Rago Auctions

Polish watchmaker Oscar Waldan learned about the art of watchmaking after being captured and taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp, and later the Theresienstadt concentration camp in the Czech Republic during WWII. Being a watch apprentice saved Oscar's life. Upon liberation, he worked in the United States at a small watch repair shop in New York and later went to study horology in Switzerland and Germany. In 1979, he established Waldan Watches headquartered in New York. For more than 40 years, the Waldan brand continues to be known for its exquisite craftsmanship.

Now, with the next generation of the Waldan family, Oscar's son Andrew Waldan is carrying the torch and honoring the footsteps and history of his father's American Dream by rebranding and beginning anew as an American watch brand, based in New York where his father laid his roots.

The Brian LaViolette Foundation was formed by the LaViolette family to honor the memory of their son, Brian, who passed away in a swimming accident in Green Bay, Wisconsin when he was just fifteen years old in 1992. Brian was not only an excellent student, athlete, and musician, but he loved watches, starting his own collection when he was four years of age.

Since 1992, the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation has presented 1,058 scholarships to deserving college-bound students in Northeastern Wisconsin, the United States, and other parts of the world. The Foundation continues Brian's legacy by helping high school seniors financially to achieve their educational dreams and, at the same time, providing them with encouragement and inspiration. 

Learn more about the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation