My grandpa died in 2009, and my dad has had his watch since then. I might be the only grandchild who wears a watch, so my dad gave it to me the other day. I had no idea he had it. He'd previously given me the ultra-cheap quartz thing that my grandpa had been wearing at the end. I assumed he was always a Timex guy, but I'd never thought to think that he certainly wore watches pre-quartz. By the looks of it, this one hasn't been worn for a very long time.

I'm trying to figure out what it is... I added three watches at the end. It looks exactly like one of them, but without REVUE and SWISS on it. That seems odd. I don't know very much about vintage watches... I just wonder if this is an early example, like before Wittnauer added the other text, maybe. Paging MKTheVintageBloke, perhaps? Also, the back seems to be upside-down. It says 10K gold filled...

I'm also wondering about getting it cleaned up and repaired. Does anyone have a ballpark number for something like that? I can't imagine it'll be too difficult to find a crown, and I know there are a lot of variables. But you know, am I talking $100 or $500?

I know the most value this watch holds is the cool feels I get from it having been my grandfather's. I could be OK with not fixing it, but obviously, it would be more fun to have it working.

I'll be grateful for any and all input.

I have no experience with vintage, Mr. Boy; however, me and Mrs. C had her grandfather's Lord Elgin restored (and left the patina on the dial). It cost around $300, IIRC.

conjurer wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 18, 2021 9:14 am

I have no experience with vintage, Mr. Boy; however, me and Mrs. C had her grandfather's Lord Elgin restored (and left the patina on the dial). It cost around $300, IIRC.

I agree it shouldn’t be cost prohibitive to get it to a cool place.

I am no vintage expert but Wittnauer was born from a couple of brothers that imported Swiss watches to the US, if I recall correctly. They were eventually purchased by Bulova which is now owned by Citizen.

10K gold filled watches used to be pretty common. As I understand the process, it involves a base metal covered in Gold. Guessing there is some technical difference vs plating but have never read up on it.

Have no doubt that MK can give details on the process and the history of your particular watch that will surpass anything the rest of us can offer.

I have a local watchmaker who is very fair and who I trust. If you don’t have a local reliable one, will be glad to get you his information. Several of the Lords/Damned have used him.

Congrats on a great watch gift. Wish I had my grandfather’s watch.

Wittnauer was using movements from a variety of suppliers - AS, ETA, Record, Revue, even Longines. I saw plenty of muppets selling Wittnauers as Longines, exploiting the fact that Longines and Wittnauer formed a US-based joint venture import company, Longines-Wittnauer.
However, a Wittnauer’s a Wittnauer, nothing more. Wittnauer on its own had some really great designs, and ranged from run-of-the-mill stuff to top-notch sports watches.

Anyway... The earliest use of Revue movements by Wittnauer that I know of is the All-Proof sports watch from the 1930s. Later on, so it would seem, Wittnauer started to add a Revue signature on the dial for pieces with a Revue movement inside.