When Gruen was going through hardships in their death throes in 1977. Rolex bought out the Gruen building in Bien/Biel Switzerland. I have a watch a Gruen Precision powerdate with a Rolex movement in it. The serial number is between the top lugs and the case is made by Borgel and Taubert who were very high end cabineteers for many watches including Rolex and even Tudor.
great stuff and informative. thanks . as for the next installment, Benrus and Elgin were the first two that come to mind. and Bulova is weird but there's some stuff of theirs to love in my view.
I have a couple vintage Wittnauers which I love also. I do hope they bring back some tasteful retro watches. There are a ton of pre quartz decimation brands. Croton being another.
Love your channel Jory. Another great video. Not a vintage watch company, but definitely retro vintage inspired is Geckota. Their C1 Gen 2 Racing Chrono is very impressive for the money. Would love to see you review it. My 10 cents. Peace !!!
Illinois would be an interesting brand to cover too. Maybe an episode on railroad pocket watches in general, as Illinois, Waltham, Elgin, and others were direct competitors in this market. Also an episode on the Dirty Dozen would be interesting too
I stand to be corrected but I believe that in addition to Amelia, Charles Lindbergh used a Wittnauer on his 1927 solo trans-Atlantic flight to Paris. I was given a Wittnauer in 1989 with a moon complication which still is accurate more than 30 years later. I recall that Longines-Wittnauer sponsored a classical music radio program for some years.
Great episode, Jory. So you did 2 watch companies that start with a "W". How about a third?)) Wakmann ! Those guys made some incredible looking chronographs...
Gruen Watches. Let's have a look. I recall my Dad purchasing a gold-case Gruen for my cousin for his high school graduation back in the mid 1960's. The cool function was that the 1 - 12 hour numerals flipped to 13 - 24 in the afternoons. I thought it was cool then and I haven't changed my opinion. Keep doing what you are doing!
Seems like Google knew how much I wanted this video to happen and showed me it within a minute of posting. . . And there’s a thumbs down 20 seconds after of this video going up. Get a bloody life. 🙄
I inherited my grandfather's 14k gold longines that was cased by wittnauer of New York. It's a hand wind small seconds 1370 movement with 17 jewels. Only 33 mm though but I guess that was a style back then.
Wittnauer style with Longines watchmaking. They should have merged and kept as is to whomever owns Longines today, I can't keep the three major watch owners strait.
They saved on import duties by importing Longines calibers from Switzerland and casing them in the US, and sometimes the only difference was the brand on the dial. There was even a Wittnauer "Super Compressor" diver that was indistinguishable from the Longines diver (two crowns, internal rotating bezel, the whole shebang.)
hello chat can I ask you some information of my moms Wittnauer watch she got this type WITTNAUER 1970s PERPETUAL CALENDAR "3002" WRISTWATCH and its very good in shape with the original case do someone know how much I can sell it and where the best place to sell it thanks guy's and girls🤗
I have a vintage Wittnauer that I got off of eBay. No idea what year, but it looks like it's from the 40s. Not at all expensive, but I love that elegant look!
*Jory* thanks for the video and I love the Wittnauer with the leather strap. Not a huge fan of leather straps but I love gold and blue is my favorite color.
I would love to hear about Marvin watches. I just recently acquired a Vintage 40's Marvin and I would like to get more information/history about the brand. Thanks!
I have a rounded square bezel Wittnauer automatic i inherited i dont think its an expensive model i had it serviced and a new band put on it it needs a new crystal put on its scuffed up but i like it since its a pass down from my grandfather , i kinda prefer it over my F1
I will love to know about Jules jergerson, Enicar and Huguenin. I have one of each and always wanted to know everything about them. The watches are the brand that got me in to vintage.
Jory, I add to the call for a review of Gruen watches, an American company with an incredible history with origins in Glashutte, Germany. Their early movements were made by Aegler, and Gruen can claim a James Bond watch and for a time Gruen was the official watch of Pan American World Airways (before the GMT Master), and a family of Gruen watches were known as Pan Am watches. Gruen's Curvex watch had a curved movement to fit the contour of the wrist -- quite an achievement for the time. The company was located in Cincinnati and manufactured watches with movements produced in both Switzerland and later in Cincinnati.
Frankly I haven’t seen many Bulova watches under their own brand that I’ve liked in a few years. In 1997 I bought a high polished stainless tank style Bulova that I still love. It’s shaped and looks like a three hand dial Cartier Tank MC. I surf their website sometimes but nothing grabs me.
I have a Wittnauer Geneve 10k RGP watch, not sure of its age and I want to fix it so I can use it but no one in my city seems to have the necessary tools or even wants to attempt fixing it!
Kinda related: Accutron is back! I don't know about the prices of the new watches but they're back with new tech! Could be fun looking in to the movement and the precionist movements. Anyway not sure what exactly Citizen and Bulova are thinking but they make some WTH watches... I guess it trickled down to Wittnauer. Shame.
I have a Wittenaur-Longines Geneva Automatic from 1972, was my greatgrandfathers, still runs like a top... when I remember to crank it lol. Edit: forgot to mention, came with box, case, and service book lol, thought that was funny, a watch with a service book.
Hello, I've just buy a old RAMA from the 60's... ...she works well and keeps time perfectly. The history of Rama is very interesting. New Rama's or RSW (for Rama Swiss Watch) are one of the ugliest watches but olds, before the 80's, are great. Great video, continue, bye.
I have the "Butterfly" with its original box and gold filled Admiral stretch bracelet. Its such a great watch. Also Bulova would be a really good manufacturer to do. They had such a rich history and made amazing watches... well until they ruined it.
She was using an Invicta. 55 mm, Swiss made, in China 8040N, with toned bracelet. The weight of the plane was therefore overloaded, and caused problems on the take off....
I have a wittnauer I bought at Rogers In the mall for $800 in 1997. Gold with the little diamonds on the indexes. Very Rolex-y looking. It’s available on eBay for like $100 today. 😩
Mathey Tissot? From what I have seen on eBay they made nice looking vintage watches back in the day. They also made a speicial run of, 'back stage pass', watches for Elvis.
Speidel! Maybe not the traditional watch company story, but certainly a piece of Americana. Better known for innovating and creating watch bands than actual timepieces. Still they broke ground as an American manufacturing company, founded by immigrants around the turn of the century, and still around today. Sort of a parallel to the timex story of affordable wearable horology. Nowadays they are very popular with medical personnel, and their Scrub line is worn by tons of nurses and docs who save tons of lives. They found their niche I suppose. Also interesting to note is "medical style" chronos and tachymeters. Basically base-30 tachs are printed outside the chapter ring in order to give heart rate bpm at a moment's calculation on an analog watch. Interesting horological footnote. You can still find expensive and fancy "doctor" and "surgeon" chronos out there from small companies.
My very first vintage watch was a late 50s/early 60s Wittnauer I inherited from my grandfather. It was my every day watch for quite a few years. Then I put it away, but found it again when I got back into watches. I still have it but I stupidly had the dial refinished. I should have kept it with the original patina. As far as the movement goes, it is one of my most accurate and reliable vintage watches. Only my vintage Omegas are better.
Would like to hear about what happened to Elgin. Also, how about a review of a Ball Railroad watch. When I heard the history behind Ball, I had to have one. I have a Ball Trainmaster Eternity Ladies Watch, Ball RR1104?
How about Benrus? I inherited my father's Benrus watch (coincidentally his name was Ben), I'd love to hear some of the history of this company. Thanks!
How about Invicta? No seriously... Invicta used to make some really nice watches back before the company changed hands and started making monstrous monstrosities...
Vostok watches. They seem to be enjoying some design success, but I'm curious about how Lithuanian and Russian history affected such a brand for better or worse.
Now that you slammed Bulova, you should do a video on that brand, especially their post-WWII shop and the watches that came from there: you will be surprised, I think.
Elgin comes to mind. (I'm from Illinois, so .... ) Also Gruen. Thanks for a great episode!
I'm also from Illinois and have an Elgin stop watch but I want to see one on the Accutron sub brand
How about Gruen? The Bond watch that's often forgotten.
When Gruen was going through hardships in their death throes in 1977. Rolex bought out the Gruen building in Bien/Biel Switzerland. I have a watch a Gruen Precision powerdate with a Rolex movement in it. The serial number is between the top lugs and the case is made by Borgel and Taubert who were very high end cabineteers for many watches including Rolex and even Tudor.
Gruen is worth a report. The story concerning their closing is sort of interesting.
How bout Gruen or Elgin.
Gruen for sure! Definitely like the format of these
Love the history and looks at lesser known brands. Great stuff 😊
Recently received my great grandfather’s Wittnauer. Will be sent for service soon, very excited 🙌🏻
Elgin and Gruen are some fantastic watches. Definitely would love to see a video about them
great stuff and informative. thanks . as for the next installment, Benrus and Elgin were the first two that come to mind. and Bulova is weird but there's some stuff of theirs to love in my view.
Thanks I was just trying to find out....keep up the good work!!!!!
What a great video, I owned one of their watches back in the day. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
One of my more favorite episodes. Keep-up the good work 😊👍
I love his videos so informative
I have a couple vintage Wittnauers which I love also. I do hope they bring back some tasteful retro watches. There are a ton of pre quartz decimation brands. Croton being another.
Love your channel Jory. Another great video. Not a vintage watch company, but definitely retro vintage inspired is Geckota. Their C1 Gen 2 Racing Chrono is very impressive for the money. Would love to see you review it. My 10 cents. Peace !!!
I would love to hear of Universal Geneve
Way ahead of ya: Why Universal Geneve Is TERRIBLY Underrated! ua-cam.com/video/aERYvn27kQc/v-deo.html
Illinois would be an interesting brand to cover too.
Maybe an episode on railroad pocket watches in general, as Illinois, Waltham, Elgin, and others were direct competitors in this market.
Also an episode on the Dirty Dozen would be interesting too
I'll add my voice for Elgin, but also specificly the Lord Elgin
I got a nice Wittnauer watch from my dad and grandparents, which shows the dates and days. I love it. Fits so nicely.
Gruen, Elgin, good video Jory 👍
Eterna , Favre Leuba and Burene would be interested.
I stand to be corrected but I believe that in addition to Amelia, Charles Lindbergh used a Wittnauer on his 1927 solo trans-Atlantic flight to Paris. I was given a Wittnauer in 1989 with a moon complication which still is accurate more than 30 years later. I recall that Longines-Wittnauer sponsored a classical music radio program for some years.
I remember their tv ads.
Great episode, Jory. So you did 2 watch companies that start with a "W". How about a third?)) Wakmann ! Those guys made some incredible looking chronographs...
How about Favre Leuba ? One of the oldest Swiss brands .
Gruen Watches. Let's have a look. I recall my Dad purchasing a gold-case Gruen for my cousin for his high school graduation back in the mid 1960's. The cool function was that the 1 - 12 hour numerals flipped to 13 - 24 in the afternoons. I thought it was cool then and I haven't changed my opinion. Keep doing what you are doing!
I still wear my 1974 Wittnauer that my parents bought for me for high school graduation . It keeps fabulous time and I love it !!!
Hi from Italy, love your channel!
What happen to Enicar ? Or what about Nivada and what do you think of the new Nivada Chronomaster? Best!
Seems like Google knew how much I wanted this video to happen and showed me it within a minute of posting.
.
.
And there’s a thumbs down 20 seconds after of this video going up. Get a bloody life. 🙄
I'd love a vintage history video about Yema! Their history as a French brand is so rich
I inherited my grandfather's 14k gold longines that was cased by wittnauer of New York. It's a hand wind small seconds 1370 movement with 17 jewels. Only 33 mm though but I guess that was a style back then.
Wittnauer style with Longines watchmaking. They should have merged and kept as is to whomever owns Longines today, I can't keep the three major watch owners strait.
@@VersedNJ Swatch group owns longines now
They saved on import duties by importing Longines calibers from Switzerland and casing them in the US, and sometimes the only difference was the brand on the dial. There was even a Wittnauer "Super Compressor" diver that was indistinguishable from the Longines diver (two crowns, internal rotating bezel, the whole shebang.)
hello chat can I ask you some information of my moms Wittnauer watch she got this type WITTNAUER 1970s PERPETUAL CALENDAR "3002" WRISTWATCH
and its very good in shape with the original case do someone know how much I can sell it and where the best place to sell it thanks guy's and girls🤗
I have a vintage Wittnauer that I got off of eBay. No idea what year, but it looks like it's from the 40s. Not at all expensive, but I love that elegant look!
*Jory* thanks for the video and I love the Wittnauer with the leather strap. Not a huge fan of leather straps but I love gold and blue is my favorite color.
I would love to hear about Marvin watches. I just recently acquired a Vintage 40's Marvin and I would like to get more information/history about the brand. Thanks!
I'll give you 3 how about Rotary, Regency and the last one, which i wish you good luck in Lancia. All the best.
I have a WWII-era Wittenaur military watch, and the watch is beautiful.
I have a rounded square bezel Wittnauer automatic i inherited i dont think its an expensive model i had it serviced and a new band put on it it needs a new crystal put on its scuffed up but i like it since its a pass down from my grandfather , i kinda prefer it over my F1
F1 Ferragamo?
I will love to know about Jules jergerson, Enicar and Huguenin. I have one of each and always wanted to know everything about them. The watches are the brand that got me in to vintage.
I remember seeing the commercial as a kid. The lady would say I WANT A WITTNAUER and it made me want one too
Jory, I add to the call for a review of Gruen watches, an American company with an incredible history with origins in Glashutte, Germany. Their early movements were made by Aegler, and Gruen can claim a James Bond watch and for a time Gruen was the official watch of Pan American World Airways (before the GMT Master), and a family of Gruen watches were known as Pan Am watches. Gruen's Curvex watch had a curved movement to fit the contour of the wrist -- quite an achievement for the time. The company was located in Cincinnati and manufactured watches with movements produced in both Switzerland and later in Cincinnati.
Frankly I haven’t seen many Bulova watches under their own brand that I’ve liked in a few years. In 1997 I bought a high polished stainless tank style Bulova that I still love. It’s shaped and looks like a three hand dial Cartier Tank MC. I surf their website sometimes but nothing grabs me.
@James Blonde I haven’t been able to find them on their website. I thought they stopped production because it’s not on the site.
I just found two variants on their site. Thanks
Eterna please nice work on this one thanks
I have a Wittnauer Geneve 10k RGP watch, not sure of its age and I want to fix it so I can use it but no one in my city seems to have the necessary tools or even wants to attempt fixing it!
Kinda related: Accutron is back! I don't know about the prices of the new watches but they're back with new tech! Could be fun looking in to the movement and the precionist movements. Anyway not sure what exactly Citizen and Bulova are thinking but they make some WTH watches... I guess it trickled down to Wittnauer. Shame.
Love to hear more about Gallet.
Gruen! Please. I have a early 60’s Day/night jump. Would like to hear your opinion. Thanks.
Loved the history lesson
I see some people mention Gruen and Enicar,but what of Cortebert,Nivada,Smiths,Universal Geneve?
Smiths, thats a great watch company. My father was a toolmaker with them. Have a look, especially the Everest. 👌🏴
I have a Wittenaur-Longines Geneva Automatic from 1972, was my greatgrandfathers, still runs like a top... when I remember to crank it lol.
Edit: forgot to mention, came with box, case, and service book lol, thought that was funny, a watch with a service book.
great vid, how about Universal Geneve
ua-cam.com/video/aERYvn27kQc/v-deo.html
He made a video about them recently.
Hello,
I've just buy a old RAMA from the 60's...
...she works well and keeps time perfectly.
The history of Rama is very interesting.
New Rama's or RSW (for Rama Swiss Watch) are one of the ugliest watches but olds, before the 80's, are great.
Great video, continue, bye.
What happened to Gruen?
Reminds me of my 1st vintage watch (Crawford 1942 18ct gold)
I have the "Butterfly" with its original box and gold filled Admiral stretch bracelet. Its such a great watch. Also Bulova would be a really good manufacturer to do. They had such a rich history and made amazing watches... well until they ruined it.
She was using an Invicta. 55 mm, Swiss made, in China 8040N, with toned bracelet. The weight of the plane was therefore overloaded, and caused problems on the take off....
I have a wittnauer I bought at Rogers In the mall for $800 in 1997. Gold with the little diamonds on the indexes. Very Rolex-y looking. It’s available on eBay for like $100 today. 😩
Video on Accutron?
do a video on Concord watch company.....i always see the advert of Concord watches in my dad’s Time magazines back in the 80s....
Such a beautiful brand and a great history, total shame what's happened
Mathey Tissot? From what I have seen on eBay they made nice looking vintage watches back in the day. They also made a speicial run of, 'back stage pass', watches for Elvis.
I'm curious about Milex, I can barely find anything about the vintage swiss brand
How bout Moeris,, recently saw one, never heard of them
Speidel!
Maybe not the traditional watch company story, but certainly a piece of Americana. Better known for innovating and creating watch bands than actual timepieces. Still they broke ground as an American manufacturing company, founded by immigrants around the turn of the century, and still around today. Sort of a parallel to the timex story of affordable wearable horology.
Nowadays they are very popular with medical personnel, and their Scrub line is worn by tons of nurses and docs who save tons of lives. They found their niche I suppose.
Also interesting to note is "medical style" chronos and tachymeters. Basically base-30 tachs are printed outside the chapter ring in order to give heart rate bpm at a moment's calculation on an analog watch. Interesting horological footnote. You can still find expensive and fancy "doctor" and "surgeon" chronos out there from small companies.
My very first vintage watch was a late 50s/early 60s Wittnauer I inherited from my grandfather. It was my every day watch for quite a few years. Then I put it away, but found it again when I got back into watches. I still have it but I stupidly had the dial refinished. I should have kept it with the original patina.
As far as the movement goes, it is one of my most accurate and reliable vintage watches. Only my vintage Omegas are better.
How about PRIM watches?
How about Elgin watches. I’m from there and would love to see an episode.
I like the old Enicar watches, they got reborn but the watches are only marketed in Asia
Would like to hear about what happened to Elgin. Also, how about a review of a Ball Railroad watch. When I heard the history behind Ball, I had to have one. I have a Ball Trainmaster Eternity Ladies Watch, Ball RR1104?
I was always interested in Favre Leuba.
Hamilton and Glycine would be interesting for me..
What about cortébert? They produced the 618 cal for rolex and panerai... Faded into the dark?
How about the Banner Watch company ? or Welsbro? or Benrus? or Alpina?
What about Pagol?
Have you talked about bulova watch co. and watches before 1970? And another watch co. Gruen.
How about Benrus? I inherited my father's Benrus watch (coincidentally his name was Ben), I'd love to hear some of the history of this company. Thanks!
Would love to know the history of Bulova and what happened
What about Orvin watches?
what happened to Sicura..?
I'd be in for a "what happened to the 80's" episode
I would love to see a historical perspective of Ball Watch.
New Rochelle in Westchester County NY 20 miles north of New York City
How about Invicta? No seriously... Invicta used to make some really nice watches back before the company changed hands and started making monstrous monstrosities...
How about benrus?
Hey what happened to you IG account? Insta says no posts...
How about Benrus or Elgin?
What happened to HARLEM 17 J VINTAGE WATCH
Almost bought an interesting Wittnauer, but came across a nice little Longines small seconds and chose that instead.
I have the 1960 wittnauer 7004a and it's my crown jewel
Please do a bit in Enicar😍🙏🎯
Love it when you do the little vomit 😂
How about Roma?
I used to own a Gruen LCQ a bulky watch in Gold (plated) of course back in 1976 or there abouts
Vostok watches. They seem to be enjoying some design success, but I'm curious about how Lithuanian and Russian history affected such a brand for better or worse.
I'd like to hear about Pallas
Now that you slammed Bulova, you should do a video on that brand, especially their post-WWII shop and the watches that came from there: you will be surprised, I think.
Yup Gruen pls
I can only assume that “What Happened To Invicta” is next . . .
Well Bulova is owned by Citizen some decent higher end quartz, so I guess Wittnauer is included.
What about Adam's watches?