Got this Gruen a week or so ago and was wondering if anyone knew anything about it. It is 14K solid gold. The crown is near the 5th hour marker. A solid gold look a like crown is by the 10th marker, to give it a sort of symetrical appearance. Just thought it was odd.

Adam

movement and inside case

close up of "fake" crown

You sure it's a fake crown, and not a hack button to stop the watch for precise setting? Looks like it's missing it's second hand.

Regards! Mark

Mark,

Thanks for the reply. It is missing the second hand, but the gold thing does nothing. I also thought it would have had some sort of function, but when I looked close with a loop, is when I realized it was just a decorative piece.

Adam

Interesting! It appears to have the ability to be locked in place. I'm sure you've tried turning it to see if it does anything else. \

Regards! Mark

Adam,

Welcome to the weird world of post-Cincinnati Gruen's. The Gruen family sold out their interest in the company in 1953, and by 1958, the entire operation had been shut down and moved to New York. The actual watchmaking enterprise was still centered in Switzerland, at least for a few more years, but the New York office was largely just for marketing and packaging, although the movements were still being assembled into complete watches in New York.

By this time, Wadsworth is no longer supplying the cases, yours is made by Jonell, most others from this period are made by Star.

Anyway...the company apparently was using all the leftover stock it could get and casing it to sell any way it could. The 422SS movement dates from the late '40s. Your watch however, dates from the mid '50s. There was a series of watches with the crown set at 4:30 introduced in 1957. I believe it was intended to compete with the styling of the new Hamilton electrics. Some of these had a dummy crown at 10:30 to provide a symetrical appearance, or to give the impression of a complication. Yours would have originally had a crown that matched the dummy in profile. I've had this model in white gold, and I've had the same watch with a traditional single crown at 3. Gruen was never afraid to try something different.

Are you sure the second hand is missing? It looks in the image as if it's stuck in line with the minute hand.

For what it's worth,

Cary

Cary,

Thanks for the great information. I appreciate it. You are correct that the second hand is intact. I put the watch in my repair box after taking the pics. You would think I would have remembered it rotating around the dial when winding it to see if it worked. I guess I better get some sleep. Still not fully recovered from the Roger Waters concert.

Adam