"Philip Watch men’s Wisdom GMT automatic leather strap watch that has only been worn once. Comes in its original watch case and outer cardboard box, plus the owner’s manual. Originally retailed at $745.00."

This was pretty much all the seller had to say about this watch when I first came across it on feeBay. He had a couple of pretty decent pictures, and a very decent Buy-it-Now price. I've seen my buddy AJC wearing one of these beauties, and it always bowled me over, so I hit the BIN button and never looked back...





Here are the 'particulars'...

Strap: Genuine leather
Movement: Swiss ETA 2893 automatic
Crystal: Sapphire
Crown: Push/pull
Strap Measurements: 9" L x 22 mm W
Case Measurements: 40 mm
Water Resistance: 5 ATM—50 meters—165 feet
Model Number (White): R8221176045



YES, I admit it; these 53 year-old eyes have a pretty - okay, very - difficult time reading all those 'place names' arranged so beautifully around the dial. But that's why I (1) keep reading glasses in just about every room in the house, and (2) keep the watch in a winder so any resetting I need to do is minimal. (So far, it's required no adjustments in the nearly one month I've owned it.) Of course, it's not at all hard to set this beautiful watch, but you do need to be comfortable with GMT, 'military' or '24-hour' timekeeping. (I figure all WIS and the vast majority of would-be WIS, like myself, are comfortable with this, but you never know, so I put it out there, just in case.) The hands reflect the wearer's local time, and the movable inner dial is lined up to the wearer's equivalent GMT time, indicated by the city nearest to his/her time zone. As a west-coaster, my local meridian is represented by the 'S.FRANCISCO' notation on the dial. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy...





I've used my beautiful and beloved 1938 Zenith 'Round Dial' console radio (yes, it works!) as background because it too features a wonderful arrangement of foreign and often exotic places in a circular format on the dial. These two pieces - Philip Wisdom watch & Zenith Deluxe radio - both remind me of a time when travel was truly an adventure, and people knew the times in foreign places, not because they had to, but because it was the norm for radio listeners who didn't limit themselves to only the AM band, but went exploring up and down the shortwave dial, as well. At one time, the BBC on SW was nearly as popular as the AM broadcasts by the CBS, NBC and DuMont networks.





The watch is very comfortable on the wrist, due in large part to the very supple leather strap and the simple-to-adjust and use dual-deployant clasp. The thin case looks even thinner on the wrist, and its beautiful, highly-polished surfaces balance perfectly off the simple, dark brown strap (which just happens to match the color and even the texture of my dad's old USN 55J14 flight jacket).





You really do forget that it's there as you go about your day, though I never forget because I'm always admiring the way it looks on my freckly old wrist.



Many thanks to AJC for showing me this great watch in the WURW threads...it was only a matter of time before this deceased old SLUFFer would locate and purchase this fine Philip 'Wisdom.' Troublingly, though, I don't seem any wiser as of yet. Nonetheless, it's an amazing watch and I really enjoy wearing it - sometimes for days at a time.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this wonderful NOS beauty.



Mort OUT

Nice watch Mortuus, love the movement as well.

Now to get my hands on one of your restored radios...........

Very nice mort! You got the white/robin's egg blue version I missed out on. I still haven't seen a watch with a 289x series movement even close in price to this watch. I love the crown, and the strap, how soft is the strap?

Great pick up!

Great catch, Mort! I've got the exact same model (almost exact: a bit of a QC lapse at the factory allowed mine to get through with the "2" on the 20 of the 24 hour index missing, which makes mine, I suppose, a piece unique).

Mrs. Conjurer picked this one up for me for Christmas a few years back, when ShopNBC was giving them away at, I think, $199. A nice watch, with a very rare movement (I've only seen a couple of other makers use it, including Zeno.) I personally think that Philip mislabelled this one, since it's really a world timer and not a GMT.

Anyway, Mort, great writeup and pics!

Handsome watch. Great review. Enjoyed the pics as well. Thanks, Mort for another great watch and review.

conjurer wrote:Great catch, Mort! I've got the exact same model (almost exact: a bit of a QC lapse at the factory allowed mine to get through with the "2" on the 20 of the 24 hour index missing, which makes mine, I suppose, a piece unique).

I had a number of [color=black]pieces unique, but most of them were older cars that were missing small parts here and there, like a side-view mirror, or a hubcap or maybe a radiator or an engine...and no one seemed to take me seriously when I asserted their value as 'collector items.' Some folks just have no vision. [/color]

conjurer wrote:Mrs. Conjurer picked this one up for me for Christmas a few years back, when ShopNBC was giving them away at, I think, $199. A nice watch, with a very rare movement (I've only seen a couple of other makers use it, including Zeno.) I personally think that Philip mislabelled this one, since it's really a world timer and not a GMT.

That's an excellent point, one that I wish I'd thought of, though the nomenclature of horology seems to have a lot of flexibility, enough that 'World Timer' and 'GMT' are both applicable. Still, as a WISIT (WIS In Training), I agree with your supposition and would also lean in the 'World Timer' direction. (Jeebus, did I really just use the word 'supposition' in a sentence? Jeebus Cripes, I'm even writing like an old fart...)

I would also add that, at least IMHO, Philip could have asked for and gotten a much larger price for this amazing watch. As I said in my write-up, I've had to do zero time adjustments in the last 30+ days. Add to that the comparative rarity of this movement, and I'm thinking that, in addition to mislabelling the watch, they almost certainly mispriced it, as well.

conjurer wrote:Anyway, Mort, great writeup and pics!

Thanks, Conj! I used the "Conjurer Photography Method," wherein one takes a whole buttload of pix and, by sheer chance alone, occasionally comes up with a decent shot... All kidding aside, your feedback is always greatly appreciated, Monsieur Illusionniste.