Longines cal. 17.95: The special gift to Wim Vroom
The note states translated to English: To Wim Vroom, on the occasion of grandma's 75th birthday. Amsterdam October 8th 1937.
It’s October 8th 1937. A special day for Ciska Emilia Francisca Tombrock (1862-1946). It’s the day that she reaches the age of 75. To commemorate this day she gifted all of her 33 grand children a golden pocket watch.
This golden Longines pocketwatch was gifted to Wilhelmus Hermanus (Wim Jr.) Vroom (1930 - 2019), the grandson of Ciska Tombrock.
Ever received a golden pocket watch on the day your grandmother turned 75? To explain this extraordinary gift we have to explain who this family was.
Ciska was the wife of Wilhelmus (Wim Sr.) Hermannus Vroom. One of the founders of the Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D) chain of Dutch department stores founded in 1887. A brand that was very well known in The Netherlands and existed until 2015.
Vroom & Dressmann on the Rokin in Amsterdam, 1930
Wim Vroom jr. (1930-2019)
Wim Vroom was the silent force behind the renovation of the Rijksmuseum. He later became a driving force behind the new Kranenburgh.
Vroom devoted his life to art and history. For a quarter of a century he was director of the Dutch history department of the Rijksmuseum. His most important project was the refurbishment of the rooms for the history of the 19th and 20th centuries.
He had a particular interest in relics from the distant past that were sung about, ridiculed and forged. For almost twenty years he was chairman of the Ineke Feitz Foundation, which is named after his niece, who died at the age of 11, and which is involved in helping vulnerable children.
More about Wim Vroom in this article of the Volkskrant:
Wim Vroom (1930-2019): V&D-telg die koos voor geschiedenis en kunst
Wim Vroom jr. (1930-2019). Devoting his life preserving history in which ironically he plays a a part of history with this special timepiece.
Provenance to proof
A pocket watch of this level of quality, preserved with it’s accessories and interesting engravings. This had to be something interesting.
I acquired the watch from an auction house who estimated it for the value of gold without any provenance mentioned.
Luckily there was a name engraved so I could trace back to the original family of the timepiece. They where so nice to provide me with the provenance of the Longines so I could restore and preserve it’s story for future generations.
Auction houses can be great platforms to sell but for this example it proves it’s not always the best choice…
Longines caliber 17.95
For the occasion the family choose a high grade pocket watch in 18k yellow gold from Longines. The extract states that serial number 4’026’953 was invoiced on 27 August 1924 to the company Wirth, which was at that time agent for Switzerland and The Netherlands.
A pocket watch that is really well preserved in it’s original box with original certificate and note that was added by Ciska Tombrock (1862-1946).
