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semperfi55

Showcase - Raymond Weil Dress Watch

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semperfi55

Just a brief post on a sweet little gem i found off the Bay.

 

 

A Raymond Weil Tank Homage! A small vintage yellow gold dress watch, @RussP might be interested...

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Tis a tiny watch...

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The Brand

Raymond Weil was founded in 1976. The brand was initially called Dinita, a combination of the names of Mr Weil's daughters, Diana and Anita.  

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Raymond Weil, the person, was born in Geneva in 1926. He came out of the womb clutching a pocket watch conversion in one hand and a fistful of Francs in the other. Skiers noted a particularly radiant rainbow over the Swiss Alps that ski season. Gustav Stresemann won a Nobel Peace Prize. Shit was going down.*

In 1949, he started work at Camy Watch SA. He worked there for 27 years in multiple roles before pulling off the ballsy move of opening up his own brand in the midst of the Quartz Crisis. At a time where many Swiss brands were going bust, the survivors were either staunchly defending the mechanical tradition or prostrating themselves before the Quartz Altar. Raymond Weil decided to go down the Third Way of affordable luxury timepieces. Sounds like the typical Kickstarter watch pitch, but hey, they have been around for 42 years, so they must be doing something right! Notably the brand remains independent and still run by the founder's family.

* For a dry account of Raymond Weil's story, you can go here:

https://raymond-weil.co.uk/history/

https://www.truefacet.com/guide/the-unique-history-of-raymond-weil-watches/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/raymond-weil-businessman-who-founded-a-company-which-went-on-to-become-a-world-leader-in-the-luxury-9268430.html

 

Dimensions

Length x Width: 27mm x 27mm (minus lugs)

Lug to Lug: 30mm

Case Height: 7mm

Lug Width: 17mm

 

Dial

The  minimalist, black dial caught my attention whilst I was scrolling through eBay.  It was the perfect dress watch: two hander, no numbers, no indices, and tiny. 

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The acrylic crystal shows its age and wear. There are scratches on the crystal and specks on the dial and crystal, which are only visible in macro.

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There really isn't much on the dial apart from telling you the brand...

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...and where it is made.

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The Dauphine hands with yellow gold plating matches up perfectly with the case.  I noted the bent tip of the minute hand and wrongly attributed it to the domed acrylic. More likely the hand is bent.

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Again,  these specks you see are not visible at normal wrist distance!

 

Movement

The caseback is marked "671". A cursory google search does not bring me any closer to a reliable answer. It has, however, shown me various Raymond Weil Cartier-homages. All of these homages feature the characteristic Cartier Chemin de fer minute scale, but none like my minimalist here.

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Clearly, it was not worth their time to electroplate the case back.

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The caseback can be pried open easily, with the dial and movement coming out of the watch with the caseback.

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Here we can confirm that the minute hand tip is indeed bent! More importantly, there are no scratches on the dial.

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The watch houses a 17j movement with no clear markings of its model number.

 

Case

The style of the case is very much like the Tank.

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There are numerous small scratches but thankfully the yellow gold plating is not rubbed off.

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The crown is unmarked. In other Raymond Weil "671" watches, they tend to have a Cartier style dial and cabochon on the crown. 

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The  colour difference between the casefront and back is stark. Fortunately, it is not obvious on the wrist due to its size.

 

Strap

The strap that came with the watch is unmarked but is flush to the lugs, just like how a Cartier Tank strap would be like. The buckle is an unsightly stainless steel mess that clashes horribly with the yellow gold plating of the watch.

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Once I find a cheap enough Raymond Weil buckle or a suitable generic buckle, I will replace it.

 

Function

I can look at it and be super chuffed about this steal. And see how late I am.

 

Conclusion

This new acquisition somewhat satisfies my fascination for square watches. There are more reviews of other square reps to come. The squares remind me of watches of old. The dainty watches that burly, hairy men back then would wear. A time before U Boats and Panerai. A time for the little guy.

A two hander, minimalist black dial, tank homage ticks the boxes for a dress watch. Its miniature size makes me think that I am wearing a women's vintage watch. 

But is it gen? Other RW watches with similar casebacks marked 671 have the classic Cartier style dials and cabochon crown. This has neither, which pleases and worries me. Is this some Indian HMT redial,or just a classy rare piece?

 

Can't be bothered to find out, it's cheap and cheerful!  A dress watch for GBP 56 is a pretty sweet deal :lol:

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Obligatory wrist shot!

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For a sweet and simple watch, there is not much to say. Coming up soonish are my reviews for other square reps!

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RussP

Glad you like it.

I have a few similar looking dress watches in my collection.

Nice write up too.

PS : That's a rectangular case, by the way :happy:

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semperfi55
3 minutes ago, RussP said:

PS : That's a rectangular case, by the way :happy:

Shhhhhhh

10 minutes ago, semperfi55 said:

Length x Width: 27mm x 27mm (minus lugs)

QED

 

:lol:

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Theviking

Very nice piece and write up.

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semperfi55
10 hours ago, Theviking said:

Very nice piece and write up.

Cheers mate! Any new watches/projects recently?

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Theviking

Yes, I'm planning a pegalos bezel swap to do a shark mod and age a Speedmaster pro.

I think that RW would look ace on a thin black croc strap, kinda obvious choice, but it's a classic.

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semperfi55
On 10/06/2019 at 22:05, Theviking said:

Yes, I'm planning a pegalos bezel swap to do a shark mod and age a Speedmaster pro.

I think that RW would look ace on a thin black croc strap, kinda obvious choice, but it's a classic.

Nice! A ST19 Speedmaster of a gate quartz?

I’ve got a Raymond Weil gold buckle on the way, perfect for the watch :D 

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