One of just 1,500 made, The Bobby Finder marked a change in design direction from A. Dunhill. Model reference SP30.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
Whilst under the ownership of Richemont, A. Dunhill went under quite a radical rethink and recruited the WatchGuru, Tom Bolt, to assist on design. The Booby Finder and others were launched to critical acclaim in 2005, but didn’t make it onto wrists until 2006. They deliberately went for designs that you would not find elsewhere, and they were not cheap – This model was $4,360 in 2006 – An Omega Speedmaster professional chronograph was $3,195.
CONDITION
A. Dunhill chose to be deliberately bold and make their 2005 relaunch stand out, and that strategy can make sense. Selling three handed quartz watches, as Dunhill had done through the 1990’s with good volume success, is limited as you can not build in extra value to your watch if Gucci are using the same movement too much. So Dunhill went for a USP on the styling and some technical aspects, and this approach had worked in the past – Audemars Piguet launched a steel watch in 1972 that cost more than most gold ones, and took two years to sell the first thousand watches, but the Royal Oak has been the backbone of their collection ever since. Ultimately the A. Dunhill relaunch can’t be considered such a commercial success – but the watches are still interesting.
The Bobby Finder refers to the early days of motoring, where you might have a lookout trying to find bobbies (English slang for Police) who often used binoculars to get an advantage. This is why you have a cartoon of a policeman on the case back. Style wise you have some interesting things going on. The nicely engraved bezel, held in with three visible screws, has lume inserts in it rather than on the dial. The left hand subdial is completely empty, and the right one measure seconds. between the two is more of the same pattern from the bezel, but now on the dial. The automatic movement is an ETA 2824 with Dubois-Depraz module for the sub seconds, so servicing in the future should be easy and economical. The case has marks, with the worst being on the side of the bottom right lug. Both lower lugs are also engraved with a letter S. The leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour or material if preferred. The watch is signed on the dial, case and movement.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
This watch has been checked against the Watch Register and has not been reported as lost, stolen or implicated in fraud, and a copy of that certificate will also be included.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 43.2 mm
Width without crown 39.9 mm
Between lugs 20 mm
Lug to lug length 50.5 mm
Case Thickness 10.8 mm
All sizes are approximate. The watch is photographed on a wrist of 190mm/7.5 inches.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
