When Gruen couldn’t sell its military watch to the military

So, the war has broken out and you can’t get your movements across the Atlantic to Ohio. Your biggest rivals get the contracts. What are you to do?

I have been relatively happy with the state of the collection recently. I feel like I am entering a phase with less buying. I am looking less and less at online auctions. I am still interested in the history, especially of the American watch industry, but I don’t feel the need to have one of every brand. However, I can’t seem to have just one Bulova, Benrus, Hamilton, Elgin, or Gruen. Sometimes, when you are not looking, they just seem to show up.

Gruen is a grand old American brand. In the 1920’s they were the second most popular watch brand in the United States, the largest market in the world.  They had an arrangement with Rolex to not sell watches in each other’s markets (Rolex in the U.S., Gruen in the U.K.) But, like Waltham, they were doomed to exit in all but in name in 1958. That is a decade before Elgin crashed and Hamilton moved. Remember, quartz didn’t kill the American watch industry.

Gruen timed and cased its watches in Cincinnati, Ohio, at Time Hill. It manufactured its own movements in Switzerland. When the Second World War came Gruen was not awarded any military contracts by the United States Government. Those went to Hamilton and to a lesser degree Elgin. It was thought that the importation of movements would delay the process. During the war Gruen could not telephone its Swiss holding. Every communication was by mail. This made Gruen less nimble than its domestic competitors. Waltham and Elgin repurposed plants for wartime industries making gauges and timers, so, did Gruen.

Gruen had designed military watches. The military style became the dominant watch style. Gruen decided that they would venture into pilot watches and test-market in long distance airline routes. They believed that pilots required larger, more visible watches, with a 24-hour marker for the longer flights. The Pan American was introduced in 1943. The first run bore the name on the case back. When the models were released to the public a few years later Gruen expanded the line to include fancy scarab lugs and gold cases. It was thought that the sweep seconds and 24-hour track would also be popular in the beginning of long-distance commercial aviation.

This wasn’t advertised as a Pan American. It has the right movement (Gruen 420SS). The dial appears to be un-repainted.  Many watches have been re-made into Pan Americans. It has the Guildlite stainless steel back and the base metal case of a 1940’s Pan American. I am satisfied that I found a real one. It is a 1940’s watch intended for commercial pilots that has no design taint of the Wehrmacht. It is not a Flieger. I wasn’t actively looking but I did not want this to get away. This may be the last Gruen that I buy. (I may feel differently tomorrow.)