The intriguing stories behind rare treasures and curious collectables are revealed on Antiques DownUnder. | dHNfc2hPSVY2UWExRGM
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00:00I found myself in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney to see a man about a watch at Kalmar
00:10Antiques.
00:11Hi Damien, you know how much I love my Rolexes.
00:20I've got one here that needs some attention.
00:23Let's take a look.
00:24Isn't that beautiful?
00:25Let me ask our watchmaker and see what we can do.
00:28Great.
00:29Let's go and have a look.
00:36Yep, our watchmaker's looked at it.
00:41He can definitely look after you with that.
00:42What else have you got to show me today?
00:44You know I love collecting watches.
00:46I know you do.
00:47And I do have some special ones to show you right here.
00:49So if you'll indulge me, I will show you a few quite interesting ones.
00:53Oh wow.
00:54So here are some really fantastic examples of vintage watches and why they are so exciting.
00:58So it actually goes back to the original pocket watches.
01:01So here we have a pocket watch made by an Australian jeweler called Henry Hutton.
01:05So this has the original Albertina, the original pocket watch which was made in Switzerland
01:09but with his name on the dial.
01:11He was a retailer in Ballarat and on the dial it actually has a spelling of Ballarat in
01:16the old way of two A's together.
01:18So now they've cut out one A, so it's actually the original spelling.
01:21So that's quite lovely.
01:23This one here is a ring watch.
01:25This was made in 1870.
01:26It is 18 karat gold, diamonds, enamel and you actually wind it and set it with this
01:33gorgeous little key at the back to set the hands and to wind the movement.
01:38And to consider this was made 150 years ago, we've had it all completely restored.
01:43It's incredible what they could do.
01:44It's a beautiful little watch, isn't it?
01:46It is.
01:50These two are quite interesting.
01:51So when man went to the moon in 1969, what watch was worn when they went on the moon
01:55was the Amiga Speedmaster.
01:57So after 1969, the Speedmaster on the back famously had the first watch worn on the moon.
02:02This particular watch is what they call a pre-moon watch because it was made in 1968
02:06before that had actually happened.
02:08This watch here, ironically enough, has also to do with space.
02:12So this was designed by Scott Carpenter who was an American astronaut.
02:16He actually designed or wanted a watch that had a 24-hour dial instead of a 12-hour dial.
02:21The reason being, he would be going around the earth every 90 minutes.
02:24AM and PM become arbitrary.
02:27So this watch here, the hands actually say 8pm as opposed to what we would consider that
02:31as 10 o'clock.
02:33And it's things like this, the necessity of a watch and how they worked on the ground
02:37as well as in space that make them so fantastic.
02:39That does look good.
02:43What have you got over here?
02:44This one is beautiful.
02:45So this is an original Explorer from 1969 again.
02:49This one has a very rare expandable band, original dial and original hands.
02:54And especially with vintage watches, originality is the absolute key to it all.
02:58It is, isn't it?
02:59100% original.
03:00And when did vintage expanding bands first come in, do you think?
03:03Rolex first designed this particular expanding band in about the 1950s and 60s.
03:07They didn't produce them for too long.
03:09So finding one that is in this condition of this age is really more exciting.
03:13This is a 1968 Amiga GMT watch.
03:21The wonderful thing about this is this one has not only the original box, we also have
03:27the original insert and all the original papers.
03:30Finding original papers with vintage watches are so hard to come by.
03:34And not only does it have its chronometer report, its certificate, the swing tag, it
03:38also has this wonderful note by Rolex saying, use the box for cigarettes after removing
03:43this card and watch support.
03:45So promoting smoking.
03:46Exactly.
03:47Rolex, in their own divine wisdom, were saying, throw away all of this paperwork, use the
03:51box for cigarettes.
03:52That's unbelievable, isn't it?
03:54They wouldn't dare do that today, would they?
03:56No, of course not.
03:58What an amazing collection.
04:00If I wanted to buy any one of these, which one would you advise me to buy?
04:04If it was available?
04:05Because I know you love them as much as I do.
04:08We're quite fortunate with our vault collection, we have some watches that aren't for sale.
04:11So this pocket watch is in our vault collection, it's just on permanent display, as is the
04:15GMT.
04:16I would say I would be hard-pressed to go between the Explorer and the Ring watch.
04:20They are definitely two of my favourite watches at the moment, by far.
04:23I like the Explorer.
04:24It is very nice.
04:25Isn't it?
04:26It is.
04:27Great.
04:28Well, I'll have to come back in a couple of months' time and pick up my watch, won't I?
04:32Indeed.
04:33I look forward to it.
04:34Indeed.
04:35I look forward to seeing you.
04:36Thank you, Damien.