Gruen Bumper cal 460

[Henry Krinkle]

This was my father in laws and now it is my my first Gruen. I do not have any before pictures but I found this dead scratched up hulk with a nasty expansion bracelet and a broken crystal in the bottom of a drawer and when I was finished I had this;




Caliber 411 movement. Any info would be appreciated. Stainless steel screw back. The bezel does not appear to be Stainless Steel but is not plated. Is it possible that it is solid white gold?


Among other Gruens I have a very nice textured dial bumper. I will try to post pictures soon.

[mikethewatchguy]

For the caliber 410 model, it looks very much like the Lexington.

1942 Lexington.jpg

The numerials isn't quite the same style, but it's awful close. The number of jewels matches (cal 410 has 15 jewels). I would put your watch as being from 1941 or 1942.

The bezel and back are both stainless / Guildite.

[C. Hurt]

The Lexington was fitted with the grade 421 movement. You can tell by the distance from the center to the fourth wheel pivot.

The same cases was used for the 410, 411, 421 and 422 movements, though the movement caliber is not usually stamped into all-Swiss cases. Occasionally you will find a 405, 415 0r 426, or one of their variants in those cases as well.

[Robert]

A nice first Gruen and welcome to the Forum Henry.

[thojil]

A few days ago I received a new crystal for my 460 and the names on packaging triggered my quest again for finding a name to go with it. I did some further digging into the naming of my 460 as I wasn't satisfied with Cary's answer that it was the "Leader" model (sorry, nothing personal ). Based on an ad that I found of the "Leader" the case is a match however the dial isn't.

IMG_3350.JPG

LIFE magazine Autowind Leader.JPG

On the packaging for the crystal there are three names "Leader", "Ace", "Champion" which in itself doesn't mean anything other than that the case bezels have the same diameter and have a reflector ring.

IMG_3349.JPG

Started searching for ads on the other two model names and found one for the "Ace" model. The case of the Ace looks the same as Robert's version, but again no match as it has the cal. 460ss.

LIFE magazine Autowind Ace.JPG

So that left me with the name "Champion" for which I haven't been able to find a matching image in an ad or anywhere else. The fact that both the Leader and Ace are cal. 460 Autowind's would suggest that the Champion is as well and could be Robert's or mine..........I guess I can conclude again I did't get any further with this

Still love my watch though!

IMG_3351.JPG

[mikethewatchguy]

The Lexington was fitted with the grade 421 movement. You can tell by the distance from the center to the fourth wheel pivot.

The same cases was used for the 410, 411, 421 and 422 movements, though the movement caliber is not usually stamped into all-Swiss cases. Occasionally you will find a 405, 415 0r 426, or one of their variants in those cases as well.

Thank you for the GREAT piece of technical information on how to read some of the subtle differences in calibers by looking at the exterior of the watch.

[mikethewatchguy]

For what it's worth (not much at this moment), here's a shot of the Leader from straight on

1953 Leader.jpg

I've also got images of the Autowind Leader from 1950 through 1955. The hands from the 1950 model are more your traditional style, like on the very first photograph or the Lexington. The dial style didn't change.

Haven't run across your Champion, but I know I've run across that name somewhere...