Marlon Brando's 1954 On The Waterfront Vacheron & Constantin Watch Auction
Published: August 24,
2009 | 13:21
I wonder what Eva Gabor gave Eddie Albert for Green Acres...perhaps a Porky Pig watch?
Antiquorum will be auctioning this Vacheron Constantin, Geneve, Ref. 4877. Produced in 1954, it was gifted to Marlon Brando by Zsa Zsa Gabor to commemorate the theatrical release of "On the Waterfront", for which Mr. Brando won an Oscar. It is a fine and rare 18K yellow gold wristwatch with patent guilloche dial and engraved case back, "To Marlon - Love - Zsa Zsa - June 24, 1954". Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Auction: September 17, 2009
First Session: begins at 11 am Second Session: begins at 2pm Antiquorum Auctioneers The New York TimeZone 595 Madison Avenue, 5th fl. New York, NY 10022, USA Tel: +1 212 750 1103
1980's Alienating Seiko Speedmaster by Giorgetto Giugiaro
Published: February 01,
2008 | 01:00
If you're asking yourself, what was that cool-ass watch Lieutenant Ripley wore in the 1986 movie Aliens, I have the answer for you. It was a Giugiaro designed Seiko Speedmaster Chronograph. Entirely unique by its vertical stopwatch pushers placed inside the asymmetrical case extension. Many of Giugiaro's other designs for Seiko between 1983-86 had asymmetric qualities and are shown below.
And for those of you who don't know Giorgio Giugiaro, he was one of the most important car designers of the 20th century. Credited with the "folded paper" car designs of the 1970s and 80s, he was responsible for such classics as the Lotus Esprit, De Lorean DMC 12, Maserati Merak, Bora, Quattroporte, BMW M1, and most interesting to learn, my first car, the Volkswagen Scirocco. See the rest of his resume here-->Link
Personally, I think he may have been influenced by the design of this watch that came out 12 years earlier-->Link
An appropriate future-from-the-eighties choice by James Cameron
It took me a while to dig these up!
Proof!
What bothers me the most is that I had one of these chronos and sold it prior to learning of its claim to fame.
Another fantastic Seiko Speedmaster design by Giugiaro.
I must find one!
Check out those four quadrant crown/pushers
Another from the Speedmaster series With the dial off-kilter rotated towards the wearer
And speaking of Alien, the designer H.R. Giger had his part in a watch design for Swatch in the early nineties, see a sketch of his Crosswatch above. Watch blogger Ariel Adams of Ablogtoread details more from the 1993 exhibition here-->Link
Jim Henson's 1965 Experimental Film "Time Piece"-->Link
"Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this nine-minute, experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson-and starred Jim Henson! Screened for the first time at the New York Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, Time Piece enjoyed an eighteen-month run at one Manhattan movie theater and was nominated for an Academy Award for outstanding short subject."
Jim Henson, puppeteer, Kermit creator, surrealist filmaker?
For more, visit the Time Piece Wikipedia page here-->Link
Check out my $100-$100,000 holiday gift guide!-->LINK
Eraserclock - David Lynch's Mysterious Clock Design
Published: October 05,
2007 | 19:56
How would this keep time?
The film director David Lynch sketched this mysterious Rube Goldberg-esque clock design. Pleaseemail us with any ideas about how he might have intended this to work.
Forgive me Henry...
Enter The Watchismo Times 1st anniversary vintage chronograph giveway!-->LINK
Reversing Time in Francis Ford Coppola's New Flick
Published: September 28,
2007 | 00:36
Little is shown in the movie trailer for "Youth Without Youth", Francis Ford Coppola’s first new film in over 10 years but watch it and you'll understand why I'm posting it here. Coppola adapted, produced and directed the movie based on the 1976 novel by Romanian-born religious historian Mircea Eliade.
The movie stars Tim Roth as a 70-year-old who is struck by lightning and suddenly gets younger and more brilliant.
Enter The Watchismo Times 1st anniversary vintage chronograph giveway!-->LINK
Warning! If you haven't seen the film "Zodiac" by David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en), this post contains spoilers for the movie.
This was a note left by the serial killer, the "Zodiac" in the late 1960s - One of many letters to the press taunting the police with ciphers and threats, terrorizing the city of San Francisco all the way through the mid-seventies. This one in particular described how he wanted people to wear his trademark crosshair logo on buttons with obvious hints of future bloodshed if he wasn't satisfied.
But my post today at TWT has less to do with his crimes and more to do with his strange wristwatch related identity.
Originally, his unsigned notes announced himself as "the killer". But soon after, he was compelled (if not convinced) to create an identity. Following letters featured a circle with crosshairs and the name "Zodiac", it was soon discovered later that the image and name combination was directly borrowed from the Swiss watch brand of the same name and same logo. Zodiac watches were the only known source where both were used. Although the crimes were never officially solved, the prime suspect (to this day) did own a Zodiac Seawolf watch. It wasn't a very common brand to own and many other clues have linked this man to the murders. I've included the film scene below featuring the suspect interviewed by police where they discover his timepiece of choice. Forgive the quality, it was taped directly from my TV.
A scene from Terry Giliam's great film of time-travelling midgets, Time Bandits. A short clip where Satan discusses the key to enlightenment which begins with understanding digital watches.
And for those of you who love the horological genre of Time Travel, here are some other good ones;
Napoleon Dynamite's attempt at Time Travel (not a time travel flick but a very funny scene nevertheless)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)-->Link Donnie Darko-->Link 12 Monkeys-->Link Groundhog Day-->Link (kinda the opposite of time travel but...) Time After Time-->Link
A very thorough and interesting series of videos by the Culture de la Haute Horlogerie. Featuring everything from the watch designer to the guilloche artist. Click the images below to see them.
Ah, another supercool vintage mystery solved. Max Busser forwarded this to me, a most unusual wristwatch by Vibra. A little research determined it was produced in the 1930s featuring the its signature oddity, cylindrical hooded lugs displaying the date and day (in Spanish). Crowns on the side of each tube for adjustment. Stainless steel case, painted arabic numerals, auxiliary seconds dial, "Spade" blued steel hands., M. Cal. 10 ''' rhodium-plated, 10 jewels, lateral lever escapement, self-compensating flat balance-spring. Diameter 28 mm.
Also, the watch below was requested by another for identification. It shows a movie still of Jack Nicholson's wristwatch in the classic Roman Polanski film, "Chinatown". The period was set in 1940s Los Angeles. But with this mystery, you don't risk your nose being slit.
Yeah, it is likely this ad will creep you out but I thoroughly enjoyed it. A perfect blend of mental illness and style! Perversion-chic!
