1950s CYMA Executive "Bow Tie" Rare Case Automatic R485
Ref: 2.2158.6

Points of Mention

This watch is sold as "Watch Only". The watch is from Circa. 1950s, and is sold in very good condition, as you can see. The dial with the bevel-edged batons and luminance is also in very good condition with age showing. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

The Watch

Cyma was founded in 1862 by the brother’s Joseph Schwob and Theodore Schwob, in the town of Le Locle Switzerland. In 1871, Henri Sandoz established Sandoz & Cie in Le Locle. Sandoz moved to Tavannes in 1891, just North of Biel where he manufactured highly desirable repeaters and chronographs. Sandoz soon saw the potential of Cyma forming a  business relationship with the Schwob brothers and Cyma was officially registered in 1903.

During the 1940’s Britain's Military of Defence (MOD) needed watches to be issued to the Army during World War II. Rather than relying on one watch manufacturer, they invited many Swiss brands to build a watch to a tight specification. Out of those submitted 12 brands were chosen: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, Jaeger Le-Coultre, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor, and Vertex. This is where the “Dirty Dozen “ derives from. The watches had engraved into them the  W.W.Ws, a code established by the British Army to distinguish these from other military equipment and it simply stood for Watch. Wrist. Waterproof. Two serial numbers were engraved, one being the manufacturer’s number, and the other (with the letter) being the military store number. A Broad Arrow (pheon) was also put on the watch to indicate British Government Issue property. They were delivered by 1945 which was the closing period of the war, therefore many of these watches never actually saw action. Cyma produced an estimated 20,000 watches.

In 1943, Cyma unveiled its first automatic wristwatch, endowed with a 420 caliber featuring a unidirectional rotor. In 1966 the company was bought by the ASUAG Chronos Holding and production continued under their Synchron group in 1968. Cyma became a sister company to Doxa and Ernest Borel throughout the 1970s. The company is currently owned by Stelux International Ltd, a Hong Kong holding firm that invests in jewellery and watches.

Here we have a 1950s CYMA Executive "Bow Tie" R485 with a 32mm chrome case. The case has a very rare and distinctive case shape with “Bow tie” lugs that makes the watch wear larger than its 32mm dimensions. A lug to lug length of 40.5mm and a thickness of 11mm will ensure a comfortable fit on the wrist. A stepped bezel holds a domed crystal above a silver dial. Long bevel-edged baton indexes at 12, 6, and 9 and lines in-between mark the hours. At 3 o’clock a date window. Slender sword hands with luminance infill are complemented by a tapered sweeping second hand. Text is minimalist with Cyma at 12. On the reverse, a screw-down case back. Inside an Automatic CYMA Cal. R485, 27 Jewels, 18,000 beats per hour. The movement was in production for just two years between 1953 and 1955. The watch comes fitted on an 18mm leather strap which sits snugly between the “Bow Tie” points.

Personal Note