Internet Horology Club 185
Grand Trunk pw

This topic can be found at:
https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1086047761/m/9213940967

December 26, 2011, 15:12
Peter Kaszubski
Grand Trunk pw
Just got this one and like to get more info.


December 26, 2011, 15:13
Peter Kaszubski
and the dial


December 26, 2011, 15:38
Lorne Wasylishen
Peter, it's a Swiss fake. Is that the one you sold?
December 26, 2011, 15:50
David Abbe
Peter, I hope the buyer paid less than $10.00 for that which is the case value. The Grand Trunk Western Railway served what we now call the eastern U.S. and Canada. Some enterprising Swiss-Sourced importer used their name for this fake. We have many, many posts you can research about Swiss Fakes.


December 26, 2011, 16:09
Lorne Wasylishen
The Grand Trunk Railway was one of the first railways in North America, it received it's charter in 1852 with corporate HQ in England. As Dave said it served eastern U.S.and Canada.

The Grand Trunk Pacific is/was however a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk receiving it's charter in 1903. Construction began in 1905 and with the driving of the last spike on April 7 1914 it ran from Winnipeg Manitoba to Prince Rupert B.C.
December 26, 2011, 17:33
Edward L. Parsons, Jr.
That Swiss fake has fake jewels and fake winding wheels. A very cheesy-looking example!

The Grand Trunk Railway had freight & passenger depots, maintenance shops & coaling facilities in Auburn & Lewiston, Maine, near where I grew up.


Best Regards,

Ed
December 26, 2011, 18:18
Peter Kaszubski
Well I will have to take the fifth amendment on
this one.
December 27, 2011, 08:06
Brad Richardson
Don't feel too bad Peter, we all get burned once in a while. Regards, Brad
December 27, 2011, 10:20
Claude Griffith
A bit of non-watch trivia, it was said that while an up and coming rock band was traveling around in Michigan they went under a Grand Trunk Railway" RR bridge and that is how "Grand Funk Railroad" got its name.

Ah sheepishly hiding the fact that he too was guilty of buying a Swiss fake about 10 yrs ago, Claude quickly pulls out the 70's Rock Band trivia to deflect the attention!!!
December 27, 2011, 16:09
Peter Kaszubski
I feel better now Smile
December 28, 2011, 20:15
Lorne Wasylishen
Well I think it is time to clear things up in this thread. On the AZ Firearms site in Avondale AZ this watch shows to have been sold for $25, which is incorrect. I know this because in fact I have this watch in my possession and I willingly paid more than $25.

I was well aware of swiss fakes when I found this watch coming up for sale in May 2011 and put in an internet bid that would assure that I won it. I went off to play some poker and when I got home later that evening there was an email telling me that I had been outbid. I found this odd as I was sure there was no fool greater than I willing to pay more than I had bid. When I checked the site it showed that the watch had sold for $25. It was quite late but I phoned the auction house, told the lady the situation and asked what had transpired. She put me on hold and had a discussion with her husband, the auctioneer. When she came back on I was told that an on-site bidder had bid the watch up what was close to my bid and they thought that my internet bid may have been a mistake. They weren't sure what to do so just showed it sold at $25. She then offered me the watch for the same price as the on-site bid. Again I thought this odd as that price included the BP and shipping which should have been on top of the bid. I however was in early days of collecting and thought I may never see another GTP watch again so agreed to pay her price and she put the watch in the mail.

Time passed and I did not receive the watch so I checked the tracking # and got a big surprise. Rather than just putting B.C. on the shipping label it was spelled out in capitals as BRITISH COLUMBIA and some USPS genius in L.A. routed it to England. The help line person told me to keep tracking it and sure enough it eventually arrived at my local post office. The fact that the headquarters for the GTP was in England gave me even more affection for this watch as it seemed it wanted to go home to the "Old Sod" before coming to a town in western Canada through which the GTP once ran (and still does under the CN)

It wouldn't set but I got that fixed, runs over 30 hrs on a full wind and because of it's trip to England is one of my favourites , perhaps even my favourite watch even though I have others that have greater monetary value.

Quality and importance are not the same thing.
December 28, 2011, 20:24
Eugene Buffard
I'm confused Lorne. You have this exact watch in your collection including the same serial # on the case that is shown in the first photo. I was under the impression that either they did not put a serial # on the movement. Or the serial # is the same.
December 28, 2011, 20:29
Lorne Wasylishen
The serial number is irrelevant as the these GTP swiss fakes all have the same number 172654. I have this same watch, missing the fake jewel and in case with serial #86702
December 28, 2011, 20:34
Edward L. Parsons, Jr.
It was common practice for large numbers of Swiss fakes, even entire production runs, to all be made with the same movement serial number.


Best Regards,

Ed
December 28, 2011, 21:18
Bill Manders
That is very true Ed, but unlikely with the same case numbers, I would think ??
December 28, 2011, 22:02
Edward L. Parsons, Jr.
Agreed, I'd expect normal case numbers.


Best Regards,

Ed