# The Mysterious Marcel Drucker



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

On Sunday 31 March 2013, Marcel Drucker, a Romanian-born watchmaker of Fort Lee, North jersey in the USA died aged 86. This event would have passed me by had I not recently found a Marcel Drucker pre-owned but hardly used boxed ladies wristwatch, and noted references to him on the Watch Forum UK in both 2004 and 2007. His death was apparently due to complications from his diabetes, and it is clear that he was becoming seriously ill for some time previously since there were questions asked about his whereabouts on the Shopping Telly Forum in February 2012.

Marcel Drucker, unlike so many watch brand names these days, was actually a genuine watchmaker. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker in Romania and at the age of 23, he left Europe to live in Israel and Canada before finally settling in the United States in 1955. He was by then already a certified watchmaker and shortly after his arrival in the States, he worked for a small company that produced and serviced aircraft clocks for the US military. He married and started a family, choosing to live in New York.

The company he was working for eventually closed and Marcel decided to become an entrepreneur. In 1959, he launched the Marcel Watch Corporation, whose products included dress, chronograph, and multi-alarm watches. He also launched another company - Oleg Cassini Watch and Clock Corporation - but I am not sure of the current status of this organisation or how it links to the present Marcel Watch Corporation.

For a more personal and uplifting profile of Marcel Drucker himself, members can look at the Marcelwatch.com website, where it claims that his saying was, "A man's name is not just a brand its a promise!" and that he was driven, determined, and loved by many.

Marcel Drucker became a well-known name in the watch business, not just through his manufacturing operations in Asia and the output of his company, items of which have been distributed as gifts to high ranking heads of state and CEO's of companies. Much More important was his use of television to advertise and sell his products, notably watches. He was an impeccably dressed man, with an American flag pin in his lapel, and he caused quite a stir in the watch buying public's mind with his appearances on the Home Shopping Network, USA and on QVC, both in the States and over here.

In a 2006 interview with Leaders magazine, Marcel Drucker described how his QVC appearances transformed his career. Hen said:

"As long as I can work, I want to work, because there's nothing like interacting with viewers" ... "But it's not only about appearing

on television. I also have to produce enough watches to be able to sell many thousands at a time. ... The networks expect me

to sell between $500,000 and $700,000 worth of watches in one hour."

One "gimmick" that Marcel used was his policy of servicing watches and replacing batteries for free. Apparently, seven years before he died, Marcel Drucker sent a watch to the Queen . However, although the Queen was "touched" by the gesture, Buckingham Palace returned the watch "because the Queen does not accept presents from companies or firms unless she is on an official engagement or a visit." As for Tony Blair - he accepted his gift of a watch from Mr. Drucker.

Subsequent to Marcel Drucker's death, the Marcel Watch Corporation carries on regardless, using the brand names Marcel Drucker and Skandia. What is pretty obvious is that Marcel Drucker himself had no hand in actual watchmaking with regard to the watches bearing his brand name, even though there is an American watch forum reference in 2009 to the effect that he was claiming on TV that he made them himself. I should just add here that the thread where this post occurs is entitled "Dare I ask, does anyone have a Marcel Drucker Watch?"

Marcel was basically a distributor of mens' and womens' watches, under his brand names, with perhaps a hand in designing and approving some of them.

So now to my own Marcel Drucker watch, which is in its original silver leatherette box. The metal strap and case is not of particularly high quality and the movement inside appears to be a cheap Chinese plastic example. What saves this watch from being just junk is the use of millefiori glass, not only in nice roundels down the bracelet, but also over the silver face and hands. In fact, the glass is a single piece of thick glass in which the bezel is formed from millefiori, surrounding a clear circular window for reading the watch. The only problem is that some "crizzling" has occurred in the clear part of the glass causing tiny cracks in the surface, probably due to poor annealing technique.

There are plenty of Marcel Drucker watches on the internet so I won't describe any others here. Interestingly though, Amazon UK does not sell them. What is clear is the extraordinary division of opinion between those who really liked Marcel Drucker and his watches, and those speaking on watch forums who point out that the watches tend to be vastly overpriced and usually of a pretty poor standard. Indeed, I would suggest that the watch forum threads concerning Marcel Drucker, both here and in the States, have been less than complimentary.

So, have any of you got a Marcel Drucker watch? And what is your opinion of the products of the Marcel Watch Corporation?


----------



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Additional notes on Marcel Drucker:

In looking at the career of Marcel Drucker, I notice there is a gap in time between the founding of Marcel Watch Corporation and the mass selling by the company using TV sales appearances. I wonder if any Forum members have mechanical Marcel Drucker or Oleg Cassini watches from this period. I would also like to know when Marcel Drucker first appeared on television to sell his watches.


----------



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Thanks Orisdiver - hope other members also read through my topic even without photos of Marcel Drucker, Oleg Cassini and Skandia watches. A quick look on the internet should provide enough examples for interested readers, until I get up an running with photos.


----------



## greasemonk (Oct 4, 2012)

hi,have had this marcel drucker in my collection for a few years now,its a nice watch but has too much going on in the dial for me.i the only reason i keep it it because my son likes to wear it occassionally..


----------

