Vintage Gruen
The forum for Gruen watch enthusiasts.

Home » General Talk, Buying and Selling » For Sale/Wanted/Free » Seeking A Cal410 mid-40s, w/Roman Numeral 12
Seeking A Cal410 mid-40s, w/Roman Numeral 12 [message #19824] Fri, 19 September 2025 03:46 Go to next message
Cal410 is currently offline  Cal410
Messages: 3
Registered: September 2025
Gruen Apprentice
Good evening all, new member but have been thankful for your remarkable reference sections multiple times in the past.  Not strictly a Gruen collector but a lover a watches in general.  I tend to pick a new one up at various new milestones in life, adding to the sentimentality of the occasion.

I am on the hunt for a very specific Cal410.  I would very much like to find one with the face which has a roman numeral 12, and the "beaded"/"chainlink" style bracelet.

Yes, I am sure you all know I'm trying to find a duplicate of the one worn by Frank Sinatra, probably the most noteble one ever bought.  I view it as a means of honoring his sense of style, and paying respect to an era that was in many ways unto itself.  I am now the same age he was when he got it [29-30 in 1944-45], and when much of my generation would prefer to go the the supermarket in their pajamas, I go against the grain lol!  

This is truly a holy grail hunt for me, and I extend my gratitude in advance if anyone has one with these specs that they would consider passing on.

I read the wonderful article about his Gruen, but if anyone has any further details I would love to hear!

Kindest regards,

-Cal410

/vgforum/index.php?t=getfile&id=11825&private=0

Edited by admin: put resized picture inline for easy viewing
  • Attachment: IMG_9794.jpeg
    (Size: 91.58KB, Downloaded 136 times)

[Updated on: Fri, 19 September 2025 20:58] by Moderator

Report message to a moderator

Re: Seeking A Cal410 mid-40s, w/Roman Numeral 12 [message #19839 is a reply to message #19824] Sat, 20 September 2025 01:31 Go to previous message
JackW is currently offline  JackW
Messages: 2073
Registered: May 2013
Location: Denver
Gruen Authority
Head Janitor
Site Admin
Ah! Picture is here.

I have seen this model before. My notes indicate one was for sale on eBay in March 2011. The Case is a match in my opinion to Import 257, which is 14K pink gold. Shawkey's collector's guide (out of print) indicates is came with a cal 410 or cal 420. The one that sold in 2011 had a 420.

It seems to also be shown in an ad from 1945:
/vgforum/index.php?t=getfile&id=11836&private=0

Considering the similarity in style and time frame to this watch, if Monkey's hypothesis is correct (and likely is) that these are low production, you might be in for a long wait.

Hope you find one. I'll keep my eye's peeled for one and will let you know.

Too bad there are not more pictures of the watch:
https://catalog.antiquorum.swiss/en/auctions/new-york-2009-0 6-11/lots?amount_st=&amount_st=1&from_price=&to_ price=&q=&goto=254


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

[Updated on: Sat, 20 September 2025 01:53]

Report message to a moderator

Previous Topic: Looking for 505 movement
Next Topic: Need roller table for a 707
Goto Forum:
  


Current Time: Thu Oct 02 23:34:51 UTC 2025

Total time taken to generate the page: 0.03319 seconds