Did anyone notice the rather two prominent names listed in the obits of the Dec. 2006 Bulletin? Stewart Unger was co-author of the coffee table book American Wristwatches, which is still widely reference to this day, even though the first printing is now nearly 20 years old (published in 1988). And Jean Wuischpard's name should be familiar to most anyone who has looked inside a watch case to find a manufacturer signature. He and/or the company that bore his family's name, supplied watch cases to many watch manufacturers.

I can hardly believe these two have passed without a word being said about either one. Does anyone have any remembrances of either of these two?

I heard rumors regarding Unger which were particularly sad. He spent his final years virtually alone in a tiny Manhattan apartment, subsisting on virtually nothing. A far cry from his "glory days" in the 1980s as a principle in a high-priced watch gallery -- Time Will Tell -- on Madison Ave. Geez, does anyone know what happened to the guy? Am I misinformed? I couldn't even find an obit for him in the New York Times.

Never met him, but I knew of him when he wrote the Vintage Watch column for Watch and Clock Review (now Watch & Jewelry Review). This was back in the late '80s. Unger wanted to retire from the column, and Bert Kalisher of WCR contacted me and asked if I would write a few columns for the magazine. I was flattered at the time. But I priced the watches at a collector value rather than Big City Gallery Prices. Unger raised holy **** with Bert Kalisher about who this new upstart was and what was I trying to do -- put him out of business, or what? The upshot: I was let go as vintage watch columist for WCR and have not written for them since. I never held it against Unger -- I just resigned myself to the fact that he and I operated in two entirely different worlds.

And Wuischpard I never met, but I see ads in the Mart for Jean and Peter Wuischpard for fabricating watch cases and watch case parts. I assume Peter is the son and will be carrying on the business?

Anyone have any news or interesting stories about either of these gentlemen?