Collector's Guide to d.freemont Swiss Watches

Collector's Guide to d.freemont Watches
Available on Amazon: Click Here
8 1/2" x 11" Paperback, Full color.
Contains the specifications, production numbers, and unique identifiers to aid the watch collector in determining authenticity. It includes reprinted press reviews from the editors of iW, WatchTime and About Time magazines

ABOUT d.freemont

Late in the 1980’s D.Freemont found his vintage collection of 40 years began to pose a problem when the family decided to move to a new home. David had accumulated nearly 2000 vintage watches, parts and pieces which supported his hobby of watch restoration. Perhaps it was time to reduce the collection.

At this time the internet in its early stages had not supported the now famous auction and collector’s sites of today. Being a member of the NAWCC and attending the various shows and swap meets dedicated to watch collectors – David decided to begin selling rather than buying more watches. Now, actively selling at shows, and the current popular internet outlets, reduced his vintage collection to a few hundred of his most prized pieces. This reduced the burden of moving the collection to the new residence but sparked David’s interest in continuing this hobby turned business.

Over the years David had made many valued friends in the Swiss watch industry. Having seen the interest in the mechanical watches grow, it lit a fuse in his design background. Now retiring from the SAE and his other business commitments, David found that many mail order and private companies liked to put their name on their own watches – called private labeling. The opportunity expanded but in a direction that didn’t scratch the innovative itch David has always embraced. The private label market was depressing… the emphasis on quartz and low prices drained the innovative spirit from David. About to abandon the quartz only watch customers and go into producing mechanical watches with his own name, Susie, his daughter suggested a watch for the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. That was the last quartz watch for D.Freemont – it became the Rodeo Drive reference # 90212 (the zip code for Beverly Hills). There was a redeeming side to this project – it was the association of a famous place, or event to promote a watch.

David’s philosophy in watch design centered around making the watch say something besides the time. The adherence to classic style coupled with an engaging event or magical location… Like the early Rodeo Drive 90212, supporting the wearers identity with that prestigious and famous square mile. The watch became an identity as well as a time piece. Using the success of identity transference, the next watch was the Rockefeller Center 10111… then came the Mt. Palomar 92010, the Hoover Dam 89006, etc. Spinning the associated fame and history of these locations into the watch design became the D.Freemont mantra. The collector will notice that the numeral seven (7) is exchanged with the D.Freemont logo “df” a reminder that (7) is considered Gods number – on the seventh day God rested. There is also the second most asked question about the use of the bird ( albatross ) symbol on some of d.freemont watches – this is a reminder to be kind to man, beast and bird alike, a symbol of freedom which D.Freemont embraces.

David’s literary soul and enjoyment of the classics and poetry, works from Robert Frost, Carl Sanberg, Keats and Samuel Coleridge captured his imagination. The Coleridge poem, “The Rhyme of the Ancyent Marinere” was also one of his mother’s favorites. She reintroduced the poem to David and he saw the path for a series of watches known as the Ancyent Marineres. There were a total of 900 Ancyent Marineres produced, The Original, the Panama, the Voyager and the Regulator. This series really established David as a master designer and contributor to the horological history. In the year 2000 the NAWCC commissioned David to design a limited production piece for the 2000 National convention in Philadelphia – it was a gold chronograph – number one is a permanent part of the display in the NAWCC museum at Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Commerative pieces became another of David’s specialties, like the celebration of the 100 years of flight. Using a similar design from the 1950’s, the 100 yr of Flight commeratives were launched. Another distinctive point that enhanced the collectible interest in D.Freemont was the use of serial numbers assigned to each watches. The fascination with mechanical watches had David going back to the Skeleton watch design he had put on a back burner at about the time of the Rodeo Drive watch. Not sure how a Skeleton watch would be accepted – David introduced the Expose. This was a very big step producing 300 Skeleton watches without having tested the interest of the watch buyers – it was shortly after advertising the Expose in “WatchTime” and “International Watch” magazines that the truth was known – watch buyers loved the Expose and quickly sold it out… then a replacement, the Expose II ,was launched. Collectors again showed strong interest in these revealing mechanical watches.

David, having created many interesting and pleasing watches, personally believes that his best work lies in the Santorini and recent watch, the “Airbatic”. Here again it is a commerative to the great aviation pioneer, Steven Fossett. It connects David’s interest in flying and his early training in a forerunner of the Citrabia to the aviation greats of the current era. At this time David is considering a commerative to the nearly unknown female pilot, Beryl Markham, who was the 1st woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1937. The Santorini is a capsule of history surrounding the Aegean Sea – known for its magnificent sunsets – David devised a special method of coloring a stainless steel case to reflect the effects of great heat coming from that caldron that is now Santorini Island.

At this time David’s most pressing urge is to reflect on those past 20 years of work and establish a record of achievement and contribution to Horology in this collectors guide.