5 Cool Finds – 2 Classic Dress Watch, 2 Vintage Inspired Chronographs and an IWC Ingenieur Automatic Vintage Collection

Here is our 8th installment of our market finds, in collaboration with the online auction platform Catawiki. Every Friday we select five ‘youngtimers’ that would make a great addition to ever watch collection. This week, we found 2 perfect dress watches from Patek Philippe and Jaeger-LeCoultre, 2 great vintage inspired chronographs from TAG Heuer and Glashütte-Original and a collectible anti-magnetic watch, the IWC Ingenieur Automatic Vintage Collection. 

This week we will only show you three cool finds, because of a not-so-cool reason: two of the five watches that we selected are replicas / fakes. These watches were offered at Catawiki and they admit, to their shame, that a few fakes have slipped through their quality control. We will stop our collaboration with them, effective immediately, because we do not want to risk recommending you, our valued readers, a replica as a great find. 

Patek Philippe Calatrava ref. 5115G

The Patek Philippe Calatrava is probably the most iconic and well-known classic dress watch on the market, and has been so for many decades. The ref. 5115G that we have found for you today, is just one iteration of that classic dress watch, and it is certainly one of the most defining of all Calatrava models. Its hobnail -or as the French say, Clous de Paris- engraved bezel, the white enamel dial with black Roman numerals and the small second sub dial at 6 o’clock, have set the benchmark for many other classic dress watches. This model was discontinued in 2009 and was replaced by ref. 5119 that featured a sleeker case and has no crown guards.

The ref. 5115G (“G” stands for Gris, and refers to ‘or gris’ or white gold) comes in a white gold case measuring 35mm in diameter and 8mm in height. The case has a closed flat white gold case back, and crown guards to protect the crown, and of course the iconic Clous de Paris bezel.

Inside ticks the Patek Philippe calibre 215 PS is a small and thin hand-wound movement, measuring just 21.9 mm x 2.55 mm. The ‘PS’ behind the calibre number stands for Petit Seconde, or small seconds in English. It has been in used by Patek for a long time, and is nicely finished; beveled and polished bridges, Côte de Geneve striping on the bridges’ flat surfaces, pèrlage (circular graining) on the main plate, polished screw slots, and all other Haute Horlogerie finishing one might expect from a top dress watch from Patek. This calibre is still used in the current Calatrava models.

This particular Calatrava ref. 5115G is in NOS (New Old Stock) condition and comes with 12 months warranty. Here you can see (and bid on) this lot.

TAG Heuer Monaco with a brown dial

Today the Monaco is one TAG Heuer’s best selling vintage inspired watches, and it got a fair share of attention when a re-edition was launched in the early 2000’s. Originally it was launched in 1969 as one of the very first automatic chronographs on the market, and it remained in production until 1976. Many will recognize the blue dial Monaco from the early seventies as it was often depicted with Steven McQueen and also nicknamed after this famous actor. The version with blue dial and white sub dials for continuous running seconds and 30-minute counter, is often referred to as the Monaco Steven McQueen – we reviewed the latest version of it here.

This brown dial version is a rare one, as most Monaco models came with a black dial or a blue dial with white subs. The Monaco ref. CW2114 measures approx. 38 x 38mm and inside is an automatic chronograph movement, with a continuous small second at 3 o’clock, a 30-minute counter at 9 o’clock and a 12-hour register at 6 o’clock. The movement is an ETA 2892/A2 with a Dubois-Depraz chronograph module, and also features a date that is visible through an aperture at 6 o’clock.

This example is in a top condition according to the folks at Catawiki, and is complete with box and papers, and even comes with 1 year warranty and insured shipping. You can see all photos and the details here.

Glashütte-Original Sixties Chronograph

Next up is another vintage inspired chronograph, although this is not a re-edition like the Monaco, but an original new design. In the 1960’s Glashütte-Original’s precursor, Glashütte Uhren Betrieb or short GUB, made a model that served as inspiration for the Sixties (see here for the original) and recently the brand launched a few colourful iterations. The Sixties Chronograph was added to the collection a few years after the launch of the Sixties that was first introduced in 2007.

The Sixties Chronograph comes in a 42mm stainless steel case, with sapphire crystal on both sides. The shaped sapphire crystal on the front is domed, while the crystal in the case back is boxed and shaped around the movement and thus offering a view on the side of the beautiful in-house movement. This is really nice and will bring a smile on everyone’s face, even for the most saturated collectors among us.

The movement at hand is the automatic winding calibre 39-34. This is the base calibre 39, an in-house developed and manufactured movement, with a chronograph module on top. Altogether the calibre 39-34 has 51 jewels, and features the famous Glashütte three-quarter plate with stripe finish, which is visible through the skeletonized rotor with double-G logo. The bridges come with bevelled edges, polished steel, the balance is regulated with a swan-neck fine adjustment.

This one has a black dial and comes on a padded brown Hirsch strap, and is complete with box and papers. Here at the Catawiki website you can see this lot, with additional photos, description and of course this is where you can bid on it.

To see more watch auctions, keep an eye on Catawiki. Every week new auctions are started, however it’s fair to say that the “men’s luxury watches auction” comprises the most interesting lots. We would really appreciate it if you fill out the questionnaire about Catawiki here, in order to understand how you like this relatively young online auctioneers.