30 Oct 2013, 22:39
If you guys don't mind, I'd like to grab the wheel and steer us back to the original topic...
This is a perfectly ordinary 18K Euro Calculator case (to the extent that "ordinary" can be used in any sense to describe this watch!). I just looked at my two 1823s (which both contain 901 modules), and guess what...one case has five ribs on the case lug (serial number 8069), and the other (serial number 8029) has three, like this one! All structural details, inside and out, are identical, so I think we need to set all the talk about "prototypes" aside (the movement carrier also looks entirely standard). Also, note the Swiss inspection station hallmark (the little rectangular, light-colored spot to the left and below the "7" on the keyboard) stamped into the side of the case; both my 1823s carry the same mark, in slightly different positions, indicating these were individually punched, by hand, into each case (a couple of my 1822 Classics also carry this mark, indicating that at some point, they left the U.S. for Europe). There would be no need for a prototype to have this, since in all probability, it would never leave the factory. The main difference between my two is the construction of the bracelets...on 8069, the links are two ribs wide, and on 8029, the links are three ribs wide, and thus continue the pattern from case to bracelet. Interestingly, looking from the front of the watch, the bracelets appear identical (the separations between the links are not visually obvious), but from the side, the difference is striking (the internal construction of the bracelets, visible on the inside of the links, is also quite different). Yet, the bracelets are physically interchangeable between the two cases, with identical hinges (which carry identical sets of hallmarks) and clasps, so there is no doubt these are both original Time Computer bracelets (produced by different manufacturers...perhaps...no records exist to tell us for certain). At 154 grams of alloy weight (4.95ozT), or 3.72ozT of gold content (currently, about US$5,000), these are imposing timepieces.
Finally, for Time Computer, at least, it is certainly NOT true that "most 18K cases were made in Switzerland". While it is true that 18K was the standard for solid gold watch cases in Europe and the Middle East, ALL the 18K P1, P2, P3, and P4, plus the 1822 Classic Calculator cases (not to mention all the various solid 14K ones), came from Star Watch Case Co., in Ludington, Michigan. The only exceptions I am aware of are the 1823 cases, and the Midas Collection Touch-Command cases, which were made in such limited quantities they are virtually non-existent in today's collections, so they could hardly represent a majority of the 18K case production....more like 5% of it, if that (in fact, the name of the Swiss manufacturer remains unknown).