Joyful Friday, completely happy Valentine’s Day, and welcome again to Deliver A Loupe! After writing, studying, and re-reading a close to dissertation on Rolex Daytonas with Panda Paul Newman dials, my thoughts continues to be firmly targeted on “unique” subdials. That mentioned, I’m fully conscious that $400,000+ Newmans aren’t for everybody. The main target this week is a little more accessible. The picks embody an unique dial for lower than $5,000 and a Nineteen Sixties London bathtub-shaped wristwatch for lower than $200.
However first, outcomes. Two for 4 final week, ok for the Baseball Corridor of Fame, I will take it. Our Patek ref. 1486 in Barcelona offered fairly rapidly (and to a Deliver A Loupe reader!) on the asking worth of €12,000—congrats on the pickup, SB! That oddball Doxa actually caught steam on eBay, and it ended up hammering for a stunning $3,650. And lastly, our Rolex ref. 6424 from two weeks again lastly completed up, promoting for $2,325.
And now, picks!
1959 Tudor Submariner Ref. 7928 with Sq. Crown Guards and Crimson Triangle Insert
Did I simply say that the main focus this week was on accessibility? Sure. Is that this watch $80,000? Additionally, sure. Let me let you know why it is right here. First off, each BAL has to have one thing that is actually simply eye sweet for eye sweet’s sake. Costly classic, particularly classic Rolex or Tudor, appears means too good in a photograph to omit a watch like this fully.
Now, I will not completely make the case that this watch is comparatively cheap as a result of that is a big quantity, in fact, however it’s price understanding the place the worth is right here. Firstly, Tudor Submariners of the Nineteen Fifties and Nineteen Sixties had been made in decrease portions than their Rolex counterparts. So, whereas the motion is “off-the-shelf” and never of the Crown’s full high quality, this Submariner is “rarer” than its ref. 5512 sibling. In the identical situation, a 1959 5512 could be priced at about double what we see right here. And the costliest a part of both model’s 1959 Submariner is the purple triangle insert. The identical precise half was used on each Subs and is extremely exhausting to seek out in 2025. A classic Rolex sycophant may pay $30,000 for this bezel alone.
Eradicating worth and worth from the equation, this watch is objectively particular among the many huge sea of classic Subs. 1959 is the primary yr of Submariners, that are visually nearly the identical watch that Rolex provides at the moment. That is the primary yr of crown guards, with the square-shaped extrusions seen right here being the primary iteration. The ensuing look is completely in contrast to every other Submariner ever produced. It is virtually like Rolex was nonetheless designing a correctly formed guard and pushing these out the door. The awkward ergonomics—which made unscrewing and adjusting the crown a real problem—led to its temporary one-year manufacturing run. Rolex and Tudor quickly adopted the extra sensible “eagle beak” guard design.
Discovering a sq. crown guard Submariner is one factor. Discovering one with a seemingly unpolished case, appropriate purple triangle insert, and gracefully aged “tropical” dial, now we’re in needle in a haystack territory.
The vendor, Michael Morgan of Iconic Watch Firm in California, has listed this Tudor Submariner on his web site with a worth of $80,000. Get the entire particulars proper right here.
Nineteen Seventies Lip Chronograph with Unique ‘Paul Newman’ Dial
As somebody who wrote an entire article about why Rolex Paul Newmans are price a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars}, it feels contradictory to spotlight this watch then, however oh effectively! Lip is a French watch model that dates again to 1867 in Besançon, the cradle of French watchmaking. All through its historical past, Lip had an actual fame for pushing the boundaries of watch design. Simply begin poking round Google or eBay, and you will see some funky stuff. So, it is no shock that from the e book of choices that Singer provided to manufacturers within the Nineteen Sixties and Nineteen Seventies, they selected an “unique” design that will come to be referred to as a “Paul Newman” dial.
In these 20 years, Lip was struggling as a enterprise. The quartz disaster hit whereas Lip had already skilled sluggish gross sales, in order that they needed to get artistic to make product. These Newman chronographs are the results of a partnership between Lip and Breitling, the latter dealing with manufacturing and the previous distributing the Swiss chronographs to their community of French retailers. Different outcomes of this partnership are the varied co-branded Breitling fashions we discovered from this period, such because the ref. 765 AVI, Navitimer, and Superocean.
All this provides as much as a Swiss-made chronograph with a Valjoux motion and a Singer-made “unique” Newman dial that you’ll find for lower than $5,000 if you happen to’re fortunate. Flat out, it is a nice look ahead to an amazing worth, it ought to promote fairly rapidly and as I write this I hope it would not promote earlier than I can publish BAL!
An eBay vendor in San Francisco has listed Lip for a Purchase It Now worth of $4,900. Test it out in full proper right here.
Thirties Geneva Sport Chronograph with Sector Dial and Breguet Arms
Whereas Geneva Sport seems like a generic model identify that will be virtually unimaginable to seek out details about, it seems that that is greater than your normal “Hey, the necessary factor to know is that this watch was made in Switzerland, Geneva, to be precise, meaning it is good” branding. And I say that as a result of there are a variety of classic manufacturers like that, Chronographe Suisse involves thoughts, however Geneva Sport has bonafides. The model was early to wristwatch chronograph motion manufacturing and is well-known for its small diameter calibers, significantly these with mono-pusher activation produced within the Twenties and 30s. A Geneva Sport was auctioned off by Phillips in Begin-Cease-Reset, some of the legendary themed auctions ever. Rolex even used a Geneva Sport caliber in a small run of mono-pusher “child” chronographs.
Whereas the model clearly produced its personal calibers, this Thirties chronograph encompasses a Valjoux 22. I assume that is because of the measurement of the watch. Geneva Sport might have been nice at producing small chronograph actions however bought ébauches from Valjoux for bigger diameter fashions. I see a variety of classic chronographs each week whereas looking for BAL, however this one actually floored me. It has all of the little particulars that make a classic nerd like me go loopy. A 37mm coin-edge case? Sure, please. A sector dial? Uh-huh. How about Breguet palms? Why not? Let’s get nuts.
The vendor, Dylan of Goldfinger’s Classic in New York Metropolis, acquired this Geneva Sport yesterday and is asking $6,300. You possibly can go to his Instagram web page and message him about it proper right here.
1968 Outdated England ‘Jumbo Baignoire’
Should you’re an everyday reader of Hodinkee, you seemingly know the story of how London’s Swinging Sixties knowledgeable the designs of Cartier’s London workshop, leading to watches just like the Crash, Pebble, and Maxi Oval. That is all identified and celebrated—look no additional than the costs of these aforementioned Cartier London designs.
Picture courtesy of agnautacouture.com.
What I’ve by no means seen anybody else speak about is Outdated England. On the reverse finish of the standard spectrum, Outdated England watches weren’t offered on Bond Avenue however quite provided within the Apple Boutique, the short-lived retail enterprise of the Beatles.
The Apple Boutique was shiny, psychedelic, and aimed to be revolutionary. As Paul McCartney put it, it was “a phenomenal place the place lovely folks should buy lovely issues.” A long time forward of their time, the Apple Boutique was the Beatles constructing a world the place followers and the cool folks of London might work together with and purchase band-adjacent objects. It was additionally revolutionary as a result of each merchandise within the retailer was on the market. In observe, most issues within the store weren’t of the very best high quality, and Outdated England watches aren’t any exception.
The shop ended up closing eight months after its opening primarily as a result of a lot of the product was “stolen” every day. I put stolen in quotes as a result of most of this theft was resulting from workers both giving issues away or not realizing what was on the market and what was introduced in by clients.
Anyway, Outdated England watches had been offered on the Apple Boutique and the varied designs are very Swinging Sixties knowledgeable. There are a ton of various fashions, largely with gold-plated or chrome circumstances and fundamental manually-wound Swiss actions. I fairly like this one which is clearly impressed by Cartier’s Maxi Oval. Primarily, it is a 1968 London vogue watch.
An eBay vendor in Brooklyn has listed Outdated England for a Purchase It Now worth of $199. For the total itemizing, click on right here.
Eighties Bulova Accutron for Hershey Chocolate Firm
I not too long ago listened to an episode of the Acquired Podcast targeted on the historical past of Mars Inc. and lined the story of chocolate within the U.S.– I extremely advocate checking it out. Among the many enjoyable details I discovered (which I’ll pressure right into a dialog sooner or later) was how Milton S. Hershey principally introduced mass-market chocolate to the States and single-handedly produced virtually all American chocolate for many years. For instance, Hershey provided a lot of Mars’s chocolate to be used in its bars. Anyway, I noticed this Bulova Accutron on eBay and knew it deserved a spot this week.
Most likely relationship to the Eighties, this watch was awarded to a 38-year worker of Hershey by the identify of Richard A. Fortna. The vendor consists of some details about Richard, which definitely comes from an obituary (fairly bleak, I do know), however the watch itself is a ton of enjoyable. I am a sucker for branded dials, and this one is actually, actually branded. Hershey began utilizing this “Cocoa Bean Child” emblem in 1898, and past it being charming, it was meant to represent the novelty and promise of the younger firm. The watch is seemingly in “New Outdated Inventory” situation and has no noticeable put on on its authentic strap.
An eBay vendor in Whitehall, Pennsylvania has listed this Hershey Accutron for a Purchase It Now worth of $749. Test it out proper right here.
