"Your curved wrist deserves the world's only truly curved watch"
GRUEN CURVEX The Precision Watch Cal. 330 Wristwatch Conoruma Movement
Gruen Watch Company, one of the most important and prestigious American watch manufacturers, founded by a brilliant German horologists, Dietrich Gruen and later by his sons Fred and George Gruen.
"The most famous Gruen wristwatch was the Curvex. These watches are one of the greatest examples of 1930s streamlined design."
In 1935, Gruen introduced the first Curvex wristwatches for men. Expanding on the then-current fashion of the rectangular wristwatches shapes, these models were curved to wrap around the wrist. The biggest innovation of the design was the ability to produce a movement which followed the shape of the case, allowing the watch to be thinner and more curved. This, in turn, allowed the movement to be larger, more durable and more accurate.
There were four men's Curvex movements, they were introduced by Gruen in 1935 with the thin caliber 311. This was soon replaced by the more curved 330 (1937), also long and thin. As fashions changed, later Curvex models used the short, squarish-oval 440 (1940) and the short and wide 370 (1948). Watches with the 330 were called Custom Curved and 370 models were called Curvametric in Gruen advertising, although the dials are all marked simply Curvex and Precision. Any man's watch that does not contain one of these four movements is not a Curvex.
Today, we are presenting a real curved timepiece! This is a vintage Gruen Curvex Precision wristwatch, style 280 and dated from 1937.
This is a manual wind watch powered by the second generation Gruen Curvex movement caliber 330, 17 jewels movement, signed “Curvex” and "Conoruma", sub-second, unadjusted, Swiss made.
"Conoruma is Gruen's proprietary alloy used for balance wheels and hairsprings. The Hamilton Watch Company used a famous, similar material called 'Elinvar.' These alloys are designed to be stable in spite of temperature changes—they will expand or contract very little when the watch gets warm or cool. Because a watch is so delicate, changes in temperature will otherwise cause the watch to run slightly fast or slow. Balance and hairspring alloys like Conoruma help combat this problem."
It still has the original two-tone black with gold curvex dial (showing some patina and aged) with gold applied Arabic Numerals, gold minute track and gold matching hands. The sub-second is located at 6 o’clock and the dial is also signed with the Gruen name and Curvex Precision as well.
Cased in a 20 x 33.8mm long rectangle case with stepped sides and and fancy lug design. All in 10K yellow gold filled.
It comes with a new-old-stock black "Dynasty" Genuine Leather two-piece strap.
This watch is still in good condition, it is a very attractive looking watch. It runs very well and keeps great time!
Thank you for looking! Please feel free to contact us with any questions, or respectful offers.
Case Markings: Cased & Timed in U.S.A. By Gruen Watch Co. 280 / 330 2524092
GRUEN 10K Gold Filled
Measurements (mm): Case 20 x 33.8 Case w/Crown 21.4 Case Lug to Lug 44.7 Case Thickness 10.5 Lug Width 15 Band Width 14
Vintage watches are traditionally smaller than today's watches. Men’s watches typically measure between 29-36mm wide (some larger, some smaller) excluding the crown. In the listing details we typically try to do our best to list all pertinent dimensions of a watch. If you don't see it, or we failed to do so, please reach out to us. Women’s watches from the 1900s-1970s were also much smaller than today's offerings. Please also feel free to ask any questions you have pertaining to size.
We prefer to shoot photographs outside when weather is permitting. However, when we shoot indoors, please be aware that we shoot our photographs inside of lightboxes that are lit with 360 LED bulbs. This indeed magnifies any flaws. Usually, they are much less obvious to the naked eye. Having said that, we never photoshop any of our photography, remove blemishes, etc. We adjust lighting when necessary, but what you see is what you are getting, and we take pride in that.
The condition is pre-owned. The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear but is fully operational and functions as intended. Please review the photos and feel free to ask any questions you may have.
It will be carefully packed.
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