What's going on?

[railman]

On eBay someone is auctioning off a Bunn 60 hour dial. It's over $500 and still going. For a dial? I don't know if it's a repro or NOS. I'm guessing it's real. At the moment there are 18 bids. Am I nuts or is this dial worth that kind of money??

[railman]

On eBay someone is auctioning off a Bunn 60 hour dial. It's over $500 and still going. For a dial? I don't know if it's a repro or NOS. I'm guessing it's real. At the moment there are 18 bids. Am I nuts or is this dial worth that kind of money??

[Kent]

Oh yeah? Wait until you see how much an original mint dial that's marked "Illinois - 23J - Bunn Special - 60 Hour - 6 Positions" goes for.

There are only so many mint dials and a hellava lot more movements that need them.

Kent

[This message has been edited by Kent (edited 04-04-2002).]

[terry hall]

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

The first one you speak of is not the "rare" one either.....

Keep your eye on the one Kent mentions...

Some like peas....some like carrots.

[JP]

Especially if as Kent stated, 60 Hour,
6 Position and Montgomery. It is a factor of what you collect and what you are willing to pay for it.
John.

[Jon Hanson]

supply & demand!

------------------
Jon Hanson, nawcc#8801
President and moderator chapter 149

[railman]

Man, do I have a lot to learn. I need to join the NAWCC. I know a 60 hour Bunn is a prized watch but to pay that kind of money for a dial? I know, someone or some people have a beautiful cased movement with a hairline... Doesn't there come a time, unless you got such a good deal on the movement and case, that you are losing money?

[Tom McIntyre]

Some collectors don't really care about the money if it means having a great watch in their collection. You are correct that it is rarely the case that putting the mint parts together will increase the overall value of the watch above the cost of the parts.

Putting a decent dial in place of a broken one is often a paying proposition since the broken dial is a turn off. Similarly a bad gold filled case makes a watch very difficult to move.

So... (In my opinion) making a watch respectable is a reasonable investment. Making one wonderful is either an act of love or vandalism depending on whether you are a restorationist or a preservationist. :biggrin:

------------------
Tom McIntyre
Past President, NAWCC Chapters 174 and 87
Member Chapters 8, 87, 149, and 174
Pocket Horology Web (http://www.pocketwatch.org)
Tommy the JOAT's Web (http://www.AWCo.org)


[This message has been edited by Tom McIntyre (edited 04-06-2002).]

[terry hall]

you can rest assured that dial is not going on a typical 60 hour Bunn Special. It probably find its way on a 163 Elinvar that someone probably picked up in a pawn shop in the 80's for a hundred bucks....Then it helps the
[pick your poison]
A. value
B. profit

And YES, do join!!

[Kent]

kirxklox:

Prior to 1923 most railroad standard watches were sold as movements only by the watch factories. They were:

a) Cased at the jewelry store in the buyers choice of case when the watch was purchased, or

b) Cased by a jobber or retailer (mail-order or otherwise) and sold as a "bundled" package.

However, there were a significant number of watches that were only sold in factory-signed (or otherwise identifiable) cases. Two well-known examples are (almost) all Ball and Keystone-Howard watches.

Additionally, most railroad standard watches were fitted with double-sunk, glass enamel dials. However, again there exceptions such as, most Ball watches, post-1923 Elgin B.W. Raymond watches, mid-1930's and later Waltham Vanguards.

The trick is to know which watches are supposed to have what dials and be fitted into what cases so that you don't pay an inappropriately large amount of money for a watch that has had its dial or case swapped to something that shouldn't be there.

This gives me an opportunity to repeat one of my favorite quotes:
"You must never do that, you know - buy an expensive watch without knowing anything about watches. You can make terrible mistakes that way." Adolphe Chapiro, "... a top-flight horologist." As quoted in Revolution In Time, by David S. Landes, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA & London, England, 1983, pg, xii.

Kent :smile:

[This message has been edited by Kent (edited 04-05-2002).]

[Jon Hanson]

For the record, A.C. was a clock collector!

------------------
Jon Hanson, nawcc#8801
President and moderator chapter 149

[terry hall]

The monty version sold for less than I expected.

I guess the 'chip' did it in..... ;D