Sold - Wakmann Gigandet Triple Date Vintage Chronograph Valjoux 730 (72c) Model 71.1311.21

Summary

We are pleased to offer you this stunning 1970s Wakmann Gigandet Triple date Vintage Chronograph Valjoux 730 (72c) Model 71.1311.21.  The 1970's brought us brightness, bell bottoms, tie-dye tee shirts, and beautiful starbust dials like the one on this fantastic watch. During this era, the quartz crisis brought near complete destruction of the Swiss watch industry, but this didn't stop the Valjoux watchmakers and designers from taking their premier chronograph, the Valjoux 72c, and advancing it further by raising the beat rate to 21,600 and further refining other aspects of it, producing the masterpiece that is the Valjoux 730 in this watch. The Valjoux 730 in this watch is not only in pristine condition but also represents the doggedness and perseverance of Valjoux in producing what was nearly their final mechanical watch masterpiece before the industry went into hibernation only to reemerge decades later. Wakmann, who made watches for Breitling and others, made this outstanding watch. The excellence of the watch speaks for itself-- it has beautifully navigated the test of time, the case protecting the watch movement perfectly, and remains attractive and in-style at 39mm and with a sporty flare.

This  Wakmann Gigandet Triple Date vintage chronograph is a fantastic  example with a superb dial, hands, movement and a case in excellent condition.  The movement is running extremely well. Press the pushers and notice how crisp and smoothly they operate, with the chronograph operating to perfection. We did not fully service this watch, but we did perform optimization, cleaning, lubrication, and adjustment of the chronograph mechanism, we regulated the watch, removed the movement from the case and cleaned the case ultrasonically and by hand, lubricated all pushers to assure ultra-smooth operation, polished the crystal to remove most scratches (some will always remain), and extensively tested it as we always do with our watches. We paired the watch with a deep chocolate brown leather strap made in France by ZRC and a matching Hirsch yellow gold plated deployant. This is a thoroughly enjoyable well running watch and, in these times, provides a much-needed dose of good feelings and memories from an era we can look back on and re-live with a smile.

Details

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.