Loading...I know, lately I have not been posting many vintage watches. There are several reasons for it, first, I cannot find exceptional vintage watches every day (that does not mean I need to buy them, but I need to meet people who own these pieces). And although a lot of people know this blog, and many many know me personally, I still do not get my hands on something exceptional every day. But today, I have the chance to show you what I consider one of the rarest and most amazing vintage Chronographs ever. Forget the Daytona which was made a million times, forget the Heuers which exist in thousands of pieces, forget the Speedmasters which were made a million times. This is a grail, a great rarity, owned by friend of the show Jack Wong from Singapore, someone I consider a friend by now although we have never met personally and are so far apart.
Jack is a big watchenthusiast, who is also able to open and clean a watch and do work on a watch. Something I never really learned although I did take some watchmaking classes in the past.
Anyhow, so much for the person, now to the watch. I should write “THE” watch. A Ulysse Nardin Chronograph reference 7536-2. This watch is so rare, so elusive, and you really cannot find much documentation anywhere.
Jack has been hunting for this piece for a long time. Finally he found one in excellent condition. Look at the lugs, the case, how fat the case still is considering its age of nearly 50 years. The bezel looks like new. Jack must feel like he is in heaven now…
Jack actually wrote about this watch on the Purist. He pointed out that the bezel and insert are made of one piece of aluminum instead of two parts, one inlay and one bezel like for example you can find on the Omega Speedmaster. An interesting approach for the time.
The view on the movement of this watch is the greatest reward. With all the weaknesses that we know of today of the Valjoux 72 movement, the view is always truly stunning. Look at the fine finishing of the movement. It is called “Cote de Geneve” finishing. This is considered to be a high grade Valjoux movement.
Ulysse Nardin Chronograph reference 7536-2 from mid 1960s – view on the open movement Valjoux 72
Jack has to be the only person who ever managed to get his hands on two of these wonderful pieces. That is how he managed to observe that there are two different variants in terms of movement finishing which he describes further in his posting on the Purist. The finishing on this piece is much more elaborate than on the other one as he points out.
While the caseback inside does not show the reference number, you can clearly see it on the caseback outside. Take a look below.
This shows you the reference number in a better picture:
Not only in my eyes is this a better and much more interesting watch than any Daytona, this is a truly rare bird, and only with patience and persistence will you ever find one. While a handwound Daytona 6239 for example has a rather small case of 37mm, this watch is 1mm larger at 38mm. It is a small difference, but makes a big difference. For those who are curious as to the value of this piece, at this point I do not want to mention the current prices this watch is going for, but you can probably imagine if you are reading this contribution and the comparison to its fellow Rolex counterpart.
Last but not least, I would like to share some macroshots with you which I put into the gallery below, just click on the pictures to see them large.
I hope you enjoyed this. I know which watch I will be looking for in the future…
