| Author | Message | ||
     Cszwed New member Username: Cszwed Post Number: 1 Registered: 08-2010 Rating: N/A |
This Bulova watch was my fathers. The initials on the face are his. The watch is being restored and I hope to have it back in 2-3 weeks. The watch maker informed me that the scrap value is almost $3000. The watch case is platinum and the face has diamonds in the numbers. The Complete Price Guide to Watches by Cooksey Shugart list this watch as a diamond dial 1939 watch. This is the only reference to this watch that I know of. I was looking for a little more information on this watch. When I get it back I will have pictures of the movement and the numbers. I didn't expect it to have any value so I didn't take a lot of pictures and only included it with another 1888 Waltham pocket watch that I sent in for repair.    | ||
| Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 4744 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
I don't think the scrap is $3000. You may want to get a second opnion on that. Most scrappers are paying very little for small diamonds. | ||
| Cszwed New member Username: Cszwed Post Number: 2 Registered: 08-2010 Rating: N/A |
I don't know about scrap values. I don't wish to sell as this watch has a history in my family. Did you see the value put on it from The watch guide? Have you ever seen this kind of watch? | ||
| Gregb Advanced Member Username: Gregb Post Number: 301 Registered: 10-2006 Rating: |
Several companies made watches similar to this: long tank-shaped cases with diamond numerals. Hamilton had a model like this, Longines had one and many other companies also made them. The Shugart guide shows many of the different brands. I'm suspicious that the same casemaker probably made all these cases for the various manufacturers since platinum cases generally weren't/couldn't be make in-house. I was thinking the same thing as Zaf when I read the statement about scrap value of $3,000 - way, way off. Only the case itself is platinum and that's only about 15-20 grams of 90% pure (.900) platinum. With platinum at $1530/oz (100% pure), .900 platinum will be roughly $43.25/gram. Your 15-20 gram case has $650-$865 worth of platinum. After you consider that scrappers will only pay about 70% of the platinum spot price for scrap (since platinum is MUCH harder to refine than scrap gold), you only have about $575 in scrap value on the watch... about 1/6th of what your watchmaker told you. Probably a worthless exercise to calculate scrap value since your watch is a desirable model and unlikely to be scrapped, but I wanted to go through the calculations to show how far off your watchmaker was from reality. It's always good to know whether your local experts know their stuff or just blow smoke. As mentioned, the watch is a desirable model, but unfortunately the brand (Bulova) isn't generally as sought after as other makers who made similar models. Not to say that Bulova didn't make a good product, but most of their watches were marketed as "budget" models and not as top-tier models. This means collectors who specialize in Bulova aren't generally accustomed to paying big $$$ for them. The Shugart guide is probably accurate in this instance (this doesn't happen often). I would probably expect your watch, in average working condition, to fetch around $750 at auction. |
