Wolfsburg 100,000km Watch

[CanStan]

I know there have been a handful of posts over the years about the dealer-issued 100,000km award watches, but I’m looking to see if anyone has info on this one? It seems like most of them have a black face, while mine has a white face. I saw a picture online of a watch like mine, but there was no info with it. I really don’t know if maybe it’s an older or newer model than the black ones. For someone who knows next to nothing about watches, it seems to be decent quality. The wind-up mechanism works nicely and it keeps good time. The strap looks incorrect being a sort of canvas compared to the leather straps I’ve seen on other award watches, although the one I saw online looked to have a similar strap. The back cover is really nice and has the 100,000km engraving. Also, does anyone have a measurement of the face of their award watch? This one seems fairly small- possibly a women’s watch? I’m not even sure if those were given out?

[René R.]

Regarding the dial, as a watchmaker my best guess is that it was refinished at some point in the past. The printing of the letters is a bit uneven, not up to usual watch factory standards. Look closely at the W in 'Wolfsburg,' the first E in 'Jewels,' and the N, A, and L in 'INCABLOC.' Those are very irregular. Refinishing dials is quite common for old watches. Also, it's marked Swiss at the bottom, while all of the VW 100K watches I've seen have German movements. The refinisher probably didn't know any better and used 'Swiss' out of habit. It would be interesting to know what movement is in that watch. Most are Mauthe, Laco, or Junghans. I've never seen one with Wolfsburg on the dial, which is another probable sign of being refinished.

Men's watches of the era were small by modern standards, typically 32-35mm or so. Ladies' watches were really tiny and quite hard to read. (There were some 100K ladies' watches given out.)

Some watches, including Laco if I remember correctly, had solid wire lugs rather than the more typical type that used spring bars to mount the strap. With solid lugs the only options were to use a strap that loops under the case, as you have, or one with open ends that go over the solid bar and attach to the rest of the strap with glue or a metal clamp underneath.
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Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[CanStan]

Wow! Thanks René for sharing all your knowledge! I see what you mean by the lettering being a little off, so maybe you are correct about it being refinished. I was able to find a couple pictures in The Samba galleries of 2 more that look similar:

They both appear to have the same ‘Wolfsburg’ label, but only one has the ‘INCABLOC’
The one with the box says ‘By Elgin’ but I haven’t looked up where that manufacturer is from. I’ll have to PM the owners of these other watches and see if I can get a clearer image of the lettering etc.
You mention mine is Swiss- what is the giveaway of that?

Thanks again for the insight!

[CanStan]

I was able to get a closer picture of the lettering on the face. It doesn’t look quite as bad as the other picture of it (the convex glass and glare from the lighting make it hard to get a good clear picture), but does it still look off and below the standard it would have been at the factory?

[René R.]

Well, obviously I was wrong when I was skeptical about the Wolfsburg brand name. Looking at what shows of the paperwork in the gallery photo, it refers to VW of Canada so that might be something different from the usual 100K award watches. It's hard to tell.

Elgin was a US company founded in 1864 in Elgin, IL. The factory shut down in 1964 and moved to a small plant in South Carolina but only lasted about 4 more years. Today the brand name belongs to an Asian company. Like other companies who made watch movements in America, they ultimately couldn't compete with the Swiss and were forced to import cheap movements from Switzerland by the late 50s or early 60s to try to stay in business. None of the US companies survived past the 70s.

I'm mystified by the comment on the paperwork that the watch "has been produced in Canada...." I've never seen any reference to Elgin having a Canadian subsidiary, and I can't find anything online about it.

Yours has "Swiss" in tiny letters under the 6. Some refinishers print that out of habit, even when it's not appropriate. But in your new photo the printing doesn't look quite so bad so it might not be refinished after all. The only way to know for sure would be to take the dial off the movement to check the back (refinishers always mark a code on the back).

I'd love to read the full paper that is in the photo with the box to see if it gives any indication why VW of Canada commissioned their own VW watches. It would also be interesting to see pictures of the movements in those watches.
_________________
Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[CanStan]

Great! Lots of good helpful info. It’s funny I didn’t notice the ‘Swiss’ marking on the face of my watch, but after you mentioned it, there it is. It’s kind of hidden with the angle of the glass over it.
It would be interesting to check out the movement inside. Is that a DIY, or is that something I’d have to take to a watch repair place to have done? I’m happy to confirm what’s inside just to get the info posted up here for the future.

[René R.]

You need a case wrench to open it. I've seen a lot of these types of cases horrifically gouged up by people using some sort of sharp implement in one or more of the notches along the edge to try to push it counterclockwise. Very risky. With the right tool it takes only a couple of seconds.

You can first try by using a rubber jar opener to grip the back. If it isn't torqued down super-tight you might be able to simply unscrew it with something that gives enough trip. There's zero to lose in trying that. If it unscrews, great. If not, well, then it's time to see your friendly local watchmaker.
_________________
Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[CanStan]

Perfect thanks! I’ll give it a try with a jar opener. Failing that, I’ll have a pro take it apart and post back later this week with the results.

[JonRich55]

Here is another couple VW 100k versions. These are German brands, and the dials were the standard commercial version with only the back engraved.

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f11/german-mauthe-vw-100-000-km-653818.html

The Wolfsburg one shown in this thread I would think has a period correct dial, especially given the box shows this as a Wolfsburg watch by Elgin. The fonts, letter size and quality of the printing is about right for a brand like Elgin of that time. it wasn't uncommon for a US company to have special dials created for promotions in that time.

[IN2VWS]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=183528
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[CanStan]

[CanStan]

[CanStan]

[CanStan]

I also noticed this marking down under the “+” marking. It’s hard to tell what it is, and it’s only partially visible. I’m not sure if it has any relevance to anything, but maybe it looks familiar to someone in the know.

[René R.]

Decent but pretty generic looking Swiss movement. The AV marking brings to mind the movement manufacturer Aurore Villeret but theirs has AV in a shield, and I can't find any of theirs that matches this one. A number of watch companies, including Bulova, used AV movements but I find no references to Elgin using them.

Is there any marking underneath the rim of the balance wheel? It could be a bit hard to see without a loupe but that's a common location for a maker's mark or caliber number.
_________________
Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[René R.]

Ah, you posted a followup while I was digging for a match. The mark under the balance looks like the FHF logo (Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon) with the first F backwards. I'll see what I can turn up.
_________________
Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[René R.]

FHF movement caliber 96-N.

These were sold to vast numbers of different watch companies, often engraved with the purchasing company's name, but just as often left blank as in this one.

All indications are that this came out ca. 1975 so it wouldn't have been part of the original series of 100K awards in the 50s. It appears these Wolfsburg-signed watches were all made for and distributed by VW of Canada.
_________________
Gone but not forgotten: 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1966) - another 1950 Hoffman split (restored in 1996)

[CanStan]

Thanks again for the info! I never came across any info about these watches being handed out in the 70’s, but obviously that was the case. There really isn’t a whole lot out there regarding any of these 100,000km watches in general, let alone the distinguishing features between the models.
I had wondered if this one would be later because of the cheaper canvas type strap compared to the leather ones that seem to be more common.
Either way I still think it’s pretty cool. It looks to be virtually unworn. The holes for the strap adjustment don’t look stretched from being used and there aren’t any noticeable scratches or other damage. Something cool to keep in the collection.

[EverettB]

[CanStan]

Thanks Everett! Now that I can see what the OP of that thread had, it’s interesting to see how similar it is to mine, yet there are still several differences. His definitely looks like an older style font for the ‘Wolfsburg’ script, and the numbers are a slightly different style as well. Plus he has a leather strap. He says his is from the 60’s which would pre-date mine by a decade, so it seems like this style of watch was offered through a couple of decades anyway. Interesting stuff.