Vintage Gruen: For Sale/Wanted/Free » 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case

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18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #918]

Tue, 02 July 2013 23:43

slinfiniti
Messages: 27
Registered: May 2013
Location: Raleigh NC

Gruen Apprentice

I will be receiving this watch soon. It is a Quadron in a 18 karat white and yellow gold Weber case with the engraved caliber 123 movement. I know the crown is not original, I would like some direction to what the original crowns color and style,

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g444/slinfiniti/3645D591-BF6F-48E7-85BA-124A83542B54-2467-000001B61535F41B_zps182a781b.jpg

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Re: 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #924 is a reply to message #918]

Wed, 03 July 2013 11:34

Thojil
Messages: 650
Registered: May 2013
Location: Concorès, France

Gruen Master

Possibly this one originally had a special "dust proof" crown with a sliding spigot that is held by the case. I have two Quadrons and a Curvex 330 with this type of crown and have seen many more examples. You should check the opening where the stem goes through, which is typically quite large for this type of crown.

There is one caveat though and that is that these are all US produced Wadsworth cases and yours has a Swiss case. One thing is for sure, the thickness of the crown should be reduced by half... Very Happy

Images are seller's pictures of my watches. Haven't had the time to do better ones, but I think you'll get the picture.

index.php?t=getfile&id=441&private=0

Attachment: Curvex cal 330 dustproof crown detail.jpg
(Size: 19.79KB, Downloaded 1855 times)
Attachment: Gruen Quadron 157 movement orgineel.jpg
(Size: 588.60KB, Downloaded 1869 times)
Attachment: Gruen Quadron 325 movement orgineel.jpg
(Size: 185.80KB, Downloaded 1945 times)

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Re: 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #925 is a reply to message #924]

Wed, 03 July 2013 13:51

C. Hurt
Messages: 243
Registered: May 2013

Gruen Guildsman

Typically, the crown color matches the center section of a two-toned case. You should look for one of the Gruen patent dustproof crowns.

You will apparently need a pair of hands as well.

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Re: 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #928 is a reply to message #925]

Wed, 03 July 2013 16:48

afire
Messages: 1332
Registered: May 2013
Location: Wisconsin

Gruen Authority

The dustproof crowns won't work with these cases. The opening is quite a bit smaller. I used to have this model. I used a low profile white crown, large enough in diameter to fill most of that gap. With the white/pink/white layout, I think white sort of continues the motif best. Here's a (not very good) pic of mine:

http://mccarthyorth.smugmug.com/Music/Hotlinking/i-SxB2PGC/0/O/GW1.jpg

And Cary's right about those hands. They're not correct. I think the hands and dial on mine were all original. The good news is that this style of hand is pretty common and generic replacements shouldn't be too hard to find. If you can get a pair that fit regardless of color, International will plate them white (rhodium, I think). They even do seconds hands, but yours already looks correct to me. And I'd get the dial redone in pink too.

[Updated on: Wed, 03 July 2013 16:49]

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Re: 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #929 is a reply to message #928]

Wed, 03 July 2013 18:16

slinfiniti
Messages: 27
Registered: May 2013
Location: Raleigh NC

Gruen Apprentice

The watch is 18 karat white and yellow gold. I have read somewhere that the crown on these watches were never solid gold. The more I examine the pictures that were sent, the more I may conclude that the center bezel may be 18 karat rose gold.

What style of hands would be appropriate for this model? I should have the watch in about a week, I will take some pictures and seek additional advice.

If the center bezel is 18 karat rose gold , would the dial color option be pink / salmon color, if so, then the hands would be white I speculate.

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Re: 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #930 is a reply to message #929]

Wed, 03 July 2013 19:52

afire
Messages: 1332
Registered: May 2013
Location: Wisconsin

Gruen Authority

I'm almost certain you'll find that it's white and rose gold. And yes, the dial should be salmon colored. The watch I posted is the same model with the original dial and hands. And the hands are white. I'm realizing that my picture is so lousy it's hard to even make out the shape of the hands. I'm borrowing a picture from Cary's Annapolis thread. This is the correct style, although with its small face, your watch would take shorter hands than the Annapolis. It's nice that both hands are the same shape. I always find that locating the usual spade hour hand is much harder than this other style.

http://www.knology.net/~churt4/images/ID%20thread%20pics/IMG_0180.JPG

[Updated on: Wed, 03 July 2013 19:53]

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Re: 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #931 is a reply to message #930]

Wed, 03 July 2013 20:29

slinfiniti
Messages: 27
Registered: May 2013
Location: Raleigh NC

Gruen Apprentice

Thank you for the tips. It regards to the hands. Where might be a good place to start looking for a pair. It sounds as if ID will be doing a dial refinish in salmon and they could rhodium plate the replacement hands at the same time. In addition, would the salmon colored dial be the same exact style?

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Re: 18K White and Yellow Gold Weber Case [message #932 is a reply to message #931]

Wed, 03 July 2013 21:29

afire
Messages: 1332
Registered: May 2013
Location: Wisconsin

Gruen Authority

It looks to me like the print on your dial is correct. I'm assuming that's just distortion from an old ill-fitting or warped plastic crystal causing it to look out of square. But the configuration is right.
As to a source for hands, I don't really know. If it were me, I'd check with any watchmakers you deal with, supply houses (Otto Frei or Jules Borel come to mind) or eBay sellers who have a lot of hands and explain what you need. I don't know what those are really called. I've seen dart, plume, spade and other names used. But they're definitely a common style. If you can provide hole sizes (60 for minute and 120 for hour, IIRC) and length from hole center to tip, somebody should have them. I can try to look among my parts, but I'm honestly not very good about digging up stuff like this.

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