SPECIFICATIONS
Rare Gruen “Golden Cross” with steel case and in-house 462SS bumper automatic movement, from the 1960s
Steel case measuring 34mm
Screw-down case back
Original crown
Gruen 462SS bumper movement inside
ANALYSIS
Dietrich Grün (later Gruen) was a talented young German watchmaker who gained extensive experience in workshops in Germany and Switzerland before moving to the United States. After founding the Columbus Watch Company in Columbus, Ohio, in 1882, Dietrich introduced his sons to the watchmaking business and, in the early 1900s, rebranded his company as Gruen & Sons, moving production operations to Cincinnati. Gruen began manufacturing watches with Swiss movements that became widely popular in the United States. Along with Elgin, Hamilton, and Waltham, from the 1920s to the 1960s, the Gruen Watch Company shaped the history of American customs and society.
This watch represents the “swan song” of Gruen’s highest craftsmanship.
The dial has a warm cream background with a luminous gold pad print. The periphery features the minute track, while the entire dial is traversed by a cross composed of four very sharp triangles, which sharpen the overall design. The hands are gold-plated and douphine-shaped, echoing the triangular construction of the cross on the dial, and the seconds hand also repeats this “triangular concept.” The Gruen signature and logo appear at 12 o’clock; the word “Autowind” appears at 6 o’clock.
The case was crafted in Switzerland by the renowned casemaker Huguenin Frères (acronym and hallmark “HF”). It features two distinctive features: the half-helix lugs and the insert-less bezel with a pair of small holes at the hour markers. This is a very understated and unusual aesthetic solution.
Under the screw-down case back, which ensured the watch’s watertightness, lies the marvelous movement produced entirely by the Swiss factory in Gruen: the bumper caliber 462SS. This 11.5-ligne (26.1mm) movement with a center seconds hand was launched around 1950. This beautiful and rare movement has 17 jewels, runs at 18,000 vph, and has a 34-hour power reserve.
