The Early LIP Wristwatch - A French Name but Swiss Build

On my travels yesterday I came across this watch sitting in the case of a dealer in an antique mall.  I had seen this watch in the case before but never paid it much attention.  It was mainly down to the price that I usually ignored this watch.  I decided to have a look at it more closely and discovered it to be more than the simple sterling cased un-named watch I thought it was.

The dial is original and not modified.  The name is faint but you can still make it out in the right light.

I do believe that the hands area  replacement.  The style and the fact that they don't contain radium is a good indicator.  They are fitting though and are not overly distracting in their lack of originality.

The case is amazing on this watch.  I have not seen this design of a case before.  Yes the wire lugs and square shape is not unusual but the internal design is.

The movement is pinned into a silver ring that is hinged.  The case back is hinged as well.  The movement ring actually snaps down into the case back.

The movement is a Swiss one as far as I can tell.  Ther are no cal markings or names.  Some have said these movements look like Doxa or FHF.  I have yet to find one that matches it with a confirmed ID.

The case is marked in almost every place with silver hallmarks.  Was this a way of LIP to make sure the buyer knew that they were not cheating and making almost every part of silver?

The one on each lug wire.....

I have researched the marks as best as I could but some mysteries still exist.  The swan is a French silver mark for imported silver cases.  The bear is a silver mark for Switzerland.

The hound mark and the makers mark are unknown so far.  But I will keep searching as I always do.

As to an age for the watch, I first thought 1920's but the movement has been seen in Borgel cases back to 1913-1914.  So I would guess anywhere between 1913 and 1925.

eBay and How to Make Tons of Money With Ruined Watches

Ok so this will be a rant....Just a fair warning.  It is about how honest watch collectors and sellers can be given a bad name due to a bunch of Eastern European watch manglers.  I don't care if any of the countries mentioned may have a poor economy and this is a way for them to try and make living.  There is trying to make a living through honest work and then there is just plain being a crook.

One can simply search eBay and see what I mean when I say fakes come out of these countries.  Just look up "Historic Pocket Watch".  This seems to be a favorite phrase used by them.  So many amazingly rare and museum pieces seem to be flooding the market from these countries.  It is like every Russian Czar, German Royal, Nazi General, and even US Presidents sent watches to this part of the world. You see WWII "Award" watches seem to be one of the favorite items coming from there today.

These are a few of the things you can see on there.  The prices are real end prices, and the watches are pure BS.

So this one went for $4,400...Yeah that is right $4,400!!!!  This was a good watch that someone wanted to create this fantasy dial for.  Slap a picture of a German Naval officer with it and bingo you are in the big money.  Lets assume you bought a good running, or a broken Longines you get to run, for $100.  $5 picture, heck let say you go all out and pay $20 out of being desperate.  Redial it for $50.  You spent a big $170 to make up this fantasy piece and then sell it.  But make sure you start at $10,000....yep they got a bargain at $4,400.

Well I guess they did not have time to remove all of the rust from the winding gears.  The regulator is also more on the advance side, I guess they only cleaned it a bit.

Ok these next 2 should be fun.

Apparently the Luftwaffe and the 3rd Panzer Division used the exact same style of dial.  They also liked to engrave words over an engine turned case back.  In one case back there are all German marks, which I could believe.  The other, Swiss and German silver marks??? At least in this case the watches sold for $315 and $400.  Still too much for two pics of fantasy junk.

No one is safe either when it comes to getting their face on a dial.  Watch out Mickey Mouse..here comes Gandhi. 

   

Any collector with even half a brain knows this is not a legitimate dial.  Now that would be a collector and I doubt who paid $893 thought they got a good deal from the mark down from $1,900 was a collector.  This is not the first time I have seen this style dial on another fantasy piece. Notice that blue tone that was on an earlier one?

Both Otto Von Bismark and President McKinley went for the same dial.  Must have shared the same good tastes.

You can get Bismark for $895 right now but poor McKinley only went for $200.  I guess he was not as popular.  Maybe he had a lot of anti-Eastern European policies.

Heck even Russian Royalty liked this dial....

When going through these watches and other items you begin to think there is a very unhealthy obsession with death, well based on the bulk volume of skulls on jewelry and watches that is.  

So....sure there are some good and half way good watches in that part of the world, be sure that there are many there that sell far worse than a fake Rolex.  At least eBay stops the sale of fake Rolex and Patek, they do nothing to stop fantasy pieces like these from screwing over unknowing buyers.  BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!

Another Weekend Find - Tissot PRC200 GTS Automatic Chronograph

Well it has been a few weeks again and last weekend was a good score weekend.  Well it was a good one in my books.  I picked up 3 pocket watches, 1 vintage wrist watch, and then there was this one.  It was at my last stop on Saturday, in an antique mall none the less that I found this modern beauty.

I may love vintage more but some deals are too good to pass up on a good modern vintage.  I have my other post about the Omega Aqua Terra Chrono and now this is the 2nd automatic chronograph I have added to my collection.  We are almost on 2 ends of the spectrum when it comes to Swiss made auto chrono movements.

The watch was sitting in a case up front and apparently there was a flea market earlier in the day so most dealers had 20% off all their items.  This one was not excluded from that sale.  Once I had a closer look there was only seconds that passed for the decision to be made.  After looking at the tag, there were extras with the watch an box.  A Tissot travel case and what appears to be an unused watch winder.

The watch is a Tissot PRC200 GTS.  The full number is a T0554271705700.  I guess makers are needing extremely long item numbers these days or that breaks down to something like T055.4271.  But that is for the experts to figure out, I just like the watch  and am happy to add it to the collection.

These watches are not cheap by my thinking but then I don't spend $1000 on a new watch.  I know there are those out there that spend way way more but I am a self sufficient collector.  While no where near the cost of my Omega the watch does have a certain level of quality. The box is nice, not a solid wood with felt lining but still nice.

It has plenty of room for all the books and cards that comes with a new watch.  There are a few in the bottom on the back as well as the cards and such on each side on the inside.  The watch does have a pillow but I don't see how it would fit on it better.  Seems small for any band.

The dial is nice, clean and attractive.  I tend to like the little bits of red against the black background.  The sapphire crystal has no imperfections from the previous owner.  The case does have a few dings and fine scratches but nothing distracting.  It is an all stainless case with a Tissot marked rubber band.

The movement though is something different.  The decoration of the rotor looks more like something from a Swatch.  But then these movements were used in a automatic Swatch chronograph as well.  It is more utilitarian looking then the Omega 3313C in the Aqua Terra.  This movement is an ETA C01.211.  It has 15 Jewels and interestingly a plastic looking escapement wheel and pallet fork.

The movement is based on a Lemania 5100 and has a beat of 28,800bph.  So far it has given me me no issues unlike what some people have seen with this movement.  It seems that some have an issue resetting correctly so far, this one is great.  

 

My Omega 150M Aqua Terra Co-Axial Chronograph Chronometer - Say that 3 times fast....

Every collector loves a well made complicated watch and if it is made by a well respected maker so much the better.  I know that this watch will not be rare or vintage, but I like it none the less.  It also tops out the scale for me on price.  I came across it in a local pawn shop.  I know some people think that pawn shops are full of fake Rolex watches but in honesty they try to never take a fake.  Can’t make an honest buck selling a fake.

The description of the watch is so lengthy but it is a long descriptive name.  It is an Omega Aqua Terra Co-Axial automatic chronograph chronometer.  The watch is as heavy in a way as its long name.  I know that on the Omega site they call it the Aqua Terra 150M or something but that is cutting it way short. But the band on the watch when I got it was nowhere near long.  The watch was just the watch alone when I bought it but the band was only suitable for someone with a 6 inch wrist.  I have a 7 inch wrist, small as it may be, was far too big even for this watch. 

So the impression I have of this watch at first is the imposing size and that unique styled dial.  Omega says it is supposed to remind us of the wood decks of old boats, does not seem to do that for me.  I like it anyways because I tend to not be a boat enthusiast.  The lines are crisp and flawless as one would expect from Omega.  The markings are a bit more complex to ever be called a simple dial.  The markers and hands are filled with a blue glowing lumen material.  The hands are good and sharp in design and very cleanly formed. 

The back has a very nice view of the 3313c movement.  Unlike the Planet Ocean model the Aqua Terra has the crystal to see the quality workmanship of the movement. This is not to be mistaken for the 3313 or 3313b movements.  What sets it apart is an upgrade Omega did to the escapement on the C. They went from a 2 level co-axial escapement to a 3 level to resolve some issues seen on the earlier versions.  Not all saw issues but this step was done to eliminate them. 

 

The movement is based on the F Piguet cal 1285 chronograph and then finished by Omega with its co-axial escapement.  There is debate on how good the Piguet movement is in robustness but from my experience with my watch it has stood up well and without issue.  But then I don’t wear it every day because I have a job where it may get a scratch.  I would not consider a watch of this quality a “beater” watch but I might if I had millions in the bank.

Chinese Quality - Beijing Everest B18

It has been a time from my last posting but I figured this watch will be one of the best ones to start posting about.  In the current atmosphere of Chinese watches starting to show higher and higher quality I decided it was time to jump in.  I decided though that if I was going to venture into the Chinese territory I may as well go with a good quality example. 

 

 

I had been eyeing the Everest series by Beijing Watch Factory for some time.  The manual wind B18 movement caught my attention based on my love of vintage watches.  The dial is clean and reminds me of the double sunk dials of the old RR pocket watches.

The hands are very nice looking vintage style and are well suited to the style of the dial and the sub seconds design.  The numbers are well defined and clear against the white background.  There is a very clear mark for the Beijing Watch Factory that can also be seen on the clasp of the stainless band.

The watch has a display back to showcase that fantastic looking movement.  The 18 jewel B18 movement is a well designed and executed one.  I don't see many manual wind modern watches with a jeweled barrel.  This is something one use to see in Waltham, Elgin, Illinois, and Hamilton pocket watches of the past.  They have the gold jewel settings (chatons) that are held in place with blued screws.  The design reminds me more of a ¾ plate you would find on English made JW Benson pocket watches.  The movement has a good strong even tick and keeps excellent time.

The overall finish of the case is very good.  It shows that they are making a good effort to make sure you are getting a very good deal for the amount you pay for one of these.  The company is also venturing into some realms of very complicated escapements and movements.  My opinion is that these watches are the opportunity to get into owing a watch from a good quality company and I am willing to gamble a chance of a watch that will appreciate in value.