REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

changed color through the alchemic interaction between ultraviolet light
and unstable varnish or luminous material that turned the hue of salted
caramel as its radioactive life dissipated, became the most sought after.
Said Aurel Bacs in an interview with Revolution, “What I find charming
about vintage watches is the way that time has changed what started as
a uniform product into something that is unique and individual. The
effects of age, resulting from interaction with its environment, give a
vintage watch its character.”
Cut to a decade later when the world is flush with more money than
ever as the result of the trillions of wealth generated by technologies
ranging from dating apps and food delivery services to blockchainbased
currencies, and buyers began to chase watches that were as
seemingly original as possible. In many instances, as with other types
of collectibles, that originality was guaranteed through unassailable
provenance. For example, I bought my 1972 Norton Commando
motorcycle from the individual who had purchased it in 1972, complete
with the original bill of sale and MOT from that year.
ALL NEW, ALL THE TIME
Then a funny thing started to happen. As originality became the most
prized attribute of old watches, suddenly we witnessed the appearance
of the greatest number of new old stock (NOS) watches in history.
The market was literally awash with NOS watches and it seemed like
everywhere — sellers on forums, dealers and even at auctions — there
evinced a veritable tsunami of perfectly aged yet pristinely preserved
watches for sale that had somehow gained patina beautifully with
creamy lume, often tropical dials, and yet largely unmarked cases with
the all-important bevels on the lugs and thick case profiles that were
so sharp that it seemed like they were born only yesterday. And that’s
because, in many instances, they were.
OK, before going into laser welding technology and the
other techniques used to achieve NOS condition, let’s discuss
Frankenwatches. A Frankenwatch contains an amalgam of parts from
different watches to create one perfect or close to perfect watch. The
practice of creating a “Frankenwatch” is to swap parts from two or more
donor watches to create a perfect example — often primed for auctions
— while the leftover parts are sold as very valuable spare parts. The best
and most reputable dealers are open about this, too.
Says Eric Ku, the owner of Vintage Rolex Forum and website
10PastTen.com, “Say I have a perfect exotic dial like a Mark 1 Paul
Newman Panda dial and I have another watch that’s got the right serial
number for the reference, but is a non-Newman dial; of course I might
swap the dials to create one perfect watch.” To be fair, the practice of
Frankenwatches is far more prevalent than most people think and dates
back to the ’80s when a certain Italian gentleman took it upon himself
to document what watch dials went into which case numbers. This is, of
course, an unimaginably huge undertaking and he should be applauded
as the father of vintage Rolex knowledge. He also began offering his
services to source the right case with the right number if you happened
to have a rare dial with the wrong case, or one in inferior condition.
And, honestly, I don’t have an issue with this as long as dealers are open
about it.
From the perspective of a collector, as long as all the serial numbers
fall into the right category — unlike vintage cars, watches do not have
precise matching movement and case numbers — I am inclined not to
complain. Although, of course, the ultimate grail would still be to have
a watch that is a survivor: an all-original piece backed by testimonials
of the original owners and, if possible, photographic evidence of its
unmolested condition reaching back into the past. Do beware, however,
as dealers have also been known to be rather creative when creating a
backstory to watches, such as my favorite: “The members of the Ferrari
Club from a certain country all got together and requested red exoticdial
Daytonas from Rolex, which they received.” If you believe that one,
I have some swampland in Florida for sale…
VINTAGE 141