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Wristwatches · Wristwatch

Buren Grand Prix, 1950s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Buren (maker)
Date
1950s
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Object type
Wristwatch
Stock no.
BRNGP
Credit line
Dealer listing, Craft & Tailored (BRNGP)
Catalogue title (original)
1950s Buren Grand Prix (English)

View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Catalogued by Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles (stock number BRNGP), this is a wristwatch by Buren, dated 1950s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Dealer description — Craft & Tailored

In 1898 the little-known Buren Watch Company was created in Switzerland. Originally the company built all types of pocket watches and even table clocks. But over the years they gradually entered the wristwatch market and even did quite well for a number of decades. In 1966 Buren was sold to Hamilton and quickly did away with the juggernaut's American production, becoming the manufacturer of the majority of Hamilton watches. SPECS Stock # BRNGP Brand Buren Style Grand Prix Model N/A Serial N/A Size Men's Material Chromium Dial Matte Black Millimeters 34 Bracelet NATO Strap CASE & BRACELET The aged and beautiful chromium-plated case measures 34 millimeters. The watch features fixed strap bars as well as a screw-down case back. The bezel is aggressively stepped and sloped, giving the modest watch a sharp look that sets it apart from many of its contemporaries. This Buren Grand Prix is accompanied by a black NATO strap. DIAL & HANDS The matte black dial is both deep and textured featuring an outer minute track and 60-second counter with a subtle freckled patina throughout. The Arabic lume plots and syringe hands are filled with buttery radium, matching the thick numeral markers. ACCESSORIES Non. The watch is keeping time, previous service history is unknown.

Historical context

Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)

Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.

The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking

Atlas type guide

Wristwatches

Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.

After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.

What to look for

  • The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
  • The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
  • Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
  • Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.

Dating clues

  • Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
  • Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
  • Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

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