the same quality and features as other Swiss-made automatic watches from the time. It has an elegantly simple case and dial with that ’70s sportiness, and at 42mm wide it’ll even fit those accustomed to more modern watch sizes.

From the Seller: Pristine original dial and screw-back case. The movement was cleaned and is accurately keeping time. The steel bracelet is even original to the watch.

The Icon: Hamilton Ventura

What We Like: There are a number of things that make the completely avant-garde Hamilton Ventura an iconic watch, including its association with Elvis Presley and its appearance in modern Hollywood movies. Most compelling, however, is that it represents a technological milestone as the first electric watch brought to market. This example is from that very first year of production, 1957 — and it’s even got “patent pending” on the dial.

From the Seller: The case is in fantastic condition overall showing normal wear consistent with age and use. Case back shows engraving that reads “Awarded to Martin Lennig for outstanding performance. General Electric. Breakthru 60.”

The Curveball: Vantage Sport Skin Diver

Photo: ThoseWatchGuys

What We Like: Vantage was a brand created by Hamilton to serve a lower price segment in the 1960s. This one has cool “skin diver” style and a manually wound movement, but it’s really the striking dial and handset that make this particular model stand out. And despite a somewhat banged-up bezel, it’ll wear well at 37.5mm wide.

From the Seller: The dial has some noticeable patina throughout. The case doesn’t show any plate loss. The movement was recently serviced & keeps great time.

Zen Love

Zen Love is Gear Patrol’s watch writer. He avoids the snooty side of the watch world, and seeks out food in NYC that resembles what he loved while living in Asia for over a decade.

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February 21, 2020 / Comments Off

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Three Affordable Vintage Watches From a Historic American Brand

While now a relatively obscure name, Gruen was once among a club of notable American watch makers. The company’s history goes back to making pocket watches in late 1800s under the name Columbus Watch Manufacturing Company, founded by a Swiss-trained German immigrant in Ohio. Gruen went on to have success in wristwatches like the Curvex and even share movements with Rolex in its fascinating “doctor’s watches.” At one point, in the 1920s, Gruen was the largest watch company in the United States in terms of total sales.

Like so many watch makers of the time, however, Gruen didn’t survive into the modern era — at least not as an American company, and it ceased to be family-owned after 1953. While manufacturing later moved completely to Switzerland, this wasn’t too a big change for the company since it had always used Swiss and German movements, including those from its own factory in Bienne, Switzerland. The Swiss factory continued operation until 1977 and was later bought by Aegler (now part of Rolex). The three watches below all contain Swiss movements, but they each represent a different decade in the American company’s history, from the ’50s to the ’60s, and finally from the 1980s equipped with a sourced ETA movement.

Gruen Precision Day-Date

What We Like: From the 1960s, this is from the era during which Gruen was no longer based in America or family-owned, but was obviously still making some beautiful examples. There are plenty of Gruen Precision dress watches out there, but this one has a cool alpha-style handset, day and date display, and a range of other aesthetic touches that come together in quite an attractive way. The manually wound movement inside is the Gruen 512CB, and it’s housed in a 34mm gold-plated case.

From the Seller: Mint original condition overall with only light signs of wear; sharp case is completely unpolished with some light patina developing on the gold plating.

Gruen Moon Phase Calendar

What We Like: This Gruen Moon Phase Calendar watch feels relatively modern in some ways, made in the 1980s, but also has some interesting features not often found in today’s watches. First of all, it’s powered by the Swiss ETA 2895 automatic movement, based on the 2892, offering a moon phase at 6 o’clock and a pointer date. Its attractive blue dial and typeset suggests another era, as does the 33mm sizing of its steel case.

From the Seller: In beautiful cosmetic condition and great working order.

Gruen Veri-Thin Precision Guildite

What We Like: With a hand-wound movement from the Gruen factory, this little field-style watch takes us back to the 1950s. However, the movement dates to perhaps earlier, when the brand was family-owned and American. Measuring 32mm wide, the case is a reasonably slim 10mm thick, though perhaps not enough to merit calling it “very thin.” It still has a neat look and offers a way to get some interesting history onto your wrist. (Keep in mind that the dial has been restored.)

From the Seller: Original dial restored and in excellent condition; signed movement in excellent condition.

August 9, 2019 / Comments Off

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4 Wildly Impractical Vehicles I Want to Buy Right Now With a $10,000 Budget

Editor’s Note: We love scouring the internet for reasons to spend money we don’t have on cars we daydream about owning, and these are our picks this week. All prices listed are bid amounts at the time of publishing.

In the most regrettable way, I’m back in the market for a car. Suffice it say that flash floods, deceptive standing water and a hurried morning commute do not mix. (More specifically, buckets of rainwater and the engine of my now dead 2002 BMW 325i.) Could I have taken a different route? Taken my time? Not assumed it was a fordable depth for a sports sedan? Yes, yes and… duh. Hence, “regrettable.”

So this week’s Found is, admittedly, a bit selfish. The best catharsis I can manage right now is to share my next-car search. In the long run, these are wildly impractical, but at the moment seem fun enough actually to pull the trigger on. Would any of these turn into their own source of regret after, say, a month of daily use? Perhaps, but they’re pretty tempting right now.

Modified 1984 Porsche 944

Mileage: 29,000 (TMU)
Location: New Hill, North Carolina

What I like: Most of the car is refurbished, replaced or rebuilt to look like what you’d get if Porsche had built an ‘R’ version of the 944 (which they should have done). It reminds me of the Cayman GT4 — one of my favorite cars of all time.
From the seller: “This 1984 Porsche 944 was purchased by the seller five years ago and subsequently built into a street-legal track car. The 2.5-liter inline-four was rebuilt to stock specs and sends power through a torque tube to a five-speed manual transaxle. A new clutch was also installed, much of the suspension was rebuilt, the brakes were gone through, a repaint in a custom color was conducted, and a four-point roll bar was installed.”
What to look out for: Like you should for any car this age, keep an eye out for bad seals and leaking fluids. In regards to the 944 specifically, there have been a few recalls worth noting.

1952 Willys M38

Mileage: 462 (TMU)
Location: Comstock Park, Michigan

What I like: I’ve recently come to admire snorkels.
From the seller: “This 1952 Willys M38 was purchased as a military-spec example by the seller in 1996 and subsequently underwent extensive refurbishment to its exterior sheet metal, tub, frame, brakes, steering, exhaust and 24-volt electrical system. Modifications include a new old-stock military deep-water fording kit as well as modern gauges, lighting, and wheels.”
What to look out for: Typically, the electrical systems on old Willys are the main headache, but this particular lil’ guy under went a full refurbishment, including an electrical system swap.

1989 Honda NSR250R

Mileage: 7,000
Location: Richmond, Virginia

What I like: The late-’80s styling is hard to resist, even if it is a two-stroke — I’d be mixing my own gas everytime I fill up. Still, a 249cc 90° V-twin with an 11,500 rpm redline is a pretty fantastic and rare sound this side of the pond.
From the seller: “The NSR is powered by a 249cc 90° V-twin liquid-cooled two-stroke with crankcase reed valve induction via twin naturally aspirated carburetors. The two-stroke is fitted with a kick start that fires right up and idles nicely. The 11.5K redline comes up quickly with the rev-happy V-Twin.”
What to look out for: The main problem with an imported bike like this is when you do need parts you’ll be waiting for them to ship from the other side of the globe via small mail-order operations. If you spot certain parts starting to show their age, anticipate the worst and order ahead.

2014 Triumph Daytona 675R ABS

Mileage: 9,000
Location: Freehold, New Jersey

What I like: I was never a fan of the way 600cc inline fours sound — they’re just too whiny, but the Triumph’s triple gets away with sounding like a bigger engine than it actually is. I’m also a sucker for red trellis frames.
From the seller: “Extras include Triumph painted seat cowl, trickle charger, rear stand, rubber tank grip, R&G rear bobbins, Competition Werks rear fender eliminator and Taylor Made … carbon fiber bodywork [and] racing exhaust system, reducing overall weight by about ten pounds. All stock parts are included. Mechanically and cosmetically flawless, never laid down or tracked. Garaged and covered, professionally maintained with all scheduled services performed and documented.”
What to look out for: Most of what goes wrong on the ’14 Daytona 675R is reconciled by a recall. It’s a fairly young bike to find massive part failures at this point in its life.

What the Rest of the Team WOuld Get for $10,000

If we had a [limited] blank check, this is what we’d pick up. Read the Story

April 20, 2018 / Comments Off

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