Interesting watch, thanx for sharing the pics! With your allowance, I will add them to my HP. The Rado Watch Co. was registered in January 1937, so we have an earliest date for the production. To me, only two ladies´ watches are known from 1937 - 1950, both Art Deco style. This one has a classical dial and hands design, hard to date. I haven´t seen this model before. These dial designs already existed on ladies´ watches in the 1910s, 1920s. The movement seems to be an AS 970. There´s no shock protection present. Can you find a number/mark under the balance wheel? What about the mark on the balance bridge? Is it a 3-digit number or 3 letters(that would be a U.S. import code and could identify the importer/maker)? IMHO the watch is either made 1937 - 1950 or it´s older and the Rado-signed movement is a replacement for an older one. Maybe the mark under the balance wheel brings more info.
I fixed the links to the images of your watch in your post, so they are visible now.
It´s a very nice GP Rado 990, from the pics I can´t see anything wrong with it. Everything looks authentic and original except the acrylic crystal, which probably had been replaced at some time(it doesn´t wear the small anchor-logo in the center and I haven´t seen a crystal with date loupe on a 990).
Especially the dial shows some traces of aging and looks 100% original, which indeed leads to the question "who is FIJO?". To be honest, it´s the first Rado I see with FIJO instead of RADO on the dial and I never heard anything about that. A short research in the www delivered nothing except the translation of the Spanish word "fijo", a city in Venezuela called "Punto Fijo" and a foundation in Brazil called FIJO, but that is too young to stand in any relation to this 990, which is made in the middle/late 1960s. There´s just a little bit info to find about the history or business relationships of Rado and nearly nothing about their business in South America. What I know is that Rado made a lot of private labelled watches, which means that the watch is a Rado but with a customised dial, being ordered in smaller or larger quantities by special customers. A few examples: The Italian importer of Rado in the 1950s/1960s, a company called Ticin, offered Rados with "TICIN" instead of "RADO" on the dial. There are also a few other distributors known with their names instead of or additional to RADO on the dial. I know a few examples of Rados with a (not watch-related) company name on the dial, those have been gifted to business partners or merited employees. In Arabia, you find a lot of customised Rados being gifted by nobel houses or official institutions. So my assumption is that Fijo had been either a distributor of Rado in a South Amarican country or just a company/institution, which ordered a number of Rados with their name on the dial. Did you buy that 990 in Venezuela or from another country in South America? Maybe with these infos you can find out a bit more - my Spanish is unfortunately limited to a touristy minimum("una cerviza, por favor!" ). Would be interesting to have this question answered.
The movement is a very nice AS 1789 with 30 jewels, the highest quality standard and it looks to be in top condition. The basic calibers had been the AS 1580 and the AS 1701(= 1700/01). The 1701 and the 1789 use the same base plate, that´s why you often find an additional 1700/01-mark on it. The 1789 came out in 1965, which confirms my dating. The 11764 on the back is a correct reference number for this model, a 990 with edged case and date.
The DiaMaster looks great - but still grey or anthracite, not blue. My impression of the cases is that, analogue to the DS cases, there exist more and less glossy/reflective surfaces. There are caseback variations with DiaMaster 10 and with DiaStar 10 available. Has anybody seen one with DiaStar instead of DiaMaster on the dial? Maybe the DiaStar 10 casebacks had been used for Japan only?
That DiaStar is definitely stunning! For me, it´s a classy Friday and weekend:
Got a "new" car today, the same vintage Opel Omega B Caravan as before, but in better condition, with better interior, less km on the counter and a few HP more. At the moment, I´m very busy transplanting better and special parts like my Recaro seats from the old to the new one. Have a nice weekend!
Not bad for 77 US$. The dial looks black on the pic so we have to believe you. The condition seems to be excellent. Both of my SS-fishtails also had been deeply scratched. I used sandpaper 400 grain first and finished with 1.000 I think. Full length means 5 links on each side, I had been lucky to get the missing ones for my wristsize. Here´s my NOS case(seller´s pic) from yahoo.jp:
WOW! A Blue Tiger with stary sky dial, rectangular faceted sapphire crystal and perfect blue coating. Middle/late 1980s I would assume. If you try to get it, good luck Marcus! Much nicer as the other one I´ve seen:
[[File:Lady gold green.JPG|none|auto]][[File:Lady gold green a.jpg|none|auto]]
Look at the clasp, there´s actually to read "RADST(AR)". Goldplated with diamonds? Surely Swarowskis. I don´t believe it´s a Rado - maybe the sheik hadn´t been as wealthy as it seemed.
Thema von mike184 im Forum Everything Vintage RADO
Hi!
Incoming soon:
[[File:NCC 404 c.JPG|none|auto]]
Not even in NOS-, but in a wearable condition and for a good price. Needs some TLC. Reference 11927. Who owns 404s? ETA 2789 as the other NCCs? Glass crystal?
UFO on the rocks ... Looks great! So it seems to be the round counterpart to my DS 8/1, also with AS 1858. For compare: 40 x 36 mm(except crown), 13 mm thick with faceted sapphire crystal and screw down back. Not even in top condition, with a repainted dial, but very cheap some years ago.
@Peter - sorry, no day wheel here, but nice that you can get one from Marcus. I tried a fishtail on my DiaMaster but found the NSA better matching the edged case.
@Marcus - yes, it´s from yahoo.jp, must be 1 year or so ago - when Abidko still was functional.
Es handelt sich um eine Super Time aus den 1970ern. Das Zifferblatt wurde wohl mal neu gemacht, weshalb auch der Super Time-Schriftzug auf dem Zifferblatt fehlt, ebenso der zweite Swarowski-Kristall auf der 12. Ansonsten sieht die Uhr original aus, wobei das Werk, ein ETA 2789 etwas angegriffen wirkt. Die Automatikbrücke(silber- statt goldfarbig wie der Rest des Werks) wurde schon mal getauscht, dazu passen auch die Schleifspuren am Außenring des Rotors, die von einer defekten Aufhängung herrühren. Diese "TV-Uhren" wurden hauptsächlich für die fernöstlichen Märkte in mehreren Gehäuse- und Zifferblattvariationen in großen Stückzahlen gefertigt. Einfach mal bei Ebay auf Rado Super Time, beendete Auktionen gehen, dann sieht man, wie vergleichbare Modelle weggehen. hier mal ein Vergleichsbild meiner Super Time:
Wirklich eine schöne Idee, mittlerweile ist die Auktion aber längst beendet. Die Idee lebt jedoch witer - aktuelle Angebote von United Charity findet man hier.
If a cracked TC-case is a little problem, you´re right. And that for 800.- US$. Meanwhile the auction has ended without a bid(what a surprise). Interesting the stamped production date - so they seem to have been made still in 1983.
Das ist ein 56-H Chronometer mit Originalarmband, es gab sie aus Gold(dann tragen sie eine Goldpunze), vergoldet und in Edelstahl. Bei Chronometern werden in der Schweiz die Werke einzeln auf Ganggenauigkeit überprüft(vor dem Einbau in die Uhr) und erhalten dann einen Gangschein, das Chronometer Zertifikat. Mehr Info hier:
Copyright: Fritz von Osterhausen, aus dem Buch "Armbanduhren, Chronometer: Mechanische Präzisionsuhren und ihre Prüfung", erhältlich hier
Copyright: Rado, aus einem Garantieheftchen von 1967
Bis zur Gründung der COSC 1972, einer Non-Profit-Organisation in der Schweiz, die die Chronometerprüfung standardisiert hat, hatten die verschiedenen Prüfstellen noch eigene Prüfungsbedingungen. Bei deiner 56-H dürfte es sich dem Design des Zifferblatts nach um ein frühes Modell mit AS 1361 handeln aus 1957 - 1961.
Ersatzteile für die Uhr gibt es nicht mehr, für das Uhrwerk dürfte es noch vereinzelt Teile geben, oder man besorgt sich ein anderes AS 1361 als Ersatzteilträger. Zum Wert läßt sich immer schlecht etwas sagen, da er vom Zustand der Uhr abhängt und den kann man auf Fotos schlecht beurteilen. Weitere Faktoren: Sind noch Box und Papiere vorhanden sowie das Originalarmband mit allen Teilen? Preise von Internetangeboten kann man nur als Referenz nehmen, wenn die Uhr für diesen Preis auch verkauft wurde - "Mondpreise" finden sich immer irgendwo. Je nach Gehäusematerial und Zustand habe ich 56-H Chronometer in den letzten Jahren für 150.- bis 500.- € weggehen sehen.
05.08.2012 15:12
Forum Statistiken
Besucher
