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Unknown 5th Avenue [message #14342] Thu, 14 January 2021 04:14 Go to next message
thesnark17 is currently offline  thesnark17
Messages: 649
Registered: January 2017
Gruen Master
Model name : unknown
Type : wristwatch
Period/date : 1932
Gender : men's

Case Maker : Gruen 5th Avenue
Case Material : 14k gold
Case Serial : 55123
Case Style no : none

Caliber : 325 21 jewel variant
Movement Maker : Gruen Guild
Movement Serial: 235033
Other: Marked 5 Adjustments

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I had no idea what I was getting with this one... it has definitely surpassed expectations, even if it's only a 20 jewel watch at the moment! Anyone got a scrap 21 jewel variant lying around, and if so, can I buy the pallet cap jewel setting?

Did any of these 5th Avenue models have names, or were they all unique?

[Updated on: Mon, 19 September 2022 04:07] by Moderator

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Re: Any hope for an ID on a 5th Avenue watch? [message #14345 is a reply to message #14342] Thu, 14 January 2021 18:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
afire is currently offline  afire
Messages: 1312
Registered: May 2013
Location: Wisconsin
Gruen Authority
thesnark17 wrote on Wed, 13 January 2021 22:14
Did any of these 5th Avenue models have names, or were they all unique?
No, they were regular production, but as with most solid gold models of this era, rare. And this was pretty early in the naming era. Some 325 models had names (Longacre, Fleetwood, Carlton, Arlington) but I would say the majority did not. It may just be "Quadron XXX" without a name. I don't know if this is a hard and fast rule, but it seems to me that Gruens from the early 1930s only got names if they were advertised, and I would suspect a low production model like this probably wouldn't have been.

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Re: Any hope for an ID on a 5th Avenue watch? [message #14347 is a reply to message #14342] Thu, 14 January 2021 18:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
afire is currently offline  afire
Messages: 1312
Registered: May 2013
Location: Wisconsin
Gruen Authority
thesnark17 wrote on Wed, 13 January 2021 22:14
Anyone got a scrap 21 jewel variant lying around, and if so, can I buy the pallet cap jewel setting?
Is that jewel setting only found on the 3251? I may have one, but I definitely have one or two 325s in the parts department.

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Re: Any hope for an ID on a 5th Avenue watch? [message #15302 is a reply to message #14347] Wed, 28 July 2021 23:57 Go to previous messageGo to next message
thesnark17 is currently offline  thesnark17
Messages: 649
Registered: January 2017
Gruen Master
I have no idea whether it is unique to the 3251. Maybe I will see what I can scrounge - I have one or two scrap 117s. But I suspect that it is unique, since none of the other Quadrons had capped pallet forks.

Another one of these has shown up on Ebay. Identical in every way (except the inscription on the back). So this was probably one of the more common models of 5th Avenue (since two turned up in a year).

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Re: Any hope for an ID on a 5th Avenue watch? [message #15307 is a reply to message #15302] Thu, 29 July 2021 15:04 Go to previous message
afire is currently offline  afire
Messages: 1312
Registered: May 2013
Location: Wisconsin
Gruen Authority
thesnark17 wrote on Wed, 28 July 2021 18:57
Another one of these has shown up on Ebay. Identical in every way (except the inscription on the back). So this was probably one of the more common models of 5th Avenue (since two turned up in a year).
Boy, I don't know. These two are the only ones I've ever spotted (although up until fairly recently, I really wasn't looking for yellow gold watches). This and the Longacre one other in the Master Book (with an empty case where you can clearly see the 5th Ave marking) are the only ones I can think of. I believe a departed collector I knew had one of those. They're all pretty rare. I've had two Longacres and seen a handful more, two of these, and one of the other. I think the timing for these 5th Ave. Quadrons was not ideal, pricey solid gold watches right as the Great Depression was really taking hold.

And this jogs my memory to check for a 325/3251 in my parts drawer. Feel free to PM me if I forget again, which is my way.

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