DESCRIPTION:
APW - Osaka Watch Co, Osaka, Japan, 11J, 18S, silver original Osaka Watch Co HC, nickel-plated cuvette, white enamel DS dial, SW-LS, gilt mvt, s#605. An excellent and attractive original triple signed example from this rare maker. The Osaka Watch Company of Osaka, Japan was the descendant of a pair of short-lived and ill-fated American companies based in California: the Otay Watch Company which produced approximately 1200 watches in total and the San Jose Watch Company which only produced approximately 10 to 12 watches in its extremely brief existence. Following the demise of the San Jose Watch Co, the equipment and parts were boxed up and shipped to Japan where a deal was struck to make brand new 18 size watches in Japan of the same design and on the same machinery; thus the Osaka Watch Co. was formed. It's unknown just how few watches were made by Osaka but surviving examples are quite rare, as the original production was presumably relatively small and as the attrition rate is likely unusually high due to events such as the great Kanto earthquake of 1923, the subsequent firestorm following the earthquake, and the numerous bombing raids on Japan during World War II. The present watch is fresh to market having come to our consignor from a source in Japan, and this is only the second example of an Osaka watch our firm has sold in the 21st century. Although the present watch is of Asian manufacture, we have chosen to present it among the American portion of this auction's offerings due to its interest being largely associated with its maker's American roots with the pair of rare California companies.
CONDITION:
Mvt: Running with a fresh overhaul in March of 2023, excellent cosmetic mvt condition overall, plates with somewhat darkened tone, plates with some scattered spots with the most notable a mild fingerprint type etching to main plate in area between s# and barrel bridge, few fine to micro-fine scratches, regulator with oxide; dial with some outer chapter fractures, some faint hls, short vertical scratch above seconds-register; excellent hands, oxide to tip of minute, some oxide to seconds-hand; case shows very little wear, an attractive moderate patina with an area of lesser toning at lower front, no dents or dings, excellent engine turning detail overall though lower front with some relative reduction, cuvette with finish loss to much of its outer surface likely from a past polishing; tight bow, crown shows little wear; good glass crystal.
ESTIMATE:
$3000
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$4200
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