Sales Demonstration Movements

[wspohn]

I've seen several demo movements, usually contained between two lenticular pieces of glass held together with a metal rim. One I had is a late 1950s early 1960s Girard Perregaux Gyromatic as pictured, although the pics are from an ebay auction (mine is identical).

I was wondering how common this sort of sales demo was and what other makes people have seen.




I also have one of the GP movements made (and filled with( for Shell Oil.

 

[Hawk53]

My understanding is that all of the mfgs. had them but they're rarely see in the wild so to speak.Most company's required them to be turned in as the models changed or the salesman left the company.

 

[Dave Coatsworth]

At one time, I had this Hamilton 500 piece.

 

[Tim Orr]

made (and filled with( for Shell Oil.

Good evening!

You don't mean that the watch is full of oil, do you? That truly would be strange.

Best regards!

Tim Orr

 

[Jim Haney]

Good evening!

You don't mean that the watch is full of oil, do you? That truly would be strange.

Best regards!

Tim Orr

Tim
You lead such a sheltered life

Shell Oil watches from Fobs Thread


Shell Motor Oil Pocket Watch Ad!

 

[Jeff Hess]

Good evening!

You don't mean that the watch is full of oil, do you? That truly would be strange.

Best regards!

Tim Orr

These were given away as gas stations ... by an oil company... as some kind of premium.

Jeff

 

[wspohn]

The one I have has the oil removed. Apparently having it oil filled made it run a bit slower but they would still run. Can you imagine having to remove the back crystal, drain the watch, adjust the timing, refill with oil and reseat the crystal, trying not to include too much air in the watch. repeat heaven knows how many times before you had it keeping good time.

They were a great advertising gimmick, though! Also have a (fairly worn) fob that went with them. Guess it may be just a coincidence that GP made both of the sales demos I have (as well as a jewellery store clock I posted in another thread).

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon!

I understand the concept of lubricating with Shell motor oil. From reading the threads, what is in question was whether or not the whole case was filled with oil. Had to have a serious effect on rating.

For what it is worth, here is an ad that is a century + 2 days old:



Note that a "prominent watchmaker" endorses use in both watches and clocks!

Best regards!

Tim Orr

 

[D.th.munroe]

I'm pretty certain they were just oiled the standard way with shell oil, not filled unless they are fully sealed that would make quite a mess.
I also have doubts it would work at all filled with something of that viscosity.
A strong running watch put under kerosene hardly runs if at all. (It was an experiment)
Dan.

 

[wspohn]

Could well have just been oiled, although I found one reference to one that had actually been filled and ran but didn't leak. That may have just been a one-off by an enthusiast rather than the normal procedure for these watches.

Saw another reference to oiling a watch with engine oil complete with a caution to only use single weight, not multigrade!

Never say never, though - see https://www.catawiki.com/l/22921885-watch-f1-shell-helix-oil-filled-horloge-1990-4-items

That one may well be a quartz movement though.