Hello Evelyn, Thank you for sending in this wristwatch to mearto.com for a fair market appraisal.
TITLE:
Gent’s 10k gold filled, self-winding, Incabloc shock proofing, antimagnetic wristwatch with no band, movement made in Switzerland, case made in New York City by DiVincenzo & Arienti and retailed by Kay Jewelers of Pennsylvania, circa 1950s.
PROVENANCE:
Original owner Raymond McCallum approximately 30 or 40 years owner. Perhaps the Ray McCallum who was a professional basketball player or not. Evelyn does not say.
DESCRIPTION:
Case: Size not provided but this is a gent’s dress wristwatch made in 10k gold filled case (A very thin layer of 10k gold is applied in a sandwich form to a base metal such as brass or other base metals. Th round gilt case has a polished gilt and canted bezel and tapered slightly concave lugs but no leather strap or bracelet attached to the lugs. There is a fluted winding and setting crown with a gold-filled cabochon protruding. The polished back cover may be screwed down with threads at the edges or may not be waterproofed and simply snapped on and off. The back cover is marked, ‘Paul Breguette, 10k gold filled, D&A (see notes or history).
Dial: Champagne colored metal dial with applied gilt brass faceted dart shaped baton hours with crystalline silvered darts at the quarter hours. There are gilt brass Dauphin hands with a sweep center seconds gilt pointer for the seconds. The dial is signed Paul Breguette at the upper dial center and self-winding in the lower dial center.
Movement: Made in Switzerland but not shown and cannot be described because many different Swiss watch companies made movements for this type of watch.
Condition: Case - Some blemishes appear on the crystal overlying the dial. Some minor scuffs and rubs appear on the bezel. . .Dial – Appears to be in very good original condition. . . Movement and inside of back cover not shown, but I will assume they are all original to this case and dial, genuine and perhaps functional.
HISTORY:
~Paul Breguette was a company owned by Kay jewelers of Pennsylvania which used Swiss made well finished Swiss movements. Leon Dunleavy a past employee of Kay Jewelers stated that they purchased the name Paul Breguette in Switzerland in 1938. They used high grade movements from companies such as Girard Perregaux. The movement were initially cased in Switzerland and later in the USA. Kay made a deal with Fairfax jewelers of Fairfax Virginia, Washington D.C. and New York City to case and distribute the watches.
D&A:
DiVincenzo & Arienti Watch Case manufacturer made cases for Longines, Omega, Eglin, Rolex among others. They made Gold filled cases – made in the New York City by D&A: DiVincenzo & Arienti Watch Case manufacturer.
COMPARABLES:
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/87029063_vintage-paul-breguette-working-17-jewel-watch (SOLD FOR $125 IN 2020)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/86256942_2-vintage-watches (TWO WATCHES INCLUDING BREGUETTE WRISTWATCH SOLD FOR $35 IN 2020)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/80896249_2-vint-mens-wrist-watches-incl-14-kt-c-1950 (TWO WRISTWATCHES, ONE AN EARLY BREGUETTESOLD FOR $160 IN 2020)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/78793413_2-paul-breguette-14k-wristwatches (TWO BREGUETTE QUARTZ WRISTWATCHES SOLD FOR $350)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/78181506_paul-breguette-automatic-10k-gold-fill-wristwatch (10K GOLD FILLED BREGUETTE WATCH SOLD FOR $120 IN 2019)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/53368491_paul-breguette-14kdiamond-tank-wrist-watch
(DIAMOND TANK SHAPED WATCH PRE-1950 SOLD FOR $100. IN 2017)
PRICING:
Generally, the Paul Breguette watches from Kay Jewelers were aimed at the lower end or middle part of the market and did not sell very well, especially in a gold-filled case. I believe the fair market value if you offered your watch for sale in today’s market placed would fall into the range of $100-$150. Retail value would be about twice that amount.
Thank you for choosing mearto.com for your appraisal.
My best,
David