This time of year always seems to go by so fast. Summer is here, and then it's gone. When I was in school (around the time the wheel was invented), we were dismissed from our studies in mid-June and returned to the classroom in late September. That kids today go back to school in the midst of the hottest month of the year seems a bit, well, cruel. All the same, I suspect that millions of parents are waiting with bated breath for the school bell to ring. Oh well. And since time is on my mind this morning, let's look at another old-line timekeeper: this one named Gruen.
Unlike so many other watch companies with their origins in Europe, Gruen began in the all-American city of Cincinnati. It was founded by the father-and-son team of Dietrich and Frederick
Gruen in 1894. Twenty years before, Dietrich had invented a type of gear called a safety pinion that prevents catastrophic failure of a watch's movement in the event of a broken mainspring. Tightly wound inside a drum, the mainspring's steady relaxation is what provides the energy to drive a watch's movement. However, if the mainspring breaks due to over-winding — a common malady — its violent unwinding will destroy the subsidiary gearing around it.
So, after some fits and starts, Dietrich and son were able to start their eponymous watchmaking business with the safety pinion as its technological core. After a slow beginning, the company's fortunes changed when it introduced the Veri-Thin pocket watch in 1904 that, by virtue of rearranging the internal elements, allowed for a much thinner and smaller watch casing. Heretofore, pocket watches — the wristwatch still being some years in the future — were large and heavy, requiring dedicated pockets on the three-piece vested suits of the era. As smaller wrist watches became the timekeepers of choice in the teens and 1920s, Gruen's competitive advantage became even more pronounced.
Fast forward to the mid-1930s when in the midst of the Depression Gruen introduced its most famous innovation: the Curvex watch. After much experimentation, the company was able to create a gentle curve to its internal workings and case, allowing for a more pleasing and comfortable fit on the wrist. Coupled with a series of elegant dial designs, the Curvex was an immediate hit and quickly became the flagship of the company's line.
After a profitable stretch with the Curvex and then another during World War II when Gruen manufactured precision gauges for the Allied war effort, the firm fell on hard times during the 1950s, a victim of increased foreign competition and too much debt. By 1953, the founding family was gone, and five years later the company closed for good.
Nonetheless, Gruen lives on with collectors today. Many versions of the Curvex were made, and there is keen competition among enthusiasts for the rarer models. Apart from those, Gruen driver's watches and what have become known as their Duo-Dial watches both have many admirers. The former is a modified Curvex designed to be worn on the side of the wrist for easy viewing while driving, and the latter includes a sub-second dial almost as large as the principal one for use in medical pulse-taking and other applications. Rarely costing more than a few hundred dollars even in pristine condition, Gruens are among the most affordable vintage watches you can buy. And their history is interesting, too.
Mike Rivkin is the former proprietor of Antique Galleries of Palm Springs. His new venture will open later this fall. Contact him at scmcorp@sbcglobal.net.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Looking for a watch with curves? Check out Gruen
