| Re: Why Gruen ? [message #20667 is a reply to message #20666] |
Tue, 13 October 2026 02:33  |
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JackW
Messages: 2242
Registered: May 2013
Location: Denver
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Gruen Authority
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Jenneke wrote on Wed, 07 October 2026 12:52I only collect Gruen.
...and random Hamilton watches foisted upon you.
Collecting for me started in steps... I worked in the jewelry trade while I was earning my college degree. A pawn shop I worked for had me run the watch repairs to the watchmaker in downtown Chicago. It was from that watchmaker, an elderly gentleman and holocaust survivor that I bought my first collectible watch, about 2001: A 14K Longines from the early 1950s. I had bought vintage watches before this, but this one was a real keeper. I was also on the hunt for finding a replacement to the watch my grandfather had given me, and thought lost in my youth*. Later jobs deepened the interest and then I graduated. I would travel for work post graduation and one location in Ohio that I went often, there was an old family run jewelry store. They had bought estates and also defunct jewelers and watchmakers from around the area. I bought a group of watches and partials; one of which was a Gruen VT Nomad. I then became interested in learning repair; and Gruen watches and their movements were inexpensive. I did not want pocket watches, which are commonly recommended for learning repair work. That Nomad was an early success. I also sold it. But it was that watch and others that connected me to a couple well known Gruen collectors, and I went from there. The mechanics were first and then the styles captured my interest. I collect beyond Gruen.... Hamilton, Longines, Omega and others, also early men's wrist watches from the 1910 to 1920 era, with a range of Swiss and US makes. I've met some nice people in this hobby and like the intellectual and international aspects of it.
*Nearly 40 years after having thought I lost the watch it turned up in a box of stuff from my grandmother; my sister had lived at my grandparents for a while and a box she packed in 1991 on moving out and then never unpacked until 5 years ago had that long missing watch, and several others that belonged to my grandparents.
All I know is based on hard work & writing by others. I can only aspire to augment this body of knowledge. If I am wrong it is because of my own failings. -me
"If I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." - Newton
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