Featured Need watch dated

Hi

As always any info is greatly appreciated.
I'm trying to date at least roughly 18k E Gubelin ladies watch.

 

Pictures of the movement are needed!

 

Looks 1940s to me.
I don't know if pictures of the movement are necessary in this case, very tricky for anyone not used to opening watches.
Since Gübelin was a jewellery firm, their style is characterised by the use of gemstones and jewellers craft. The timeline of the style is the indication.

 

1970 or thereabouts, in my opinion.

 

The movement is really the best way to date watches. These usually just have a snap back... If you can't get it open it could date anywhere from 1940s-60s IMO.

 

Quite pretty. And 1940s in my opinion. Those black cord watch bands were old fashioned by the 1970s. And the square rubies and tubular gold are very typical of post-War jewelry.

Debora

 

Gorgeous,and I wonder if those rubies are real ? A pic of the back,any markings and the movement would certainly help. If real,it could be a nice tidy sum.

 

Yes, on a Gübelin piece the rubies would be real, they were real gemstone people in those days. These watches sell for serious money.

 

don't let anyone melt this...

 

The strap design may be a 'hommage', I am sure from the dial that it is not 40s and will stick with my later estimate.

 

Differing view points are very important. They make the identification process more rigorous. With that in mind... Could you share for us what is it specially about the dial that points to the later date? Is it the shape? Design? Black enamel? Logo?

Debora

 

If you don't feel comfortable opening the watch, take it to a jeweler you trust and ask them to open and possibly date it for you

 

Looks 1940's-50's to me, beautiful !

 

Funny how we all have differing opinion but I have to go w 50s 60s cocktail watch. It feels later than 40s to me. The gold balls say later to me but I'm just gut guessing. Pretty watch!

 

Here is the movement and back cover pictures.
Sorry for pics quality, either way I tried it just wouldn't come out well...
Thanks.

 

I don't know if my editing helps:


The number at the top is probably the model, important for dating
The woman's head is the Swiss mark for 750/18k gold, it also has 18k and 750 in a separate shape, just to make sure.
Gübelin and Lucerne, maker and city.

 

Explaining dating is like saying how can you tell a 1960 car from a 1930 car. There are both great and small style changes. More practically, most of us can do cars because we have seen so many of them.
I have seen very many watches, many of which I could date from hallmarks. This builds up a pattern in the mind and you just see what in the new object fits best with the pattern you already have. And then it's an educated guess. There are few radical changes, things tend to flow, customers set the design agenda for most things, only a minority of radical designers can actually change popular taste.
Younger people forget but the 1940s were war and recovery years, the amount of innovation in consumer styles was minimal, and mostly pragmatic, Utility furniture for example, or boiler suits. In the late 40s people were picking up the pieces, repairing and rebuilding, and it was not till the 1950s that we start to see any novelty in popular design start to re-appear.
The movement is consistent with a later date but not definitive, and I just cannot see anything inside the back of the case.

 

I think the joolies among us base the dating of this watch on both the jewellery and watch style of a certain period. There is a lot of gorgeous post-war 40s jewellery around, with dateable marks. But in this case there is a model number, that should be a clue.
There are many 'oldies' among us. And at least one person who was raised with daily war stories from both former Dutch resistance parents.

While most of Europe suffered from WWII and had to rebuild, Switzerland did extremely well, thanks to the laundering of Nazi 'Melmer' gold, gold stolen from holocaust victims, refugees, and during raids on anyone who happened to live in occupied countries. This is a Swiss watch.
But post-war rebuilding gave an enormous boost to European economy. One year before the introduction of the Marshall Plan in 1948, British, French, and Dutch production were already back to pre-war levels.
I know the UK had rations for a very long time. But the end of the war meant the beginning of a new era and hope for a bright future to those in formerly occupied Europe and to a lesser extent in North America.
This new era was expressed exuberantly in almost everything, not just jewellery. Yes, they did use 1930s styles. And of course they didn't have much metal, hence the cord watch straps.
Van Cleef&Arpels 1930s, the style continued in the post-war period:

http://www.langantiques.com/university/Retro_Era_Jewelry

 

Both great responses AF and AJ.

In a perfect world there would have been more photographs here and with more clarity. I for one would have like to see the entire band, including the back, and the back of the case. And what we had was a bit hard to make out. (Suggestion for photographs, take in or near outside light if possible. More light was needed.)

Bottom line, it is an amazingly desirable watch. Just stunning and certainly valuable. I think anything from the 40's-70's is going to be coveted, but if for resale, you may want to nail that down just so you have an accurate description.

You can contact Gubelin and give it a try. Include the serial number, hopefully they may have information for you.

http://www.gubelin.com/en/contact-us

 

Here is the response I got from Gubelin.

"Clockwork could not yet be identified, we will get back to you, as soon as we find something.

However, the watch itself seems to be from the MUBA collection from 1939/1945. On the bottom, we can see an “E. Gübelin” stamp.

A delicate model with a leather cord was at that time (before the end of WW II)"