EVERY TRUE
COLLECTOR'S FANTASY
by GARY GEORGE
It is every
true collector's dream, A long-forgotten safety deposit box key. A safety
deposit sign in slip with years and years of accumulated dust. The
adrenaline-pumping moments as the guards carry the boxes to the private room for
your inspection. The door closes. You are alone with the steel boxes. Opening
the first lid, you find hundreds of examples of your collecting passion. Old
examples. But exactly as they came from the factory the day they were made. In
the factory delivery boxes, Never opened, Never used. Pristine. Imagine the
thrill.
Ron Geweniger can. He
experienced it in late-May when he acquired the entire inventory of "new
old-stock" Breitlings from the estate of Joseph item of Zurich who first
uncovered them in 1996. These are Breitlings that date from before August 1979
when the almost 100-year old Breitling firm was closed after Willy Breitling's
death earlier that year. That was at a time, as you will no doubt recall, when
the market for mechanical Swiss watches was moribund due to the advent of
low-priced watches from the Far East, a price war, the inflated Swiss Franc, and
the enthusiasm for electronic watches. Voluntarily closing the firm prevented a
public auction of the remaining property. Rather than disposing of them for a
pittance, the watches were stored away in a vault. And there they stayed for 17
years, outlasting the mania for quartz movements and enduring until an
appreciation for quality mechanical chronographic movements was
resurrected.
"It's like finding hundreds of
completely untrod-upon 19th century Persian rugs", said Geweniger "or an armory
full of Civil War Confederate Officer's sabers and scabbards still in their
original packaging. Completely unlikely and almost certainly a
once-in-a-lifetime experience for me." As might be expected with a "fresh from
the factory" item, each watch comes with the original factory sticker on the
back with the original retail selling price on it.
The impact of this find on
collectors has been predictable. One bought one of each kind. Another bought two
to put away as presents for the time when his young sons reach maturity. To make
them more accessible to the world-wide community of watch collectors Geweniger
has posted a complete catalog of the available inventory on his two Web sites: www.oldworldjewelers.com and www.ewatchshow.com. He
has also kept the watches in their original condition, unopened and unserviced
since the day they were made. He recommends that those who intend to wear their
watch should have it serviced first, as the passage of so any years may have
caused the lubricating oils to evaporate.
According to Geweniger,
Breitlings are watches with a purpose, Telling the time with impressive accuracy
is just the starting point for most of them. Probably the best known is the
"Navitimer", introduced in 1952 and designed to meet the needs of flying
enthusiasts, racing fans, and sports people of all varieties. It could be used
to make all the necessary calculations for a rally or a flight- a true
navigational instrument for the wrist. When it was updated in 1962 to include a
24-hour dial, it was named the "Cosmonaute" and was worn by Lt. Commander Scott
Carpenter during NASA'S Mercury program. (There are a limited number Cosmonautes
in this collection.)
In 1969 the Breitling firm
participated in the joint development of an "automatic chronograph" a mechanical
chronograph with automatic winding The watch, a sensation for the Swiss watch
industry, became known as the "Chronomat." As part of the
"Chronomat-Chrono-Matic" series, some 300,000 were produced including a variant
automatic model for sailors known as the "Super Ocean."
"Where would runners be,"
queried Geweniger, "without the ground-breaking innovation by Breitling of a
light-weight watch made of a composite of high-strength polymers and carbon
fiber and finished with a stainless steel bezel and engraved scale to time heart
rates? Introduced in the late '60s, it was named "Sprint,"
naturally."
All these and ore-
"Trans-Oceans," "Datoras," "Referee's watches," "Long Playings," Pupitres," and
dozens of Breitling stop watches of all descriptions- were in the Swiss vaults,
keeping measure of the time until their time would come again. And now, thanks
to the foresight of Willy Breitling and the luck of Joseph Iten and Ron
Geweniger, it has.
Among the world-wide network of
collectors with whom Geweniger regularly deals is what he refers to as the "CEO
Club," whose members tend to be chief executive officers of major corporations.
He will conduct searches for particularly rare and elusive models and will go to
auctions on behalf of a collector to inspect particular lots and bid for them.
Recently he acquired and sold a Rolex "Star Dial" Automatic Moonphase
wristwatch, ca. 1950 and one of only 350 produced, to one of his "CEO Club"
members. Some of his collectors, though, have only modest sums to spend each
year, For them he suggests that instead of spending their entire budget on a
single watch they buy a number of vintage watches in a more modest price range
(by the way, over half the Breitlings in this collection are less than $2,000).
That way they have a chance to expand their collections and keep their interest
active. For those with more to invest, he entices them with his constantly
changing offerings that with this collection of Breitlings include such rarities
as highly unusual versions of Chronomatic Breitlings. He believes he has the
best selection of "crisp" vintage wrist-watches in the Chicago area; and should
a collector be interested in seeing antique Swiss pocket watches as well, his
selection is equally deep.
Old World Jewelers does a
considerable amount of its business daily over its toll-free telephone line and
lnternet Web site. The showroom is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and the occasional
Saturday when Geweniger is not attending one of the ore than 15 antique jewelry
and vintage watch "Marts" around the country each year. (If you are visiting
Chicago, it would be prudent to call ahead to make an appointment to visit Old
World Jewelers.) In 1991 he organized an auction of some 200 fine antique and
vintage pocket and wrist watches featuring the magnificent private collection of
Chicago based watchmaker Paul Kist, which attracted collectors
world-wide Geweniger is a member of thc National Association of Watch and Clock
Collectors, International Watch and Jewelry Guild, Gemological Institute of
America Alumni Association, and Jewelers Security Alliance.
Old World Jewelers is
at
212 W. Front Street
Wheaton,
Illinois 60187
P. (630) 933-0100
Their web site address is
http://www.oldworldjewelers.com
