Sold - Damas 1940’s Triple Date Moonphase Vintage Watch Rare Valjoux 89 - Fully Serviced by ClockSavant
This watch is upon request only. At its discretion, ClockSavant may choose to not sell any watch marked as "upon request." If you are very serious about purchasing this watch, you can inquire as to its availability.
Summary
** Note that the original printing on the dial is even and symmetrical as you would expect-- any asymmetry you see in the pictures is due to the deep curvature of the vintage crystal and the visual distortion produced by it.
During the 1940's, triple date moonphase watches became very popular. A number of watch manufacturers began producing them, but only a few of the watch movements inside these watches really stood-out for their robustness and excellent design. This beautiful Damas triple date moonphase watch was Fully Serviced by ClockSavant and houses the rare, robust, and well designed Valjoux 89. The Valjoux 89 triple date moonphase movement is a close relative of another rare and well Valjoux respected movement of the era, the Valjoux 69. Damas is one of our favorite under-recognized brands of this era. Without exception, every Damas watch we have come across has been higher quality than others in its price range. Their cases and total execution are always a cut-above. This watch features a hefty substantial well-made case that has stood the test of time, a beautiful dial, and an outstanding high grade Valjoux 89 movement. The acrylic crystal on this watch appears original to us-- we cannot be sure, but the thickness and quality are what we would expect and the crystal has been polished many times. It's not typical to have a crystal add character to a watch such as this, we often replace them as do most watchmakers due to poor condition; however, in this particular case we fell in love with this beautifully aged high quality heavily domed crystal as we restored this watch. To make the watch as good as it can be, we removed the original dial's clear but unevenly aged lacquer using a combination of painstaking techniques and then applied new lacquer. The result is a beautifully aged original dial that looks much closer to its original colors. The dial still shows age-- when you remove and add lacquer, this does not create a new looking dial, but simply a cleaner one. While a smaller watch in diameter, we believe this watch looks great on regular and small sized wrists because of its substantial and thick case, highly domed crystal, and timeless design.
One other point of note on triple date moonphase watches-- if you choose to collect them, it's always best to purchase them fully serviced by an honest and competent watchmaker. Not too many folks today will perform the level of work we do when fully servicing a watch-- see the Services section of this website to learn more about how we service watches. These watches require a good deal of strength and power to push-through the moonphase, day, and date changes. The majority of these watches, if not properly serviced, will stop when the day/date/moonphase increment each date. As shown in the pictures we provide, we have fully disassembled this watch and performed a comprehensive service and restoration. It is running exceptionally well and very strongly. This watch powers-through the day/date/moonphase changes.
Details
| Brand |
Damas |
| Type |
Date, Day, Moonphase |
| Calibre |
Valjoux 89 |
| Jewels |
17 |
| Case |
Gold Plated Stainless Steel |
| Size |
30mm excluding crown x 12mm thick. We believe this watch looks great on large and small sized wrists because of its substantial and thick case, highly domed crystal, and timeless design. |
| Strap |
ZRC regular length leather strap, Brown, Made in France |
| Age |
We estimate the watch was made in the 1940's. |
| Service History |
Fully Serviced by ClockSavant - Fully disassembled, old and worn parts replaced or repaired, adjusted, optimized, cleaned, and lubricated. Comprehensive testing and performance measurement. |
| Condition |
Case has the typical scratches and dings-that are common to watches of this age and add to its character. Dial has some fading and age typical for a vintage watch of this age. Dial is original, we removed the old lacquer and applied new lacquer to the dial. |
| Returns |
14-day inspection period provided that watch is returned in condition received. |
| Warranty |
Fully Serviced by ClockSavant watches carry a 6 month warranty-- customer misuse, neglect, accidental, intentional, or unintentional damage are excluded from the warranty. See the Support page of our website for detailed warranty terms and conditions. For non-warranty damage, please contact us to obtain an estimate for servicing, repair, and restoration services. |
| Care and Use |
All mechanical watches, and especially vintage watches, require special consideration in handling, care, and use. In order to obtain warranty support or to return an item, it is necessary that the customer did not cause damage to the watch. See the Support page to learn more about how to protect and care for your investment. |
| Unique Operation |
The Valjoux 89 movement has two pushers on the side of its case, one 2 o'clock and the other at 8 o'clock. To increment these pushers, advance the hands forward past midnight when the day and date fully increment. Then use a sharp and clean toothpick to increment the pushers. The pusher at 2 o'clock increments the month and date. To increment the month only, depress the pusher at 2 o'clock half-way with your toothpick repeatedly until the month is incremented to the correct position. To increment both the month and date together, fully depress the pusher at 2 o'clock. To increment just the date, first fully depress once to increment both day and date and then half-way depress to increment the date only. The pusher at 8 o'clock increments the moonphase and day. To increment the moonphase only, depress the pusher at 8 o'clock half-way with your toothpick repeatedly until the moon is incremented to the correct position. To increment both the moon and day together, fully depress the pusher at 8 o'clock. To increment just the day, first fully depress once to increment both moonphase and day and then half-way depress to increment the day only. One other point-of-note for the Vajoux 89 is the time when the moonphase increments. The Valjoux 89 moonphase increments, by design, between approximately 4:30 and 5:00pm and not at 12 midnight. |
| Sales tax |
North Carolina residents will pay sales tax |
ClockSavant Watchmaker Testing, Certification, and Performance Measurement
All the watches we sell go through a comprehensive series of ClockSavant-developed functional, stability, and performance tests and are only approved for sale if they meet or exceed the criteria we have established. Performance measurements for this watch are provided below. See the Support page of our website for an explanation of watch performance measurements and guidance on interpretation. The watch performance values provided do not necessarily reflect the accuracy you will experience based on your unique watch wearing habits. You may experience a gain or loss by as much as approximately 1 minute per day with vintage watches. Legend: Rate, Amplitude (Amp), and Beat Error (BE) are provided for Dial-Up (CH) and Dial-Down (FH) positions. Averages (Avg) are also provided. These represent the average performance of the watch across all 6 traditionally measured watch positions which, in addition to dial-up and dial-down, are the vertical positions of Crown-Up, Crown-Down, Crown-Left, and Crown-Right. Rate is expressed in seconds gained or lost during a 24 hour period. Amplitude is in degrees. Beat Error is in milliseconds. Lift Angle used in measurement is unique to the particular watch calibre.
| Lift Angle |
52 |
| CH Rate |
-6 |
| CH BE |
0.1 |
| CH Amp |
317 |
| FH Rate |
+1 |
| FH Amp |
301 |
| FH BE |
0.2 |
| Avg Rate |
-4 |
| Avg Amp |
278 |
| Avg BE |
0.3 |
