| 1923 14k Green Gold Men's Strap Watch [message #15591] |
Fri, 01 October 2021 21:08  |
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afire
Messages: 1331
Registered: May 2013
Location: Wisconsin
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Gruen Authority |
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Model name: Unknown
Type: Strap Watch
Period/date: 1923
Gender: Men's
Case Maker: Unknown Swiss
Case Material: 14k Green Gold
Case Serial: 7979*
Case Style no: N/A
Caliber: 997
Movement Maker: Unknown
Movement Serial: 94508
Bracelet: Leather Strap
Other Information: As far as I can tell from reviewing the caliber 98 thread, we still do not know who manufactured the 98/99/997 movements. This watch has a June of 1926 inscription, but Case helped me pin down a likely date of 1923. Which would also explain why it doesn't appear in the Master Book. It still has its original buckle, marked "Gruen 14k-G B&N Pat. Pending". The case is marked "14C" rather than "14K". I've seen this on other cases, but have yet to identify any rhyme or reason. I would assume it's just nomenclature unique to certain casemakers. I also don't have any leads on who the casemaker might be. Weber cases can usually (but not always) be spotted by their typical X00XXX six-digit numbers. There was another Swiss casemaker working for Gruen with five-digit serial numbers that is also unidentified.
*While at a glance, it looks somewhat like 7379, I'm fairly confident that the second digit is a misstruck 9.
Pictures:
The only known advertisement featuring this model:
This is a 1925 catalog from jeweler S. Kind & Sons of Philadelphia (thanks for Jenneke and Barney for that information). While the catalog references a 15-jewel movement and has a luminous dial, this watch is from the era in which Gruen models were often shown this way, with an illustration of the case style, but then a number of options listed.
And here is a photograph of its original owner, Erret Reed Cooper:
Mr. Cooper was an attorney in LaPorte, Indiana. His great great uncle was none other than James Fennimore Cooper. He was born in 1903, so would have been 23 at the time this watch was given to him. But he didn't receive his Bachelor of Laws degree until 1929. He also held an "honorary degree of Bachelor of Oratory was conferred on him by the British Royal Academy at Christ College, Oxford, England." The article I found doesn't mention when this was received, but maybe a candidate as the occasion for which this watch was gifted.
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