As somebody who each grew up throughout the Nineteen Eighties and fell in love with watches again then, I used to be excited to see the ’80s Week theme seem on HODINKEE. It jogged my memory of an e mail I obtained from Ben Clymer again in 2019, the place he requested some mates for our ideas on watches we believed needs to be price greater than they’re. As I assumed by my reply, a number of items launched within the Nineteen Eighties got here to thoughts, and a theme surrounding this decade I’m nostalgic for emerged.
As manufacturers have been popping out of the darkness of the Quartz Disaster, some essential and revolutionary watches got here to market that, when contemplating their present market costs, provide nice worth for collectors immediately.
Make no mistake – with the onslaught of low-cost, very correct quartz watches powered by batteries, Swiss manufacturers struggled to outlive, and numerous manufacturers couldn’t. However one factor I’ve discovered from working with my Swiss colleagues through the years is that the Swiss are fiercely aggressive, rating because the third best nation in 2020’s World Competitiveness Rating (following Denmark and Singapore). Underneath such stress got here wonderful creativity within the discipline of mechanical watches.
Right here, then, are the “undervalued” Nineteen Eighties favorites I shared with Ben. I’m completely happy to share them with you all immediately.
Patek Philippe Ref. 3940 and Ref. 3970
Patek Philippe has frequently produced perpetual calendar and perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatches since 1941. No different model would produce a serially produced perpetual calendar wristwatch till 1955, when Audemars Piguet launched the groundbreaking ref. 5516 (the primary perpetual calendar wristwatch to point the bissextile year), and it wouldn’t be till 1985 when one other model would produce a perpetual calendar chronograph in sequence – IWC with the Da Vinci Chronograph.
Ref. 3940
Each the reference 3940 and 3970 ushered in all-new actions. Launched in 1985, the 3940 stood out for its ultra-thin caliber 240 base motion with micro-rotor – the world’s thinnest automated motion when it was launched at simply 2.4 mm thick. A significant aesthetic departure from Patek Philippe’s prior perpetual calendar fashions, which used apertures at 12 o’clock for the day and month indicators – references 1526, 3448, and 3450 – three sub-dials indicated the day, month, date, and moon-phase, together with 24-hour and leap-year indications.
With a superbly proportioned 36mm case that includes a concave bezel, the mannequin developed subtly till it was discontinued in 2007 with manufacturing numbers within the a number of hundreds. At the moment, students agree that, just like the improbable Quantième Perpetuel launched by Audemars Piguet in 1978, the reference 3940 was a key mannequin for Patek Philippe that helped guarantee its success by the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties. It’s price mentioning that AP’s Quantième Perpetuel was the world’s thinnest perpetual calendar wristwatch when launched. Patek Philippe would take that title again with the 3940 – see how aggressive the Swiss are?
First sequence examples of the 3940 with flat, sunken subsidiary dials, uncommon champagne dial variants, and early platinum examples with shiny, lacquered dials are particularly fascinating – and nonetheless are priced fairly fairly on the secondary market.
Ref. 3970
The primary-ever Patek Philippe reference 3970 auctioned at Antiquorum in 2015. (Picture: courtesy of Antiquorum)
Launched in 1986, the ref. 3970 perpetual calendar chronograph used an almost an identical aesthetic structure of its iconic predecessors – the references 1518 and 2499. It used an all-new base motion, the caliber CH 27-70Q, which derived from the Lemania caliber 2310 – the identical base motion powering early Omega Speedmasters. This was the primary non-Valjoux motion Patek had ever utilized in a chronograph. The 3970 was sized at 36mm – a bit smaller than its direct predecessor, the ref. 2499 fourth sequence, which measured 37.5mm. Curiously, the 3970’s case is bigger than that of the revered 1518 (35mm) and the identical dimension because the extraordinarily uncommon and sought-after early ref. 2499s, with Vichet instances that additionally measure 36mm.
Just like the 3940, the 3970 would add 24-hour and leap-year indications throughout the 9 and three o’clock sub-dials for improved performance and practicality. The reference developed over three sequence till it was discontinued in 2004. First-series examples with their snapback instances and feuille (leaf-shaped) fingers, together with second sequence examples with feuille fingers and screw-down casebacks, are particularly engaging and uncommon.
Their very good high quality, traditional aesthetics, historic significance within the evolution of two of the model’s most essential fashions, and their relative affordability on the secondary market make them interesting on so many ranges.
Rolex Submariner Ref. 5513 And GMT-Grasp Ref. 16750 With Shiny Dials
The Rolex product line noticed many fascinating developments within the Nineteen Eighties. The Cosmograph Daytona went from the model’s worst vendor to its most sought-after timepiece because of the introduction of their first self-winding chronograph motion with the launch of the references 16520, 16523, and 16528 in 1988. Fast-set date performance made fashions just like the Day-Date much more user-friendly, and the common incorporation of sapphire crystals throughout the model’s fashions kissed the classic, acrylic-crystal period goodbye.
Round 1984, simply previous to the introduction of sapphire crystals of their bread-and-butter entry-level sports activities fashions – the ref. 5513 “no-date” Submariner and the ref. 16750 GMT-Grasp – Rolex launched an essential dial change that has lasted to the current day. After 18 years, Rolex switched from the matte dials used since 1967 to vibrant shiny, lacquered dials with white gold, luminous hour markers. These nonetheless classic, acrylic-crystal fashions have been each discontinued and changed with sapphire crystal variations: The ref. 16700 GMT-Grasp launched in 1988 changed the 16750, and the ref. 14060 Submariner (now water-resistant to 1,000 ft/330 m) changed the 5513 in 1990.
The glossy-dial variations of those acrylic-crystal references are subsequently fairly uncommon, having been produced for simply six years for the 5513 and solely 4 years for the 16750. They mix the most effective of two worlds – classic and trendy – and are nonetheless fairly reasonably priced because the information surrounding these uncommon variants shouldn’t be widespread.
IWC Da Vinci Chronograph
Who would have imagined that IWC could be the second model to introduce a serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph wristwatch, following Patek Philippe’s introduction of the mannequin in 1941? Forty-four years would cross till IWC launched its revolutionary and excellent Da Vinci Chronograph ref. IW3750 in 1985.
Impressed by Günter Blümlein, IWC’s CEO on the time, watchmaker Kurt Klaus developed the perpetual calendar module utilizing simply 82 parts. All changes for the perpetual calendar could possibly be made by way of the crown – a world’s first within the business. The dial featured a four-digit 12 months show with century slide that will advance as soon as each 100 years. The watch was marketed with packaging containing a century slide for the 22, 23, and 24 centuries – genius.
The next 12 months, in 1986, the Da Vinci Chronograph grew to become the primary wristwatch ever to make use of a ceramic case (zirconium oxide ceramic) because the ref. 3755. These Nineteen Eighties watches stay a cut price and may, in my humble opinion, be price fairly a bit greater than their secondary-market costs.
A collector for greater than three a long time, Paul Boutros is now the Head of Watches, Americas for the Phillips public sale home. In October of 2017, he led the public sale that introduced in $17.8 million {dollars} for Paul Newman’s Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytona, the best value ever paid for a classic wristwatch bought at public sale.
