Flea Market Economy

Several weeks ago I had met up with a fellow watch enthusiast and noticed that he was sporting a new (for him) vintage looking watch. It was a Croton watch reminiscent of the Omega styles of the 1950s and 1960s. He paid $20.00 for it. Sweet, where do I get one? He explained that he had stumbled across a vendor of used watches at a local flea market who had a box of timepieces. This box contained 75-100 watches of every stripe. Somehow this vendor was able to replenish his supply whenever the stock ran low. According to my pal the customers who were digging around in this candyshop of watches were primarily interested only in battery powered quartz watches. My personal theory is that the average customer assumed that a watch which was not running was probably broken or the battery was dead. Do they not know of other movements? In any case, this was too much to bear, I had to check it out for myself.

By the time I got to the flea market there were fewer than 50 watches still available. Nonetheless I was still able to come up with a couple of neat watches that are now part of my watch wearing rotation. The watches shown below were purchased at that local flea market for a grand total of $20.00. They both have hand wound movements, stainless steel cases, acrylic crystals and cheap aftermarket straps. Both claim to be dustproof, waterproof and shock absorbing. Both have the word “SWISS” at the bottom of their dials. The Benrus caseback indicates that it is a Series 3051. The Belforte reads Series 9061. Clearly these are vintage timepieces but I haven’t been able to date them accurately. Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places. Are they considered collector’s items? I don’t know. Does it matter? Not really.

Surprisingly, they both still work and the Benrus actually keeps nearly perfect time, (+/-) 10 secs. /day. The Belforte, which is a subsidiary of Benrus, loses approximately 5 mins./day. Fortunately I’ve solved that problem by setting the watch 5 minutes fast each morning thereby making the watch more accurate as the day goes by. Maybe not the best solution but for now it’s better than dealing with a $100.00 repair bill. The irony is that I like the look of the Belforte more than the Benrus so it would probably get more wrist time. There’s just something about those Art Deco numbers . And, believe it or not, the lume in the hour markers and in the hands of the Belforte still has a little life left to it. It’s faint but it’s there.

Small by today’s standards and fashion trends, the Benrus measures 37mm lug to lug. The Belforte is a bit bigger at 41mm lug to lug. The cases are 8mm and 9mm respectively and that includes their very domed crystals. Speaking of the crystals, both watches are engraved on the case backs: “OPEN THRU CRYSTAL”. I don’t know how to do that.

I promise to take better pictures in the future.

The Benrus Series #3051. The case size is approximately 31.5mm not including the crown. Lug width is 16mm.

The Belforte Series #9061. The case size is approximately 33.5mm not including the crown. Lug width is 17.5mm.

Needless to say, I’m not going to test their claim to be waterproof. My guess is that the Benrus was produced in the late 1960s and the Belforte in the early 1960s. Those dates are just a guesstimate but I’m pretty sure that the manufacturers of these watches would not recommend immersion in water ever again.

Benrus caseback. No serial number on case back to help trace the history of this watch.

Belforte caseback. Again, no serial number to trace the date of manufacture with.

Did I mention the domed crystals?

If anyone knows about the history and dates of manufacture of the watches I’d be interested in hearing from you. I'll be the first to admit that I'm no watch expert and even though there's a great deal of information available on the internet I'm not inclined to reproduce it here unless I can cite it's origin. Anything else written here is purely my opinion. Thanks.