Gruen Vintage Watches of the 1930s
May 7, 2010 by Alan Brenner
Filed under Collectibles
The Techni-Quadron watches which were similar, in many ways, to the Quadron which had a rectangular face and was released in 1928. These Gruen Vintage watches comprised of two dials. The big top dial had the hour/minute hands and the bottom dial, similar in size, had the second's hand.
The seconds dial on the Techni-Quadron watch was so big, so that it could be used to measure the pulse of a person and hence, these watches were known as "doctor's watches". However, the popularity of the watches also extended to the engineers and other technical professions. It is however useful to note that, all the dual Gruen watches were not doctor's watches. On a Techni-Quadron, in opposition to the centre, the dial consisting of the hours/minute hand is mounted at the end where the crown enters the case. A few of them also had buckles which could expand so that the watch could be slid up to the arm, which resulted in freeing of the hand and wrist.
The Carr, French for square, resembled the shape of a square and was a pocket watch released in 1931. Technically, a diamond shape, as the numbers 12, 3, 6 and 9 were placed at each of the 4 corners. Being technically useful for the usage of both the genders, this watch was marketed as a man's pocket watch, a women's purse watch and also could be used as a portable table clock. A number of models also consisted of luminous hands and numbers which could be seen in the dark. The Carr was called off in the year 1934 and was priced around $55 (~$1400 currently).
The Curvex, released in 1935, was available as the Curvex Governor for men and the Curvex Queen (1936) for women. It is the most famous of the Gruen vintage watches and was the flagship watch until the late 1940s. The watch was produced until 1954.
An exclusive feature of the Curvex was the watch and the movement inside it was, itself, curved. The technology these watches used was the patented movement (1,855,952) in which the gears were configured in a curved arrangement. Various other curved watches of the 1930s had to use smaller movements which were very fragile and did not have much perfection.
Every single watch of the real men's Curvex watches, were Precision grade and employed any one of the four movements mentioned below. The movement inside the watches; which gave them uniqueness, was the reason behind calling these watches a Curvex. The list of four particular movements are; 1935- caliber 311- a long and thin movement; 1937- caliber 330- is a long, thin and a curved movement; 1940-caliber 440- a short, square or oval movement and lastly; 1948- caliber 370- a short and wide movement (Curvametric).
The Ristside watches, pronounced as wrist side, were released in 1937 and were designed to be worn on the side of the wrist in line with the thumb. These designs of watches were extensively beloved by the collectors but were very rare as Gruen did not wish to sell many. There is a possibility that a few collectors would try to sell any watch which has hinged lugs as a Ristside. Except Fraternity (mentioned below) and another one similar model all the Ristsides are rectangular in shape and have curved cases.
The watches that are considered to be a part of both, the Curvex and the Ristside family of Gruen vintage watches, are the Curvex-Ristside watches. The 330 movement; described as long, thin and curved movement in the above paragraphs; was used in the three types of watches; namely- The Curvex Coronet, Curvex Lord and the Curvex Admiral. The Curvex-Ristside Fraternity consisted of hinged lugs and used the 440 movement.
Alan Brenner maintains BlueTreeVintage.com, a complete source of information on vintage watches. If your looking for a vintage Gruen watch we have a large selection. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
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