Movado Ermeto Chronomètre c.1930 | Shagreen and Steel
With 9 new additions to our vintage watch collection, this week’s update opens with an early Movado Ermeto. With unusual blue dyed shagreen covers, this is a wonderful example of this famous purse watch model. The action of opening and closing the covers winds the watch and also reveals the silvered dial beneath. The dial is in excellent condition with raised stylised Arabic numerals and cathédrale hands.
Smiths W10 military dated 1968
The Smiths W10 is a fantastic military watch, designed with a highly accurate English made movement and a robust, utilitarian steel case. The dial of this example is in excellent condition and the luminescent accents have acquired an especially attractive warm patination. The luminescent infill to the hands has discoloured with flashes of the original colouring still visible.
Longines Ref.4858 invoiced 1949 | 14ct gold
An exceptional example of the Longines Ref.4858, this watch is cased in 14ct yellow gold. The Longines archives confirm that this watch was originally invoiced to their Swiss agent, Wirth, on 25 November 1949. In outstanding condition, there is an excellent lustre to the dial and crisp definition to the case. Interestingly the subsidiary seconds dial is unusually wedge-shaped so that the sides of the sub dial are steeper at the 60-second marker and shallower at the 30-second point. It’s also noteworthy that the watch retains its original plain gold winding crown. Manually wound, the watch is powered by Longines’ calibre 27.0 which is beautifully finished with decoratively damascened plates and bridges. The vintage pig skin strap is also rather beautiful…more images of that on the website.
Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Platinum c.1920
Platinum is one of the most desirable metals used in the production of watch cases. Extremely hard wearing, heavy and resistant to corrosion, it is also favoured for its silvery-white appearance. Both expensive and challenging to work with, the use of platinum has always been reserved for casing the finest watches.
The popularity of extra slim dress watches grew during the 1910s and the vogue continued as the Art Deco movement gained momentum during the 1920s. The 1920s also witnessed greater experimentation in the design and layout of the watch dial. Clearly delineating the dial between hours and minutes enabled a more precise and easier means of reading the time. On this watch, the length of the minute hand is exaggerated as it stretches to the finely pearled minute track at the dial’s edge. The bold Roman numerals for the hours are enhanced by the high sheen of the chapter ring on which they sit. Similar dial designs can also be found on watches from this period by Cartier. This layout owes something to the so-called ‘regulator’ dials found on clocks and some watches whereby a small subsidiary dial displays the hours, but with the minutes shown as usual to the dial’s edge.
Longines Ref.3149 invoiced 1939
The cushion form case was one of the first ‘shaped’ cases to appear on the market after the mainstream introduction of the wristwatch in the 1910s. Interestingly, the 12 o’clock numeral is painted in red, a feature adopted by early wristwatch dial manufacturers to act as a quick reminder of its position – this was due to the fact that on open-faced pocket watches, the 12 o’clock position was usually located beneath the winding crown, i.e. the 3 o’clock position on a wristwatch dial. Also notable is the position of the Longines signature which is curved and appears just above the subsidiary seconds dial – this was a deliberate design element and allowed space at the top of the dial for the retailer of the watch to, if desired, place their own name. There are scuffs and light scratches to the dial.
The Longines Archives confirm that this watch was originally invoiced to the watchmaker’s UK Agent, Baume & Co., on 26 March 1938. The Archives further detail that the model’s reference number is 3149.
Telda steel & chrome c.1950
This triple calendar wristwatch is in almost unused condition with an excellent silvered dial and a super crisp, well defined case. The calendar displays days of the week and months of the year in the apertures below 12 o’clock, whilst the date is indicated via a red-tipped central hand which points to the outer date ring which is calibrated with blue numerals. The calendar can be quickly adjusted using the pushers to the case sides.
Omega Ref.720 c.1950
This is a charismatic mid-century Omega model with unusual stylised Arabic numerals. There is a good lustre to the dial with light and even oxidation to the surface. Cased in steel, the watch has good definition to its angles and edges and retains its original unsigned winding crown. This model was advertised within Omega’s catalogues for the UK market as a Ref. 720; the case was made for the watchmaker by the Dennison case company and is one of their most classic designs, featuring a polished chamfered bezel, gently down-turned lugs and flat, snap-on, back. Manually wound, the movement is a calibre 265 which is part of Omega’s highly regarded ’30’ series calibres.
Omega Genève Ref.531.5001 hallmarked 1962 | 9ct gold
This Omega watch has a silvered dial with cross-hair to the centre, a feature rarely seen on ladies’ models. The applied gold triangular numerals are bold in style with multi-faceted surfaces. Unusually for a lady’s model, this watch has a centre seconds hand, the majority of similar references were manufactured without seconds. Cased in solid 9ct yellow gold, we have fitted the watch with a new Hirsch strap and the original gilt-metal Omega pin buckle.
Omega Genève Ref.135.041 c.1969
Ref. 135.041 was introduced by Omega in 1968. The steel tonneau form case has a brushed finish to the top which compliments the satin finish of the sunburst patterned dial. There are applied linear baton indexes with black inserts to their centres. There is some pitting to the case sides and upper case in both instances this is between the lugs.
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