Rare Vintage Gallet Yachting Wristwatch owned by Joe Oros Ford Chief of Design

Description: Rare doesn’t begin to describe this vintage, oversized 53mm Yachting Gallet Wristwatch timer. The story and how I came about this amazing piece goes back to March 20th, 2012, Santa Barbara, California. I responded to an ad in the Recycler about a vintage 16mm Bolex film camera and drove up to Santa Barbara to look at it. Upon arrival, I noticed several U-Haul trucks in the driveway, people walking and out of the house with large items. I was told that the family of Joe Oros, the famous designer was having an estate sale. I had never heard of him and found out that he was the Head of Design at Ford Motor Company from 1955-1975 and he and his team were behind the design of the original 1964-1/5 Ford Mustang, the original Pony car!When I walked in, I was surrounded by the finest and rarest mid century furniture, art work and sculptures. Everything was custom, custom made or the rarest of its kind at the time when he acquired it. I was blown away and completely forgot about the Bolex camera I came to see. I did see it and ended up buying it, even though it wasn’t working, but while I was checking out the camera I was also absorbing everything around me, settings and furniture by Milo Bauman, Florence Knoll, Eames Bros, Mies van der Rohe, George Nelson, Álvar Aalto… it was a designers and collectors dream setting and I knew that I’ll be driving up to Santa Barbara for the next 4 days, with a U-Haul truck! I went on a buying spree like never before and acquired most of Mr. Oros furniture, his personal model car collection, many of his paintings and sculptures, his library of Automotive relate books, most signed by him or given to him by their respective authors, signed of course. Enough to fill up my entire garage. On the last day I visited, the remaining furniture was primarily his closet with his wardrobe and drawers filed with ties and personal items…and then I came across this oversized, pristine vintage Gallet Yachting stopwatch timer.As I collect vintage wrist watches, I was struck by the fact that these types of stopwatches were pocket watch style cases without lugs and were usually carried around the neck. This one, however, was different - it had lugs and was designed to be worn as a wrist watch!When I closed the drawer, my eyes immediately went to the top of his dresser, with a photo of Joe and another person standing on the deck of his yacht displayed. I would learn that he was very passionate about yachting. I kept looking at this watch, and somebody from his family joined me and mentioned that she remembers that it was a special order and something about the lugs and that it could also be worn on the wrist… Sadly, Joe Oros passed away a few months later and after having acquired so many important things of his life, items that had an impact on the American cultural landscape as a designer, I wished I would have had the chance to meet him personally. Over the next months I sold most of the furniture to collectors and dealers. The books I kept and some of the paintings and sculpture, the model cars we are almost all damaged during the move and I kept them. One thing very dear to me are three massive Plexiglass sculptures that were mounted floor to ceiling at the entrance and served as dividers between entrance and the living room. I bought those as well including the mounting hardware for the ceiling ad the walnut baseboard to drop set each pleasing panel into it. All three aware made and signed by Joseph Oros, 1979 and I will be listing those and several items her on eBay in the coming weeks. Back to the watch; I tucked it away for 12 years and just recently spent more time with it. The story that it was a special order check out as the lugs are the same metal as the case and soldering is so well done, that only a manufacture would be capable of performing such task at this level of precision. Also, the dial is configured in such way, with Yachting Gallet the right way up, with the pusher positioned at 3-0’clock. Similar Gallet Yachting or Yachting timers have the writing correctly positioned with the crown and pusher positioned at the 12-0’ clock position, clearly indicating its purpose as a traditional pocketwatch style timer. Given the status and significance of Mr. Joe Oros in American History as one of the most important industrial designers, I have no doubt that this Gallet Yachting is 100% authentic. That said, this is also the extent of the provenance that I am able to offer for this piece. My story and the detailed closeup shots of the lugs. Please note that I am selling this example of horological history “As-Is” and don’t accept any returns. I will not ship internationally/ It is functioning well and the cosmetic condition of the case, dial, crown and plexi/acrylic is near mint. The case measures 53mm in diameter, without the crown and thickness calipers at 14.5mm. It will be delivered with a 24mm paratrooper style style strap as pictured. Please refer to the images a part of the actual condition. If you have any additional questions, please ask - need more pics, please ask. Bidders with Zero (0) feedback or more than (1) negative feedback in the past 12 months to please contact me stating your intention to complete the transaction (if you win), or the bid will be cancelled. PLEASE NOTE: The last image posted is not part of this auction but a small section of the Joe Oros items I acquired at the estate sale at his estate in Santa Barbara in 2012. The three plexiglass adulateurs in the left rear are some of the items that will be offered at upcoming auctions on eBay. The image serves more as a reference of the Joe Oros estate I described above This auction is for the Gallet Yachting stopwatch only. Thanks for looking and good luck!

Price: 1195 USD

Location: Thousand Oaks, California

End Time: 2024-11-18T23:06:22.000Z

Shipping Cost: 25 USD