Market Watch(ing): The other Fifty Fathoms

The Wound For Life team is back with our Market Watch(ing) series. We’ve looked through many sources from around the web to bring you some of favorite picks for this week. When purchasing watches online always remember to “buy the seller” and do your homework when it comes to details of the watch and the seller’s references.

Shane’s Picks

Wittnauer Professional Chronograph ref 7004A

It’s no secret we’re in love with Longines’ new release, the Heritage Diver 1967. We love it for the vintage styling, and the way that red bezel pops. That’s exactly why I’m going with this Wittnauer Professional Chronograph ref 7004A for one of my choices. This reference points straight back to one of the references Longines had its eye on with the Diver 1967. Of course, it’s not identical, but it carries the red bezel, and shares an overall similar aesthetic. When Longines bought Wittnauer around 1950, they produced very similar watches between the two brands, including this awesome chronograph.

This particular example is well worn, and ready to be a daily beater. According to the seller, the Valjoux 7733 inside is running properly, which means he likely doesn’t know the service history. I’d personally factor in the cost of a servicing in the next year or so, but the $960 list price isn’t unreasonable. One thing I’d ask the seller is about the dial lume. It’s hard to tell for sure, but compared to the hands, they look slightly green. Maybe it’s the lighting, but it’s worth asking if they glow — meaning re-lume. If it’s all good and original, this is a great piece, and I can just picture it on a vintage-styled tropic strap.

Rodania Royal Canadian Air Force Chronograph

Again, I’m going back to military chronographs with this Rodania issued to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Issued sometime around the late 1960s, a number of watchmakers made the same white dial monopusher chronograph for the RCAF: Rodania, Universal Geneve, Breitling, Omega, Birks, and Lemania. The sterile white dial is unique for military chronos, and the monopusher adds another level of cool-factor.

I don’t see these come up for sale very often, so it’s one of those ones where I’m a little forgiving on with condition. However, that’s not very necessary here. Overall, it seems to be in great shape. I like that the case seems to have a lot of life in it, the movement looks clean, and the military markings on the caseback are crisp. The lume on the dial is a bit dirty, but the rest of the dial is pretty clean. Obviously, due diligence is always necessary, but it’s nice to see that the seller has been vouched for by several other forums members in the same sale thread. For $1500 (and still negotiable), this is a rare and awesome military watch that would look great on pretty much any strap.

Neil’s Picks

Omega Flightmaster Caliber 911

Omega Flightmaster cal. 911

Out of all the quirky vintage Omega chronographs, I enjoy Flightmasters the most. Unfortunately finding a quality original example is getting more and more difficult. Luckily for us the folks over at VintageWatchClassics.com have a fantastic cal 911. My preference is the 911 vs the 910 as this reference makes it easier to identify if the watch is running with the sub-seconds hand at 9:00. There is still the blue second timezone hand so the full 24hr indicator of the 910 isn’t all that necessary.

This cal. 911 is all original and Vintage Watch Classics even claims the color coding on the pushers is authentic, which is extremely rare. These 1970’s watches look decidedly better with age and should show the evidence of a life well lived. There is a healthy balance of course and with such large surface area on the unique case, over polishing would be a crime. Fortunately this cal. 911 looks to have had minimal, if any, polishing. The still visible DC-8 on the casebook is evidence of this. At $2,350, the price is extremely reasonable, especially for a watch that shows just the right amount of age and patina without looking neglected and beat up.

Heuer Autavia ref 73363

Heuer Autavia 73363

As we saw last week, Heuer Autavias come in many different variations, however this offering from our friends over at Analog/Shift is one you don’t see every day. Here you have a not often seen Autavia Reference 73363 with orange accents. This 73363 features the 17-jewel Valjoux cal. 7733 manual wind movement, which is rare in an Autavia. A balanced bi-compax dial, tachymeter bezel, baton hands and markers still give it the classic Heuer Autavia look. The case on this one is excellent. There are almost no nicks or dents and it does not appear to over polished. Its dial and hands are equally impressive. The only parts that aren’t original are the pushers, however this is quite common and they are genuine Heuer.

At 41mm, the cushion case is one that will look good on nearly any wrist, and the unique color combination will ensure it doesn’t look like anyone else’s either. Normally the orange details on these references have faded to more of a yellow color but this example retains its stunning original color. At $5,200, this is on the high end for Autavias, but this one is an excellent example of a rare piece and well worth it in my opinion.

Someone better get this before I do.

Isaac’s Picks

Omega Seamaster ref 105.005-65 cal 321 Chronograph

While the bulk of the vintage pieces in the limelight lately may be incredibly rare, record breaking, six figure behemoths, one must never forget that relatively affordable vintage watches are indeed out there, and some quite nice examples at that. A perfect representation of this notion, is this piece right here – an early Omega Seamaster Chronograph, featuring the legendary Caliber 321 movement. Omegas like this have been getting a good amount of press lately, and for good reason.

What I like most about this reference, aside from the outright gorgeous and insanely important movement, is the case which contains it all. Overly exciting? No. Classic minimalist cool? Damn straight. Some ornate lug designs can be nice, though you can never go wrong with clean cut lines and sharp edges. It’s really just a timeless design by all means, that I can see being relevant for many years to come.

Now, I’m not going to dispute the fact that the dial on this example is a tad weathered, but to be perfectly honest, I like it! It has aged from its original silver tone, to a warm, yellowish beige color, and is without a doubt all original. There’s a fine line between aged with character and completely beat up, but I think it’s safe to say this would be classified under the former category. It’s currently available for sale for $2,650 from Kevin Acuna, a trusted and highly regarded collector and dealer out of Los Angeles.

Waltham Fifty Fathoms

You can’t talk about dive watches without making mention of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, due to the sheer number of revolutionary innovations it made to this now WIS-favorite category of watches. In recent years, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in vintage Fifty Fathom values, and many notable collectors have decided to invest in some choice examples. There are rare dive watches, and then there are rare dive watches. This piece from Matthew Bain, is most certainly the latter.

As the story goes, Waltham ceased to produce wristwatches for the American market back in 1954, so they then went and partnered with Blancpain to distribute watches using their name on the dial. Originally manufactured in 1957, this Fifty Fathoms was made by Blancpain, though the dial is signed Waltham. According to Bain, this specific watch is very scarce to say the least, and it’s believed that there are only five known examples in existence today. Its got the highly desirable 3, 6, 9, 12 dial, which is in beautiful shape, and while the bezel insert may be separating from the bezel in a few places, it too is in great, original condition. As can be expected, the price for this one can be had upon inquiry.

Dean’s Picks

Antiquorum “Buyer Beware”

At heart, I’m a vintage Rolex guy. Last week I picked a Heuer and a UG, but this week I’m going back to my roots. But first, I want to give a bit of a “Buyer Beware” on a few vintage Rolex lots from the upcoming Antiquorum auction.

I used to think auction houses were like benevolent uncles, out in the market working hard to bring great watches to the community and in the process authenticating and vetting them. Now I’m a little more realistic about the situation. It’s a business, and if a house can bring a mediocre watch to market and sell it, they will.

Here are three lots from Antiquorum that left me scratching my head. Let’s start with lot 354. It doesn’t take an expert to know that the gold crown is incorrect on this stainless steel Submariner. Really, there is nothing more to say about that. If you look closely you’ll see in the description “replaced pushpiece” which is kind of unclear, I mean, I’m sure they know the word crown. I’m not sure how a major auction house can include a watch like this and still respect itself in the morning. What, they couldn’t find a clean 5513? It’s really not that difficult.

Next up is a really special watch. If you haven’t read Ben Clymer’s piece on the first Daytona, stop what you’re doing and read it. It’s an important piece of watch journalism. Here we have one of the first Daytonas, lot 357 is the so-called, double Swiss underline Daytona ref 6239 (picture in section below). The only problem? They didn’t come with a steel blued sweep seconds chronograph hand as the catalog description of the watch would have you believe.

Lastly in this parade of horrors is lot 367, a Rolex Daytona ref 6238. Initially as I flipped thru the catalog, the watch bothered me, upon closer inspection (these are loafers), the whole dial is wrong. What you have is a later “Sigma Dial” marked “Rolex Oyster Cosmograph”. It’s called a “Sigma Dial” for the small Greek sigmas bookending the “T Swiss T” at the 6:00 position on the dial. Bottom line is this is a later dial. Kudos to Antiquorum for noting that in the description, but I still question the choice to include in the sale. But that’s just like, my opinion man.

Now my picks…

Rolex Daytona ref 6239

Call me a hypocrite, but one of them is that double Swiss underline Daytona (lot 357) I mentioned above. Let’s be real for a second. There are plenty of dudes on Instagram flaunting their Paul Newman 6263’s around with backdrops of gorgeous women, Ferrari’s and slices of pizza. I see it all day long. You know how many double Swiss underlines I see? None. This is the thinking man’s vintage Daytona, and this one looks to be in great shape, minus a chronograph hand. Frankly, that hand shouldn’t be that difficult to find, but it would keep me up at night and that’s an issue. On the plus side, the dial looks great. Personally, I would never buy a vintage Rolex at auction without having an independent expert check it out first, so again, buyer beware.

Audemars Piguet ref 5402 A Series Royal Oak Two-Tone (EDIT: BUYER BEWARE)

How can you get an A Series Royal Oak for 65% off the going price? The answer is “two-tone”. Okay, I know people have mixed feelings about two-tone watches and I personally don’t wear them, but I’d wear this one. It’s lot 625 in the Antiquorum auction. Now, the knock against two-tone Royal Oaks is often the softer gold bezel will get worn down to shit over the years. This one looks good in the pictures, but again I’d want to see it in hand before making a bid. If all looks correct, scoring this one for close to the asking price you would net you an iconic watch that’s a little different from the ones everyone else brought to Red Bar, and at 1/3 of the price.

Edit: Thanks to one of our readers with a sharp eye, we’re going to safely add this one to the “Buyer Beware” section. Upon closer inspection, this Royal Oak should have the more prototypical baton hands. Also noted is the dial damage, likely from moisture, which isn’t a showstopper, but definitely cause for more questions. Thanks, Johan — it’s good to know you all are paying attention!

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