LRF ANTIQUE WATCHES
TRENCH WATCHES FOR SALE
Be sure to check out the WWI trench watch books I wrote.
"Waltham Trench Watches of the Great War"
"Elgin Trench Watches of the Great War"
"The Inconvenient Truth about the World's First Waterproof Watch"
by Stan Czubernat
Looking for a specific WWI American Trench Watch?
Drop me a line and I'll put you on the "wish list" for that watch.
Listings updated on January 27, 2023
Below is the 1st video I assisted Waltham Watches with for their new
Waltham "Field & Marine" Watch and overall Waltham history.
I'm the narrator and project historical advisor.
The shipment of books have ARRIVED!!!
"The Inconvenient Truth about the World's First Waterproof Watch"
The Story of Charles Depollier and his Waterproof Trench Watches of the Great War"
39mm 1974 Vintage Waltham Chronograph Tachymeter Dive Watch, Valjoux 7736 Movement, 17 Jewels, Reverse Panda Black Dial, Rotating Bezel, Stainless Steel Jubilee Style Bracelet & Black Leather Strap, Serviced, Perfect Working Order, Serviced by the RGM Watch Company
Up for sale today is an exceptionally beautiful and extremely desirable vintage 39mm 1974 Waltham Tachymeter Chronograph Dive Watch that features a high end 17 jewel Valjoux 7736 movement, black reverse panda dial, with the correct style stainless steel bracelet. This absolutely remarkable piece of Swiss made craftsmanship is in SUPERB original condition. Hard to believe that this watch is 48 years old! Our fathers knew how to make things that would last for generations! The 17 jewel movement with a 45 hour power reserve was just serviced by the world famous RGM Watch Company in Pennsylvania. Every aspect of this vintage chronograph is in perfect working order and the timing is superb! This is a MANUAL WIND watch movement. If winding the watch every 24 hours turn the crown forward about 34 times, if winding from a dead stop it will take about 60 turns forward to get full power on the mainspring. The Valjoux 7736 movement was used by many high end Swiss watch manufacturers in the early 1970's like Heuer, Gallet, Tudor and Breitling. The top right "start/stop" and the bottom right "split time/reset pusher" chronograph pushers function EXACTLY as they are suppose to. When zeroing out the "split time/reset pusher" the chronograph second hand goes EXACTLY back to dead center top of the dial. This is a three register chronograph meaning that it times elapsed hours, minutes and seconds. The dial features two Tachymeter rings for measuring time and distance for speed. The three chronograph hands are red in color and they are original to the watch as are the minute and hour hands. This is an Incabloc movement meaning that it is shockproof. This watch has been tested for several weeks on a professional timegraph 5000 Machine for accuracy so rest assured! Take another look at movement picture, this chronograph movement is extremely clean, stunning in beauty, without any corrosion! This is a chrome plated case with a stainless steel case back. The case has NOT been polished. It is in original untouched condition. The condition of the case is almost unbelievable for a watch that is 48 years old! It does have a few minor nicks but nothing major. This is the original factory crown as well. The dive watch bezel is still firm and rotates both ways, it's in fantastic condition. When this Waltham was brand new it had a 100' depth rating. This watch HAS NOT been tested to see if it is still waterproof. After acquiring this Waltham it took me a few days to find an original advertisement for this model. I was able to find the advert for this Waltham in Canada of all places. The advert was published in the November 23, 1974 edition of the Windsor Star Newspaper for the retailor Simpson-Sears. The advert shows this model originally coming with a stainless steel Jubilee style metal bracelet. I was able to source a bracelet that is extremely close to the original shown in the advert. The metal bracelet will fit a wrist up to about 7.75 inches. This is NOT the OEM bracelet. I'll also include a 20mm black leather strap with white stitching! The watch measures 46mm lug tip to lug tip, 39mm going across not including the factory crown with a 20mm lug width. The crystal is still in very good condition with only a few minor nicks, nothing major. This watch is ready to be worn and shown off, it will surely get noticed! I put a lot of time and effort into this Waltham, I'm sure that you will appreciate the quality and quantity of work that has been done. I've been wearing this Waltham for the past month and it has performed flawlessly! Solid old World craftsmanship at its finest! You would be seriously hard pressed to find a finer example of this vintage black reverse panda dial 39mm 1974 Waltham Tachymeter Chronograph Dive Watch featuring the extremely desirable Valjoux 7736 movement that is in perfect working order after being serviced by the RGM Watch Company! This one sets the bar!
1919 Waltham Depollier "THERMO" Waterproof Watch, Depollier Developed Waterproof Technology, 36mm Threaded .830 Silver Hermetic Case, Original Factory Screw Down Crown, High End 15 Jewel Movement, Factory Military Grade Yellow Crystal with a Hand Made
Tan KHAKI STRAP and Sterling Silver Slider Clasp
This 1919 Waltham Depollier "THERMO" Waterproof Watch will be HEAVILY featured in my upcoming 3rd book.
"The Inconvenient Truth about the World's First Waterproof Watch,
The Story of Charles Depollier and his Waterproof Trench Watches of the Great War"
341 pages, hardbound, ISBN: 978-0-578-29133-8
Test copy of the book NOT included but I'll ship the buyer a copy when the books arrive.
Up for sale today is a watch that has been missing from the historical record for decades. This is the HIGH END version of the Waltham Depollier "Field & Marine" Waterproof Watch. The Field & Marine" was made of nickel. This highly elusive model was named the 1919 Waltham Depollier 'THERMO" Waterproof Watch. The Waltham Depollier "THERMO" Waterproof Watches were only made in .830 silver and 14k solid gold. This is the SILVER version! The side of the case reads "DEPOLLIER WATERPROOF WATCH TRADEMARK". This absolutely remarkable piece of American craftsmanship is in SUPERB condition and has been mechanically restored! Hard to believe that this waterproof watch is 103 years old! All modern dive watches and waterproof watches today can be traced back to this model, the technology developed by Depollier started it all! Our Grandfather's knew how to make things that would last for generations! The movement was just completely taken apart and serviced on 1-18-2022, a brand new mainspring has also been installed. It's in superb running condition and keeping excellent time. This watch has been tested on a professional timegraph 5000 Machine for accuracy so rest assured! Take another look at picture number three again, this 15 jewel movement is clean as a whistle and stunning in its beauty! I'm sure that you have noticed by now that this is not your ordinary trench watch case by a long shot! This is a .830 SILVER waterproof trench watch case that was manufactured by J. Depollier & Son in 1919. The FIVE Depollier patent dates that made this waterproof watch possible are stamped on the inside of the case back, 1916 - 1919. Case number: 289. Years of R&D by Depollier went into this case design! This is a fully hermetic waterproof case so the bezel and case back are both threaded, the threading is in excellent condition! Nobody over the past 103 years has tried to open the case the wrong way by prying it open. So many of these cases have been destroyed by somebody trying to improperly pry the case open but this one is just superb. This case is highly prized by collectors for its beauty & design features and incredible historical importance. This waterproof technology developed by Charles Depollier was tested by Lieutenant Colonel Mauborgne of the United States Army Signal Corps in 1918 and it passed the tests with flying colors. He was the Chief of the United States Army Signal Corps Engineering & Research Division when he tested this watch design. He would soon thereafter purchase 10,000 of them for the US Army. Lieutenant Colonel Mauborgne would later become a TWO STAR Major General and the Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army. Depollier developed the world's first waterproof wrist watch that actually worked and kept the water out! Plus, this case still has the original factory silver crown! The case has not been polished, just cleaned. This watch is simply incredible! The enamel dial on this trench watch is among the most desirable that Waltham ever produced, the Shadow Box Military Dial! The dial features a white face, shadow box numerals, outer minute markers, the correct blue steel skeleton hands for this dial and is signed "WALTHAM" near the center. The dial and skeleton hands have been re-lumed using safe modern material. Very nice dark brown color for that very desirable vintage look! This historic and iconic American trench watch has been fitted with a hand made 16mm tan KHAKI STRAP and a sterling silver slider clasp that absolutely makes the watch! Take a look at picture number two again, this watch looks stunning on the wrist! The strap will fit a wrist up to 8.5 inches. It will have a bit of wear on it because I seriously could not resist wearing this one for a few days, can you blame me? It's kind of like Ferris Bueller and that Ferrari, if you had access to one would you just leave it in a garage? I think not! Here are the movement details: 1919 Waltham, 15 jewels, size 3/0s, serial number 21413784, grade 365, model 1907. The high end movement features a solid gold center wheel, solid gold raised jewel chatons and solid gold balance wheel screws! They just don't make them like this anymore! The case measures a whopping 44mm lug tip to lug tip, 36mm not including the original factory crown with a nice and wide 16mm lug diameter. The case weighs an incredible 39.6 grams of .830 silver without the movement or 1.39 ounces. That is a lot of silver considering your run of the mill WWI sterling silver trench watch case only weighs about 12 grams. This EXTREMELY RARE "THERMO" model still has a yellow military crystal. Charles Depollier wrote a booklet back in 1917 titled "The Watch in the Trenches", on pages 13-14 he discusses the need for a dark colored crystal. This was intended to lessen the brightness of the radium lume. You certainly didn't want an enemy sniper taking you out from across "no-man's land". The original dark yellow crystal has some scratches, but nothing that I would consider major. This watch winds and sets exactly as it should and the screw down crown locks into place just as it should! It has no issues. The two shoulders that the crown screws down into are also in excellent condition. This watch is ready to be worn and shown off, it will surely get noticed! I put a lot of time and effort into this Waltham Depollier, I'm sure that you will appreciate the quality and quantity of work that has been done. Solid old World craftsmanship at its finest! You would be seriously hard pressed to find a ANOTHER example of this 1919 Waltham Depollier "THERMO" Waterproof Watch featuring a high end 15 jewel movement, re-lumed shadow box military dial & hands, factory original yellow military grade crystal, screw down crown, Depollier .830 silver case with the five Depollier patent dates stamped into the case back with a hand made tan KHAKI STRAP with a slider clasp. All sales are final, no returns.
It's the ONLY ONE currently known to exist!
