1950s Wittnauer Dress Watch Fancy Case 2605 32mm
Ref: 2605
Specification
Lugs : 18mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold as "Watch Only" and therefore comes with no original Wittnauer box or paperwork. The watch comes paired with a well-suited 18mm brown suede strap with a pin buckle. The watch is from Circa. 1950s and is sold in worn, vintage condition and signs of wear and age can be seen throughout with a slight Radium burn on the dial, as you can see from the photographs. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QRjqOrmb2QHxbpcIEXJFle3F-vTjdObe?usp=drive_link
4K YouTube video, skip to 27:21 - https://youtu.be/8ShcEUdD-4w
The Watch
Here we have a 1950s Wittnauer Dress Watch Fancy Case 2605 with a 32mm stainless steel case that curves over your wrist with attractive dog-leg drilled lugs, and a lug-to-lug length of 38mm and a case thickness of 10mm ensures a comfortable fit. On the right side is a crown with a coin edge. An attractive polished bezel has deep engraved grooves at the hour and holds a domed acrylic crystal above a white dial. An outer minute track has Radium coated pips surrounding applied Arabic 12, 3, 6, 9 and dagger indexes coated in Radium marking the hours. Elegant Dauphine hands filled with Radium are complemented by a tapered sweeping second hand, at 12 o’clock we have the Wittnauer motif completing this attractive dress watch. On the reverse, a screw-down case back with engine turned circular pattern, inside a manually wound Wittnauer Cal. 11ESB, 17 jewels, beating at a leisurely 18,000 beats per hour. The watch comes paired with an 18mm brown suede strap with a pin buckle which suits the watch perfectly.
Personal Note
It's no secret that I have a weakness for interesting Wittnauers and me and wife share a few in the personal collection, this one briefly too, but we can't keep them all! This charming 32mm fancy case Wittnauer punches well above its 32mm case proportion and that beautiful patina and case finishing make this a real winner!
The Brand
In 1872 at just sixteen years old, Albert Wittnauer moved from Switzerland to New York to work for his brother-in-law, Eugene Roberts. Eugene ran a watch-importing business that was focused on high-end pieces such as Vacheron & Constantin and Jaeger LeCoultre. Albert had a vision of creating a watch brand that would suit the American market: his idea was to create an affordable Swiss watch that was still of high quality but at a lower price. In 1880 the first Wittnauer watches were being made. In that same year, F. Eugene Roberts & Co became the exclusive seller for Longines in America, this partnership would last nearly 125 years. In 1890 Eugene honoured Albert by naming his new venture "A. Wittnauer Company''. The business was an instant success and attracted watchmakers from around the world to join them such as Ferdinand Haschka who became the head watchmaker for Tiffany & Co and Charles Johns who created a perpetual calendar chronometer that was shown to the world in 1939 World's Fair. Sadly by 1916, the brothers had passed away and the company was left to their sister Martha. She became the first woman CEO of a watch company in America. She had no prior experience but still led the company for 20 years. In 1936 A. Wittnauer was sold to Hella Deltah, who was a pearl manufacturer. Building upon the long partnership and history with Longines, the company was renamed Longines-Wittnauer. In 1994 Longines-Wittnauer was bought by SMH who later became the Swatch Group. SMH soon took over the distribution of Longines in the US, and the 125-year association with Wittnauer was over. Renamed Wittnauer International Inc., they now refocused to build upon the Wittnauer name. Two years later Composite Resources LLC outbid Movado and Bulova to purchase Wittnauer for $28 million. This was not to last as in the first year the company made a loss of $5 million. In just 4 years the company had trade debts of over $24 million, it was then that Bulova bought them for $11.6 million. Bulova launched the “Nightlife” range of fashion watches under the Wittnauer brand.