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Amassing watches isn’t about amassing watches.
No, that’s not a Zen koan or one thing Yogi Berra as soon as let slip. And no, I’m not making an attempt to go all Jedi thoughts trick on you. It’s 3 pm. I haven’t but had my first cup of espresso, and right here I sit in an previous bathrobe struggling to gather my ideas (what valuable few I can muster). Gimme a break.
Okay, let me do that on you . . . amassing watches is about greater than simply amassing watches. (Possibly I ought to’ve led with that?)
Excessive or low horology. Classic or this yr’s Sub. Swiss, German, or Japanese. Amassing watches isn’t simply in regards to the watch itself. It’s additionally in regards to the tales and historical past embodied by a specific piece. In sure situations, the one that as soon as wore it.
Because the creator of a fictional story about mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, I simply needed to have a Forties Bulova just like the one Siegel famously sported.
Bugsy and his Bulova Clinton (picture courtesy revista360)
Whereas fellow mobster and Brooklynite Al Capone had chosen a reasonably sober, understated Rolex Prince as his timepiece du jour, and childhood good friend and companion in crime Charlie “Fortunate” Luciano flashed a gold Patek Phillipe Reference 1516 – a chunk befitting his standing as “capo di tutti capi” – Bugsy opted to maintain issues native.
His choice was for Bulova, a local New York model based in 1875 with operations within the borough of Queens – my hometown.
Bugsy and his Bulova Clinton (picture courtesy revista360)
At the moment on show at Sin Metropolis’s Mob Museum, Siegel’s 18k strong gold Bulova Clinton encompasses a sq., tank-style case and good-looking basket-weave bracelet. Whereas it was by no means my intention to ape Siegel’s model or rating a clone of his now well-known timepiece, I did desire a Bulova that was interval applicable.
One thing which may’ve been noticed on the wrist of a visitor on the then newly constructed Flamingo Resort & On line casino – a high-roller absent-mindedly twiddling with a stack of $100 poker chips . . . or maybe about to make a go with a pair of cube some lengthy, leggy drink of water had simply blown the breath of life.
Full disclosure: I’d spent almost 20 years working like a horse (at instances, two) in Vegas resorts. The final 5 as chef de partie at Sin Metropolis’s solely five-star property – to not point out a strong decade on the “Fabulous Flamingo” itself. Sadly, the Flamingo I knew had little in frequent with the palace Ben Siegel had actually spent his life’s blood – and $6 million in mob money – to construct.
From the strong Italian marble partitions to the flowery, art-deco furnishings and the palm timber he’d have trucked in from Florida to shade the big, blue-tiled swimming pool, Benny spared no expense. He even spent a cool million – your entire price range initially green-lit by the mob – to run particular person sewer traces for every of the Flamingo’s 105 rooms.
Heck . . . they didn’t name him “Bugsy” for nuthin’! Sixty years later, after I reported for my first shift, the Flamingo had swelled to a property with 4 towers and roughly 3,500 rooms. Paradoxically, all that remained of the unique construction was the plumbing.
In 1993 – of their infinite knowledge – the company “fits” who ran the Flamingo determined to dispose of the final remaining vestige of Ben Siegel’s unique construction. They bulldozed the lodge portion of the unique Flamingo, which nonetheless stood absolutely intact out again by the pool; like some historical artifact that had in some way been swallowed-up by a vortex within the spacetime continuum solely to be deposited on the foot of these 4 gleaming, new high-rise towers – as incongruous as if somebody had caught the Nice Pyramid of Giza between a Del Taco and a gents’s strip membership.
And simply why did these company fits select to do that, it’s possible you’ll ask? Reply: to make manner for an unique chook sanctuary! You heard me proper. Why enable vacationers an opportunity lay palms upon Sin Metropolis’s very personal model of Plymouth Rock?
To presumably spend the evening in Ben Siegel’s precise penthouse suite replete with a maze of trapdoors and hidden passageways permitting him to make like Chris Angel if the Feds got here a knockin’?
Nix the historical past and romance – the fascinating gangster lore. Overlook the colourful, Runyonesque vibe. Give the vacationers what they actually pined for: a gaggle of African penguins!
Bulova advert from the Forties
Okay, so I’ve gotten a bit off subject. Let’s carry issues full circle again to that Bulova I made a decision to buy. If the splendor of these bygone days was certainly bygone, I used to be decided so as to add a chunk to my watch assortment that will in some way hark again to these dust-strewn days of early Vegas, a time when the occasional tumbleweed nonetheless ambled alongside what would in the future change into the well-known Las Vegas Strip.
One thing I might put on on my wrist to function a talisman of a time and place that – regrettably – I wasn’t lucky sufficient to have skilled firsthand. A watch that was each a tip of the hat to Bugsy’s Vegas and my very own Queens, New York neighborhood.
I spent days looking out the net for an appropriate candidate. First, Chrono24. Slim pickings. Bleary-eyed however undeterred, I summoned my braveness, held my nostril, and dove into the eBay listings – a veritable “purchaser beware” swamp of fakes, frankenwatches, and “Bombay specials.”
There seemed to be two forms of choices: sadly mistreated, long-forgotten household heirlooms that appeared as in the event that they’d been subjected to an previous John Cameron Swayze Timex torture take a look at and a slew of extremely suspect, over-polished instances and brightly repainted dials that includes coloration combos that will trigger Donatella Versace to run screaming from the room. Lastly, I hit paydirt . . .
Quentin Bufogle’s 1946 Bulova Aviator B
There, amongst the chaff, was a hidden gem: a 1946 Bulova Aviator “B.” Due to a crash course in Bulova 101, I knew that the Aviator B was one thing of a shortage and extremely prized by collectors.
Certainly, pouring over web page after web page of “Presidents,” “Senators,” and “His Excellencys,” it was the one such specimen I’d discovered.
That includes an exquisite tonneau case, its sharply delineated, gold-filled bezel was accentuated by broad, handsomely engraved lugs. Whereas nobody might presumably mistake it for Bugsy’s Bulova, it did boast a near-pristine, silver/white dial with spectacular utilized Arabic numerals and a sublime, gold-plated handset that mirrored Siegel’s watch nearly to a T – a little bit of shared Bulova “DNA.”
Quentin Bufogle’s 1946 Bulova Aviator B
To prime all of it off, it was even fitted with a brown lizard pores and skin strap, the precise kind I’d deliberate on including myself. Chronos, the God of Time, had really been watching over me.
The vendor had posted a sequence of clear, properly staged pictures displaying the watch from each potential angle, together with a closeup of the motion: a hearty, no-nonsense manual-wind Caliber 10BC with 15 jewels – just lately serviced, oiled, and put in with a brand new mainspring.
And the value? Extraordinarily affordable in comparison with that of some a lot lesser examples. To date, so good!
The motion of Quentin Bufogle’s 1946 Bulova Aviator B (picture courtesy Ranger Swanson)
There’s an previous adage that chastened, battle-scarred eBayers reside and die by: “Purchase the vendor!” On this occasion, a retired U.S. Military Ranger with over 5,000 gross sales and an impeccable 100% satisfaction score. Posed for his profile pic together with his two lovable youngsters; square-jawed and sporting a purple Ranger beret, I knew I’d discovered my man.
So what’s the ultimate verdict now that my “new” classic Bulova has had some wrist time? Properly, let’s begin with the plain: it’s small – actually small! Though the diminutive measurement required a little bit of an adjustment interval, the watch quickly started to develop on me (no pun meant).
It has tons of character and stunning wrist presence for a watch whose case measures simply 27.1 mm (together with crown) x 37.9 mm (lug to lug). Typically, a whisper may be extra affecting than a shout.
Quentin Bufogle’s 1946 Bulova Aviator B
Reality is, it’s an exquisite piece, one which I typically catch myself gazing at appreciatively whereas sporting. Not the pearl of my assortment, nor a each day driver, however a look ahead to these particular instances and distinctive events – even perhaps an impromptu journey to Vegas.
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Along with being totally obsessive about high-end, mechanical watches of the Swiss selection, Quentin R. Bufogle is a contract author, former contributor to the previous Las Vegas CityLife, occasional blogger, and creator of the memoir King of the New York Streets.
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