Beauty in the Ruins: Solar Cocktail Watch

Since we are the subject of ladies cocktail watches, I rediscovered this broken beauty whilst looking for a strap in box of old watch parts on the weekend. Its crystal is cracked from side to side, but it still works. Solar, as long time readers may recall, was the in-house watch brand for the T. Eaton Company. It works well, but I fear I will never find a watchmaker who would be willing to replace the broken crystal. And the crack makes it totally susceptible to moisture and dirt that can rust up the works and discolour the dial.

Speaking of watch ruins, ladies watches (which are already tragically undervalued). are more and more ending their lives at the hands of the scrappers. My Estonian friends told me that unless a watch is Omega level or higher, a women’s watch has no value beyond its parts. And if the gold prince goes above $1,700, they’ll start scrapping Omegas too.