Page 90 - Esquire (November 2019)

5

To eBay
or Not to eBay?
W H E R E TO G O FO R T H E
O D D I T I E S

early all the value in a vin-
tage watch lies in its prov-
enance. The box, papers,
N service history, and correct
serial numbers will add greatly to
its worth. But buy a watch on eBay
Wa t c h e s o f t h e Ye a r and you are positively begging to
be ripped off. Nothing is ever quite
R A D O T R U E what it seems in cyberspace.
T H I N L I N E L E S C O U L E U R S And among the wares from hon-
Twenty years ago, Rado was the first watch est and scrupulous eBay dealers
brand to perfect the use of ceramics, a complex form lurk thousands of watches whose
of material science, still in development even
now. The most challenging thing of all is creating sellers—either knowingly or
novel colors. So the new True Thinline Les not—are offering you a bastard, a
Couleurs Le Corbusier watches, re-creating hues from Frankenwatch, with parts shunted
the legendary architect’s theory of Architectural
Polychromy, are a bold leap forward. The together over the years by fixers
watches are slim, hypoallergenic, and scratch just to keep them going (honest)
resistant. $2,100 each; rado.com
or to deliberately drop in an incor-
rect movement (dishonest).
Look for big brand names or
iconic models and you might as
Chasing Unicorns well be throwing your money
My Mount Rushmore: The Tornek-Rayville away. There are far safer avenues
through which to find your dream
R A R E WATC H , C O O L B AC K STO RY
Submariner or your Monaco.
That said, if you’re seeking
It’s sobering to think I will never own a Tornek-Rayville TC-900.
“A what the what?” you might ask. It’s a name still relatively something very specific and you
unknown except to aficionados of dive watches. Made in two do your research, you can find
short runs totaling around a thousand pieces in 1964 and 1966, new-to-market collectibles at
it was designed for U. S. military divers to strict government good prices. As with most things
specifications. The military wanted a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms on eBay, the less known a model or
and had already tested it. But thanks to the Buy American Act, brand is, the more likely you will
it was not permitted to purchase foreign brands. To circum- score something interesting. Al-
vent the ban, Blancpain’s enterprising New York importer, one
ternatively, if you approach eBay
Allen Tornek, added his name to Rayville, a registered brand
name of Blancpain since the 1930s. Sneaky! Many of these with an open mind and an eye for
watches were reportedly later destroyed by the U. S. govern- the esoteric and you set realistic
ment, which makes them even rarer than they might have been. expectations and sensible price
With an estimated thirty to fifty survivors, current prices hover limits, you can also find great con-
above $100,000. Oh well, maybe I’ll just buy a 911. —N. S. versation pieces. —N.S.

84 November 2019_Esquire