SUMMARY
On occasion I choose to restore watches such as this for their horological significance and as symbols of perseverance and survival for a future owner. Restoring them is obviously not profitable. The watch is now beautiful once again and running superbly, exceeding my expectations and exuding a great deal of character and positive energy. The watch’s beautiful original dial with blue telemeter register and blued hands along with substantial screw-back integrated pusher early water resistant design (no longer water resistant) and quality Valjoux 77 movement reflect Bovet’s historic classic style and quality.
The rare Valjoux 77 movement is a predecessor of the Valjoux 92 and a harbinger of what was to come decades later as manufacturers sought to streamline machine-driven manufacturing and limit use of more difficult to manufacture milled components. The Valjoux 77 combined a traditional column wheel with a large number of wire springs which successfully mimicked the milled components of its predecessors. As highlighted in the pictures, the watch required complex hairspring manipulation, a new balance staff, truing and poising of the balance, new jewels with endshake adjustment, corrosion remediation and polishing, hand polishing & repair, repair and correction of key chronograph components that had been bent, manufacturing of replacement wire springs where required, modification of a replacement crown stem to within .07mm evenly across all sides as this early valjoux 77 winding pinion differed from all historical supply house dimensions, integrated pusher repair, and repeated cleaning by hand and machine. The watch now has fantastic accuracy and all chronograph operations are flawless.
DETAILS
Type: Chronograph, Manual Wind
Calibre: Valjoux 77
Jewels: 17
Case: Steel
Size: 34mm without crown, 37mm with crown, 13mm thick, 18mm lug width
Strap: Hirsch Duke navy blue leather strap, size long
Age: We estimate this watch to have been 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: See Description
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.
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.
