All about Gruen

[Barney Green]

What did I buy here?

A Semithin pocket with calber 754 watch in an Ultra quality case which thanks to it's inscripction can be dated to 1928. So far not unusual.

But if you take a look into the masterbook you will see that this case is listed as Empire44 as Verithin watch. There are two similar Semithins, but they have different bezels. Also the 1927 and the 1929 Guild books do not show this case being available as Semithin. So which Semi-Model do I have here?

Barney

[Mr. Bieser]

Well, seeing is believing! It's a nice watch.
I had a minute to look at your puzzle.

Not only listed but Empire 44 has on the dial "Gruen Verithin", making me believe that there was certainly a version of this case for VeriThin caliber too.

I am curious what two SemiThins are you thinking are the closest match to yours?

What SemiThin model is this?
1928 is definitely a late date to have an undocumented SemiThin but imo, that's what we're looking at.

I'll attempt this weekend to see if I can come up with anything in the newspapers.

[Fred]

Curious, but not a fluke. Here is another for info/educational fair use only, identical save the dial, I think. Perhaps of use to find an ad. IMO, your engraving date is close, but maybe cased as early as Q3 1926. I believe it is 1927.

Cal 754, bridge sn 52208 (dial side sn unknown); uq case # 3056652 with identical caseback markings.

[Fred]

Btw, the last 3mm case I have with pre-1926 markings is 3,029,447. Some references:

3,018,xxx engraved to Xmas ‘24
3,033,xxx engraved to March ‘27, and I believe that is 1926 case production.
By 3,060,000, new markings confirmed. But I have reason to date that one to 1928 production.

Gruen was capitalizing on a gray area of the law here, and Wadsworth would not (and could not) sign it.

[Dietrich]

I agree with the dating, I would also put those serials towards later 1926. But this might be possible as the watches sometimes have been up to serveral years with the retailers until the watches were sold to the end customers.

[Barney Green]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I was looking around to find advertisements of this watch and all I found were ads of the Verithin equivalent which appears to be Empire44. The Semithins I found similar but with different bezel in the 1927 Guild Book and advertisements of the time are Semi37 and Semi17. I tend to call this a variant of Semi37 because it is 15 jewel while Semi 17 is 17 jewel.

[Fred]

The case did show up in 1926 Wadsworth belt buckle ads, I think

[Dietrich]

Thanks for showing this. Very similar but the back is a little different at my watch. Mine has an angled rim and is polished.