| Author | Message | ||
     Sfm12 New member Username: Sfm12 Post Number: 1 Registered: 12-2009 Rating: N/A |
I have a 67 jewel bucherer. Upon opening, I can't find who made the movement. The rotating weight says "67 Jewel swiss made". I have been looking for info for many years. Every watch collector salivates when they see it. My grandparents bought it at the Bucherer/rolex store in switzerland many years ago. My mother believes it was in the late 1950's or early 60's. I can take pics, but I don't know if I can get close enough to really show the movement. Any help would be greatly appreciated. | ||
| Gregb Intermediate Member Username: Gregb Post Number: 167 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: N/A |
Your watch was manufactured during an era when the industry morals were (ahem) a little looser and the watch companies were taking advantage of the public's ignorance about watch "jewels". A watch jewel is actually just a small piece of synthetic ruby that acts as a bearing surface to reduce friction and wear in a watch. These synthetic "jewels" have no significant monetary value and cost just pennies each. However the general public back then (and now) didn't seem to realize this, so watch companies began producing watches with ridiculous jewel counts. Waltham even introduced a watch with 100 jewels. Watchmakers laughed at this, because only 17-21 jewels actually functioned in the watch and the rest were usually just glued on the movement like sequins. These extra jewels have no functional purpose and add no value to the watch. Your watch is based on an ETA caliber 2451 movement that simply had dozens of non-functioning "jewels" added by Bucherer. | ||
| Sfm12 New member Username: Sfm12 Post Number: 2 Registered: 12-2009 Rating: N/A |
Thanks for the info. A couple questions. What years were these type of "overjeweled" watches produced? How much are these watches worth? | ||
| Gregb Intermediate Member Username: Gregb Post Number: 171 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: N/A |
Jewel count misrepresentation can be found on watches produced in the early 1900s (non-functioning cap jewels added), almost as soon as the method for producing cheap synthetic watch jewels was invented in 1902. However, the most blatant examples of jewel count misrepresentation happened in the 60s and 70s. In 1974, the ISO 1112 standard adopted by the industry put an end to the practice. No accurate idea of value, but I would expect it to be relatively low since it is based on a common ETA caliber and will have limited desirability to a collector. Probably more value as a sentimental keepsake than as a collectible timepiece. |