Adding a Vintage Chronograph Watch to Your Collection| Fellows Blog

Shopping for at public sale offers an amazing alternative to step into the world of shopping for a classic chronograph watch. These watches can usually be a superb gateway into yesteryear’s extra obscure Swiss watchmaking firms which have since folded. Chronographs are extremely intricate features in a watch that enables the consumer to make use of their watch as a stopwatch. Listed here are a few of our favorite classic chronograph watches from our auctions.

Common Geneve Classic Chronograph

Lately acquired by Breitling, Common Geneve are the producers of a number of the most fascinating classic watches that exist. Explicit highlights are the Polerouter and, one in all my favourites, the White Shadow. Common Geneve are recognized for his or her prolific use of their micro-rotor actions, which allowed them to provide impressively slim watches. Common Geneve first began to achieve nice acclaim with its classic chronographs. The Compur and Compax watches maintain a particular place in Common Geneve’s household, being one in all their longest-running mannequin traces. For a time, Common Geneve produced a line of watches for French style home Hermes, utilizing their Paris headquarters as a retail website.  

The watch above is a really tidy instance of a dressier chronograph from Common Geneve. It includes a calibre 285 motion which was utilised in Common Geneve’s finest watches. This motion rivalled the highest-grade chronograph mechanisms produced by Valjoux and Venus, two main firms within the house.

ARSA Classic Chronograph

ARSA might be not a reputation that many have heard of. Based in 1898 by Auguste Reymond, the corporate shortly grew into a decent model. In 1926, they acquired the Unitas firm, which produced actions for a number of different Swiss watchmakers. Unitas later grew to become part of Ebauche SA., in any other case often known as ESA, which later morphed into ETA. The model struggled by means of the quartz disaster and has traded possession a number of occasions since. It continues at the moment as ‘Auguste Reymond’, producing a great assortment of mid-level watches.

Lot 212

Arsa – a chronograph watch, 35mm.

Estimate: £200 – £300

This watch is a pleasing one, the Tuxedo dial being the standout characteristic. An outer tachymeter varieties the circumference, giving the dial an aesthetically pleasing utilitarian look. As with most watches of this age, it has seen some intervention. The minute hand, for example, has been changed. However that’s, usually, what makes this sort of watch such an amazing introduction to this market; it’s not excellent however it’s nice.

Sandoz Classic Chronograph

Sandoz as a model can date itself again to the late nineteenth century. Based by Henri Sandoz, the corporate had an in depth relationship with Cyma which allowed each firms to develop collectively. The model has since been licensed out to numerous totally different firms, all of which produce watches of various high quality. It’s the Swiss firm that produces the very best high quality watches underneath this identify.

Lot 302

Sandoz – a chronograph watch, 40mm.

Estimate: £200 – £300

The ultimate alternative is a little more fashionable than the earlier two. The styling for the watch may be very of its time, with a really robust space-race feeling to it. The ‘surfboard’ motif on the dial is at all times pleasing to see and solely contributes to that late Sixties, early Nineteen Seventies attraction. Contained in the case sits a Valjoux 7733 motion. This was the predecessor to the 7750 which has been utilized by a large number of totally different watchmakers, Omega, Breitling and IWC simply to call a couple of.

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Nathan Boot BA (Hons), MA (Hons) | Cataloguer