Market Watch(ing): Boston Holiday Weekend Edition

“Holiday Weekend,” you say? That’s right. Once per year, the city of Boston decides its Monday marathon is important enough to take the day off while the rest of the country works. So, with that, here’s your weekly dose of sweet watches for sale around the web. Is there a connection between Marathon Monday and Market Watch(ing)? Or watches at all? Not really, but who cares? Enjoy the weekend, everyone.

Neil’s Picks

Sinn EZM1 ZUZ

This is it folks, the grandaddy off the Sinn EZM‘s, the EZM1. This one is even more rare because of the “ZUZ” dial. ZUZ stands for Zentrale Unterstützungseinheit Zoll, which is the SWAT unit of Germany’s customs service. Even though this comes with a service bezel, as is common, it still comes with the original, which is a plus. Also included are the original papers, and what appears to be a travel or service case. The seller is including three straps, one of which is Sinn’s incredibly comfortable and durable silicon rubber straps, as well as a Bund strap adding to that German authenticity. The Lemania 5100 was recently serviced so this should be a worry free purchase for years to come and the quality of the case is amazing. The post is correct that there were only 22 issued to the ZUZ, and this one appears to be one of the 50 sold to the Japanese market. With only 72 (give or take) of these produced, that makes this exceedingly rare and collectable. EZM1’s almost never come up for sale these days. Prices seem to fluctuate a bit depending on the market, the seller, and the waxing or waning of the moon. Regardless, this is a fantastic example and certainly tops the list for many Sinn and military watch collectors.

$7,250

Bremont Terra Nova

Bremont has been putting out some very solid pieces over the past couple years. One of my favorites still has to be the Terra Nova. Bremont is known for making tough watches, but this one takes the cake. There are few watches that can say they’ve made a nearly 1,800 mile trek to and from the South Pole, however, the Terra Nova can. With features like a titanium case, compass bezel, anti reflective domed sapphire crystal, shock proofing, 500m water resistance, temperature resistance to -40 Celcius, magnetic field resistance, and an independent GMT hand, this is the ultimate adventurer’s watch. With box and papers, an extra strap, and a case that hardly looks worn, this is the total package at a good price. There are only 300 of these and, like the EZM1 above, they rarely come on the market. Whoever scoops this up is getting one hell of a watch.

$4,600

Isaac’s Picks

Omega Automatic Ref. 2635-2

A clean example of a vintage watch is always a special thing, regardless of how rare or desirable the piece may be. It makes you want to track down all the previous owners of the watch, shake their hands, and thank them for their years of careful custody. On the other hand, it also makes the notion of somehow damaging the watch all the more foreboding, though this isn’t to say that I prefer my watches to be beat up. Clean is king, and the powers at be of today’s market know this quite well.

While doing my weekly rounds of browsing through the inventories of trusted dealers, I came across an admittedly small, but gorgeous automatic Omega from the 1950’s, that’s currently being offered for sale at H.Q. Milton. The silver dial — featuring Breguet numerals — has aged over time to a beautiful, off-white tone, and the presence of both a luminous dial and hands is nice to see as well. Additionally, the caseback engraving indicates that the watch was originally awarded to a gentleman by the name of H.H. Curtice (though, funnily enough, his name has been misspelled) after having worked for General Motors for 38 years, five of which were spent as the president of the company. Overall, this is a very cool watch.

$2,150

Eberhard Monopusher Chronograph

Remember what I just said about clean vintage watches? Read that again. It goes for this next piece as well, which is especially clean. Like, really, really clean.

It’s an Eberhard chronograph that is believed to date back to the 1950’s, and everything about it is so right. From what can be seen in seller’s photos, the crisp and purely designed dial appears to be in absolutely perfect condition, and it looks as if you could cut yourself on the edge of the lugs. Do note that the watch is said to have some mechanical issues at the movement, though it doesn’t sounds like anything that a standard overhaul shouldn’t fix. It’s watches like this that keep me up at night.

Bid Now

Dean’s Picks

Enicar Sherpa Graph

€6,500

Universal Geneve Compax

Inquire for Price

Shane’s Picks

RAF WWII Sector Clock

I’m not well-versed in wall clocks, but I know an awesome one when I see it. Here we have a rare and highly collectible RAF WWII Sector Clock. Back before airspace was observed and controlled by computers, sector clocks, by way of the 5-minute color block triangles, would help operations personnel keep track of real time movements for their designated airspace. As air operations were reported to the observation center, the appropriate color coded markers would be moved around a physical map. And if the actual history and provenance of the clocks wasn’t cool enough, many were made with fusee and chain movements, like this one here. I’m not too sharp on the market for these, but I found a Bonhams auction from a few years ago where one sold for $14K — and it wasn’t as nice as the one for sale now. Seller is looking for about $8.5K for his, and I can’t argue with that. If you’re into military and aeronautical memorabilia, or you’re just into badass clocks, this is arguably a grail piece.

£6,000

Bulova “F” Chronograph

With their Caliber 12 chronograph movement, Heuer made some unique watches in the 1970s. Well, they weren’t the only ones. Bulova, having procured a batch of Caliber 12s for their own use, made a couple of different funky chronos with them. For sale here is the model they name “F”. Using a strange tonneau-shaped case with hooded lugs, the Bulova F is straight disco. Aside from the curvy 44mm case, the most obvious attraction here is the dial. I can’t get enough of this multi-colored sector dial. Paying almost $2K for a vintage Bulova is never going to be easy, but hey, vintage chronos are getting more expensive by the day.

$1,750

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