GRUEN GUILD DOCTORS WATCH DUO DIAL CAL. 877 PRINCE TECHNI QUADRON
Item History & Price
GRUEN DOCTORS WATCH ALSO KNOWN AS DUO DIAL OR TECHNI QUADRON. GRUEN CAL 877. SAME MOVEMENT AS ROLEX'S CAL 300. USED IN THEIR PRINCE LINE OF WATCHES. MEASURES 21MM X 34 MM. 40MM TO LUGS.YELLOW GOLD FILLED CASE IS A LITTLE WAVY ALONG THE BOTTOM EDGEORIGINAL DIAL SHOWING SOME WEAR WATCH IS RUNNING. BUT HAS NOT BEEN TESTED FOR ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY. THIS IS A VINTAGE WATCH. DO NOT BUY IF YOU WANT QUARTZ ACCURACY.
This watch, by another name, is a Prince.By... that we mean the Rolex Prince, with which this watch shares a body and a movement, if not a name. It started in 1927, when Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf and Hermann Aegler—a noted movement manufacturer whose company Rolex acquired in 1919—were presented with patent number 120849. The patent called for a “shaped watch movement with a seconds dial.” The larger seconds hand, so the patent ran, was intended to make the watch more useful for the precise measurement of time.
Moreover, its large balance wheel made the watch more accurate than others available on the market when it was released in 1928 as the Prince. Relying on this fact, Rolex submitted the watch to chronometer trials, at which it excelled. In fact, the movement used in the Prince—the Calibre 877—became the first movement to gain that distinction without having to be adjusted specifically for the trials.
Due to its exceptional accuracy, the Prince soon gained a reputation as a watch worn by—and often presented to—doctors.
In fact, Rolex explicitly stated in marketing materials that the Prince was “particularly suitable for the medical profession.”
But how does Gruen figure into this equation, you ask?
In the 1920s, Gruen was one of the largest watchmaking companies in the United States. But their operations weren’t limited to just the “land of the free.” The company also owned a factory in Bienne, Switzerland—right across from Aegler’s.
Gruen acquired shares in Aegler, which gave them the rights to use movements that Aegler developed—including the Calibre 877.
Gruen was granted the rights to sell the Prince in the United States, while Rolex retained distribution in Europe and the British Empire. So that the two would not compete with each other, Gruen sold it as the Techni-Quadron while Rolex’s version remained the Prince. To further distinguish the two versions, Gruen’s was marketed toward “the man who requires the exact time in seconds” while Rolex targeted theirs at “men of distinction.”
This watch, by another name, is a Prince.By... that we mean the Rolex Prince, with which this watch shares a body and a movement, if not a name. It started in 1927, when Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf and Hermann Aegler—a noted movement manufacturer whose company Rolex acquired in 1919—were presented with patent number 120849. The patent called for a “shaped watch movement with a seconds dial.” The larger seconds hand, so the patent ran, was intended to make the watch more useful for the precise measurement of time.
Moreover, its large balance wheel made the watch more accurate than others available on the market when it was released in 1928 as the Prince. Relying on this fact, Rolex submitted the watch to chronometer trials, at which it excelled. In fact, the movement used in the Prince—the Calibre 877—became the first movement to gain that distinction without having to be adjusted specifically for the trials.
Due to its exceptional accuracy, the Prince soon gained a reputation as a watch worn by—and often presented to—doctors.
In fact, Rolex explicitly stated in marketing materials that the Prince was “particularly suitable for the medical profession.”
But how does Gruen figure into this equation, you ask?
In the 1920s, Gruen was one of the largest watchmaking companies in the United States. But their operations weren’t limited to just the “land of the free.” The company also owned a factory in Bienne, Switzerland—right across from Aegler’s.
Gruen acquired shares in Aegler, which gave them the rights to use movements that Aegler developed—including the Calibre 877.
Gruen was granted the rights to sell the Prince in the United States, while Rolex retained distribution in Europe and the British Empire. So that the two would not compete with each other, Gruen sold it as the Techni-Quadron while Rolex’s version remained the Prince. To further distinguish the two versions, Gruen’s was marketed toward “the man who requires the exact time in seconds” while Rolex targeted theirs at “men of distinction.”
