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Gold Content of the 1158 Carreras

Yesterday, I took my 18 karat gold Carrera (Reference 1158) to a jeweler, to get the exact weight of the watch and the bracelet. I thought that it would be interesting to have this information; I also wondered whether the relative weight of the watch and the bracelet might explain the fact that, historically, the bracelet usually cost approximately 1.5 times as the watch itself.

I believe that the information shown in this table explains the pricing of the watch and the bracelet. The bracelet contains 73 grams of gold; the watch case (without movement) contains 48 grams of gold; so the ratio is exactly 1.5-to-1 . . . thus we understand why the bracelet sold for 1.5 times the price of the watch itself (for example, in 1974, the Carrera sold for approximately $750, while the bracelet alone sold for approximately $1,125). The jeweler who assisted me with these measurements also pointed out that the workmanship in the bracelet far exceeded the workmanship in the case itself.

Jeff

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total weight of watch and bracelet

143 grams

weight of watch (head only)

69 grams

weight of movement

21 grams

weigth of watch case (without movement)

48 grams

weight of bracelet (both sections)

73 grams

bottom section of bracelet (with clasp)

40 grams

top section of bracelet

33 grams

total weight of gold in watch and bracelet

121 grams

ratio of gold in bracelet to gold in watch

1.5-to-1.0

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