The Watch
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Chronographe Suisse became a significant revenue source for small, often forgettable brands and many of these watches are collectables today. At its peak, over 500 workshops were producing watches with supplies from Chronographe Suisse. This successful business model thrived from the 1940s to the 1970s, before the quartz revolution wreaked havoc on the industry overall. The watches were largely marketed to tourists, often being sold in airport lounges or tourist shops and were available in a variety of style and in gold-plated, nickel-plated, solid stainless steel or solid 18ct gold cases, therefore offering the full range of prices to those looking for a memento from their travels.
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The piece we have here today is a "Javil" retailed example, who amongst many other Chronographe Suisse supplied retailers fell foul to the aforementioned quartz crisis. Featuring a Venus 188 Chronograph movement, whilst these movements were common and readily available in the 1950/60's they were still of excellent quality.
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What's particularly attractive about this Javil is the condition, as they were essentially tourist Watches, the majority of these got used and abused. You will see many of these Chronographe Suisse battered and bruised, the lugs are hollow and the Case is extremely susceptible to dents, which in turn makes the Watch more vulnerable to water ingress etc.
It is not the case with this guy. The Lugs are razor sharp, the Dial is in excellent order and whilst the case has some light scratches, it is evident that this piece has not been worn much at all.
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View this Javil in a video: here
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The Specs
Age: c.1950's.
Movement: Manual Wind with 30 min Chronograph.
Calibre: Venus 188.
Service History: Unknown.
Dial: Original Javil Signed Dial.
Crystal: Original.
Getting Acquainted
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Bits that stand out:
- In Excellent all original condition.
Nitty Gritty:
- Minor Scratches to the Case and One to the Crystal, likely storage marks.
Overall this Chrono Suisse is in very nice Vintage condition.