Bring a Loupe: A Cube-esque Patek Philippe, A Van Cleef & Arpels Signed Rolex, And A True Vintage Cartier Tank L.C.
Happy Bring A Loupe and welcome back to Friday! After a week’s hiatus due to a tight schedule at our Hodinkee x UBS House of Craft NYC, we’re back. Moreso than time, I found last week’s watch offerings around the internet to be a bit lacking. Good news is, this edition is chalk full of gems across eBay, dealers, and even an estate auction site called Everything But The House. Did you know there are 4,194 watches for sale on shopgoodwill.com? Well, not a single one of them made this week’s round-up but, I looked!
Recapping results from the last, now two-week-old, edition, an astute collector picked up the CL Guinand pocket watch with Olympic Club provenance for a best offer under $3,950 – a lot of watch for that price. The Heuer Carrera ref. 2447N with somewhat poor photography ended up selling for $8,501.99 proving that ultimately the quality of the watch dictates the market rather than the presentation. Lastly, a friendly reminder, Jean-Loup Chrétien’s Omega Speedmaster remains live at RR Auction, bidding is currently at $27,121 and the auction will end next Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 PM ET.
We’ve got a lot to get to so, let’s get into this week’s picks!
1969 Cartier Paris Tank Louis Cartier
After a recent deep dive on the Tank Louis Cartier, one that you will be able to read very soon, I have a newfound appreciation for what I previously saw as a “pedestrian” watch. Did you know the Tank L.C. was the third Tank design penned by Louis Cartier? The Tank L.C. design is so powerful that people wrongly call it simply “the Tank” and wrongly assume that it dates back to 1917. Look no further than Cartier who released a 100th anniversary collection of Tank L.C.s in 2017. In reality, the Tank Normale dates back to 1917 and the L.C. didn’t come out until 1922.
Anyway, for vintage Tank L.C.s, one of the clear lines in the sand is the reunification of Cartier in 1972. Prior to this date, watches sold in Cartier Paris were made in partnership with Edmond Jaeger and have a distinct look as well as frankly superior craftsmanship. Stamped with an “EJ” hallmark on the case and deployant clasp, these Tanks are also much rarer than their younger counterparts. From 1960 to 1969, for example, Cartier Paris produced about 1,100 watches per year, of all shapes and sizes. Beyond rarity, comparing these pre-unification Tanks to those made just a few years later, as a part of the 1972 Louis Cartier Collection, the EJ-made watches just ooze charm from the dial texture to the block printed Cartier branding and hand-struck hallmarks.
This particular example is in great condition for a non-dustproof, non-water-resistant-in-any-way wristwatch from 1969. While full of charm, these earlier Cartier dials are particularly prone to aging. This one has some flaking or discoloration near the bottom but overall has a great look. The case is in great condition with deep and readable hallmarks – to many collectors, if these are lost or polished over, the watch is nearly unbuyable.
The seller, Kevin O’Dell or @theydid on Instagram, is offering this pre-unification Cartier Tank L.C. for $18,500. Check it out right here on Pushers.io or message him directly on IG.
1995 Rolex Explorer II Ref. 16570 Retailed By Van Cleef & Arpels
Polar Explorer IIs are nothing new to Hodinkee (this is James Stacey bait, really). And neither are co-signed dials but I know for a fact that this particular combination has not been featured before on these pages. I can say that so confidently because this Van Cleef & Arpels-signed Explorer II is the only one known to the market. Some collectors may say that co-signatures clutter a dial like the ref. 16570 but I am not one of those collectors – I am a sucker for a retailer signature, sorry!
Particularly when retailer signatures are executed as simply as this one. The full “Van Cleef & Arpels” stamp, as seen on many other watches like those from Piaget, for example, would have been too much. The shortened “V.C. & A.” is well thought out and works so well stacked against the “superlative chronometer officially certified” text on the six o’clock side of the dial – balancing the typical three lines of text at 12 o’clock perfectly.
Condition is largely bulletproof here, there are signs of wear but no issues like over-polishing to note. Of course, a co-signed dial is better and frankly more valuable when backed up by a full set with papers that substantiate the signature. This watch has that in spades with not only Van Cleef stamped on the Rolex papers but an additional “VCA” stamp on the bracelet clasp.
The sellers, Adam and Jordan from Menta Watches in Miami are asking $75,000 for this Van Cleef stamped Explorer II. Check it out right here.
1943 Patek Philippe Ref. 1485 In Stainless Steel
I heard everyone is talking about stainless steel square Pateks! I’m not only featuring this watch to mention the Cubitus and up my SEO chances but because the reference 1485 is one of my favorite vintage time-only Pateks – and quite slept on as well. Quick aside, if you’re genuinely curious where the Cubitus design might come from within the history of Patek Philippe, you can see inspiration from the ref. 3854, the ref. 3770 “Nautellipse,” and, obviously, the most recent steel Nautilus. Alright, back to the 1485 and why I love it so much.
If you can’t tell by my love of Movado (keep reading, fellow Movado lovers) and Mido, the casemaker François Borgel, or Taubert if you’re a real nerd, holds a special place in my heart. Most Borgel cases, like the Patek ref. 565 or those for Movado’s Sub Sea Chronographs, are round with a decagonal screw-down caseback. This early and patented water-resistant caseback design (CH 130942) is legendary but does not work with a non-round case shape. Borgel, as an innovator in the water-resistant case space, then patented an entirely different design for square or rectangular cases (CH 207378). This is the Borgel case design used on Patek’s 1485. Put simply, the caseback and bezel form the two main parts of the case and three locking strips slide into the case sides to squeeze everything together tight enough that with the use of a thick gasket, water resistance is achieved.
The Borgel design is interesting to me but, by this point, I have come across enough Borgel-cased watches that don’t work quite as well as a wearable wristwatch in 2024. The 1485 works incredibly well. It is 26mm across by 35mm tall with the small scroll-esque lugs and ultimately, for me, that is a perfect size for a slim vintage square watch. The dial design is classic Patek with applied Arabic numerals at three, nine, and 12 o’clock and I am really drawn to the simple long hour markers at the other hours.
By my count, 18 examples of the 1485 have surfaced for sale, ever. That being said, for a long time, like a really long time, prices were stagnant around $10-12k. I know because I was watching for a good one, hoping to pick one up for years. Unfortunately for me, two examples (one good, one great) sold last May during Geneva auction season for $33,597 and $42,032 respectively. The watch for sale here is the first to come up since these high water marks and will be an interesting test of the burgeoning 1485 market.
A Patek ref. 1485 on the author’s 7.25in wrist.
The auctioneer, Loupe This, is located in Los Angeles and the current bid price at publication is $5,000. The auction for this Patek 1485 is set to end on Wednesday, October 23 at 12:04 PM ET. Get all the details right here.
1955 Movado Chronometer Ref. 41211 For Tiffany & Co. In 14k Yellow Gold
Since picking up the Bring A Loupe torch, I have found there to be an extreme dilemma in putting together my picks. With watches that sit at the intersection of “I am truly passionate about this” and “I can afford to purchase this,” I lose sleep over if I should include them in this very public forum. I lost sleep over this Movado for Tiffany & Co. Would I love to add it to my collection? Yes. Might I still bid? Also, yes. Did I recently purchase an Abercrombie & Fitch-signed ref. 11211 Movado which is essentially the same watch as this in stainless steel? Yes and ultimately that is why I am letting someone else have this one.
To describe what makes this watch so special starts with the components. The movement is a Movado caliber 431, the finest of the brand’s in-house automatics – the full realization of a push towards automatic movements that started with bumpers and ended with this full rotor caliber. The case is made by, you guessed it, François Borgel and measures 35.5mm which is large for Borgel. For context, the time-only Pateks with Borgel cases of this era were 34.5mm (ref. 565) and 35mm (ref. 2508 / 2509). Sticking to the Patek comparison, having handled examples of those Pateks as well as this Movado case, the Movado is much slimmer wearing due to the sharp angle of the lugs, turning towards the sides of your wrist.
A Movado ref. 11211 on the author’s 7.25in wrist.
Now for the dial, this one is interesting as it is, firstly, not signed by Movado (typical for Tiffany Movados), features the correct “western style” Tiffany & Co. font, and is chronometer signed. That “chronomètre” line at the top is worth calling out as it means Movado adjusted this watch to chronometer specs, something only reserved for the best watches produced by the brand. For example, my Abercrombie example of this same watch is not signed in this way or adjusted to this level.
Annoyingly, the condition of this Tiffany-signed Movado is perfect. As the very long caseback engraving tells us, this was a presentation watch for Scott J Courtney, President of B. F. Drakenfeld & Co, Inc., a defunct art supply company. Near-perfect condition like this is actually somewhat common for presentation watches. Sometimes, the recipients just did not understand how nice the watch they received was and never wore it. Or, they thought it was way too nice to ever wear. Whatever the story, I have seen a good number of presentation watches in almost unworn condition.
Listed on Everything But The House, this Movado is up for auction ending Sunday, October 20, at 8:38 PM ET. When this article was posted, the bidding had reached $800. Check out the full listing right here.
Two 1960s Audemars Piguets Listed On eBay
I don’t have multiple paragraphs of things to say about the last two picks this week but both are worth highlighting so I’ll combine them into one little section down here for the real Bring A Loupe lovers who made it this far.
First up is a reference 5093 “Disco Volante” with a dial that is unlike any other example both Tony Traina, author of the best article on the internet about this particular reference, and I have seen. And that’s not to say the dial isn’t “real.” To me, the printing looks to be correct from the photos but I have not known this reference to be finished with this crazy sunburst-esque guilloché pattern. It might be a slight risk but given what I know about AP’s production prior to the Royal Oak, a unique or at least very rare dial finish would not surprise me. In this era, AP was not so commercial in its production. Typically, one reference was made in a relatively low number of examples with various finishes to the case and dial within that small run.
An eBay seller out of New York City has listed this Audemars Piguet ref. 5093 strapless for a buy it now price of $8,800 or best offer. The full listing is right here.
Rounding out my pair of vintage APs is this tank from the same era. While the photos are not the best, the watch looks great to my eye. I am particularly drawn to the similarities I see here to the “Brick Tank” of the 1950s – one of my favorites from the brand. This particular watch is slightly different as it does not have a sub-seconds register like is typically seen on those “Brick Tanks” and is finished throughout with a cross-hatched pattern. These slight tweaks work quite well in my opinion.
An eBay seller out of Burlington, Vermont, has listed this Audemars Piguet tank for a buy it now price of $7,500 or best offer. Click right here for the full listing.
Hodinkee