Estate sale find
Came across an estate sale in our area and found this. My wife liked it, so bought it for her for $5. I Googled Gruen, and it seems like a company with some interesting history.
By chance if anyone has some insight about Gruen as a company or about this watch, I would love to hear it.
Happy Sunday fellow crunchers.🍻
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Very neat looking with what strikes me as a Cartier vibe (sans broochy crown). And no second hand!
Gruen was top tier and very innovative once upon a time. However Gruen is more a name than a company since well before the quartz revolution. In fact the trademark seems to be owned by MZ Berger, who I think collect these dead brand names. I recall seeing a Gruen branded watch styled like and called a Curvex in stores circa early 1990's but that's about the last sign of life to my knowledge.
That jibes with the general 1980's look of this watch. I mean that in a very good way. I'd have snatched it at that price too. Is it even 28mm? Oh yeah, you should probably page someone like @Aurelian who might have better historical knowledge.
Not a bad watch for 5 bucks but a Gruen only by name. (see above post)
Now they are widely available around holiday time at wholesale clubs and grocery stores.
This one seems to be in great shape and actually isn't a bad design.
Amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Very neat looking with what strikes me as a Cartier vibe (sans broochy crown). And no second hand!
Gruen was top tier and very innovative once upon a time. However Gruen is more a name than a company since well before the quartz revolution. In fact the trademark seems to be owned by MZ Berger, who I think collect these dead brand names. I recall seeing a Gruen branded watch styled like and called a Curvex in stores circa early 1990's but that's about the last sign of life to my knowledge.
That jibes with the general 1980's look of this watch. I mean that in a very good way. I'd have snatched it at that price too. Is it even 28mm? Oh yeah, you should probably page someone like @Aurelian who might have better historical knowledge.
Thanks for sharing. I also thought Cartier when I saw it, too. 👍
Thanks for sharing. I also thought Cartier when I saw it, too. 👍
Turns out we're both right!
Cartier Octagon Santos, a thing of the 80's.
I might be mistaken, but I believe that is a 1948 "The Groom". It is beautiful.
For 60 years Gruen made amazing watches. Unfortunately, they kept making them for another 60.
Gruen fell apart in the 1950's when the Gruen family members died and the rest sold off their interests. The non-family management team were removed due to some scandal. Gruen had its best year in 1953 and five years later it was essentially bankrupt. In that time they managed to buy and sell Waterman pens (at least one division) at a loss. That was the Ohio Gruen.
The next phase of Gruen, the New York Gruen, quietly went out of business in the early 1970's. The name bounced around until M.Z. Berger bought it. From 1960 to about 1970 Gruen watches were still surprisingly good quality despite having no real corporate leadership.
Even in their post-collapse fashion watch phase they were generally good looking and very similar in value to their competition.
Follow the link and compare.
Nice! Gruen was a well known watch company back in the day, perhaps considered slightly higher end than Timex.
For 60 years Gruen made amazing watches. Unfortunately, they kept making them for another 60.
Gruen fell apart in the 1950's when the Gruen family members died and the rest sold off their interests. The non-family management team were removed due to some scandal. Gruen had its best year in 1953 and five years later it was essentially bankrupt. In that time they managed to buy and sell Waterman pens (at least one division) at a loss. That was the Ohio Gruen.
The next phase of Gruen, the New York Gruen, quietly went out of business in the early 1970's. The name bounced around until M.Z. Berger bought it. From 1960 to about 1970 Gruen watches were still surprisingly good quality despite having no real corporate leadership.
Even in their post-collapse fashion watch phase they were generally good looking and very similar in value to their competition.
Thank you for the history lesson.
Nice! Gruen was a well known watch company back in the day, perhaps considered slightly higher end than Timex.
In the thirties they shared movements with Rolex. Try to find a vintage Timex from the 1940's. You can't because they were not built to survive. There are plenty of Gruen from that era and earlier.
Please don't compare Gruen to Timex. It is as apt as saying that Nomos was "perhaps considered slightly higher end than" Skagen. It makes grammatical sense, but not historical sense.