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Benoit

@bench.03

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@a_collected_man

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Movado knew how to make a dial stand out.

A spectacular sunburst guilloché, applied gold numerals, and that charming little red hand holding a stopwatch. It’s all in the details.

#movado
#vintagemovado
#vintagewatchesonly
#watchcollecting
#rocketvintagewatches

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Finding a Peseux 260 is a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. Yes there are sure-fire ways to know you have one of these movements - like buying on of 50 Voutilainen Observatoires or one of a handful of original 1950s custom made Breguet Empire (although not a 1980/90s one with a Peseux 320) - I’m not sure how many were made but some private censuses say it was around 30-50 pieces in total.

I live in hope of a random Leroy, UN, DuBois or other mislabelled and misunderstood one to show up and have had a fair share of luck in the matter.

The movement itself was an Observatory ebauche sold by Peseux and as such anyone technically could have bought and used them.

Zenith and Omega didn’t as they had their own movements. But many other manufacturers did - mostly for observatory competitions but a small set made it into consumer hands. While UN used them, they did mostly for competitions - I’ve forever lived in hope of finding one that accidentally made it into one of their high end time only watches from the 1950s.

Here you see one such watch - finished to Vacheron or Patek standards - even with a decorated movement and a movement geometry that could pass off as a Peseux 260 on first glance. Similar position for the balance wheel and bridge, similar orientation of the barrel and barrel bridge and even a bridge structure that could look like it’s bigger Peseux brethren.

But subtle clues - the spacer around the movement, the specifics of the bridge design, the thickness of the movement (most Peseux 260s watches are c. 1cm thick due to the size of the movement) and the size of the balance wheel, all lead to a sad realisation that this UN however beautiful is not number 10 in my collection…

#infinitydials #horology #peseux260 #observatorycompetition #leroy

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For some watches, it’s love at first sight.

The guilloché dial is the first thing that grabs you, with two different engine-turned patterns creating incredible depth.

Housed in a rare stainless steel François Borgel screw-back case, with its original crown and bumper automatic movement.

The perfect counterpart to my pink gold example: same case, same caliber, different guilloché pattern.

#movado
#francoisborgel
#guillochedial
#vintagewatch
#rocketvintagewatches

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The kind of watch that makes modern pieces feel soulless.

I don’t like using the word “rare” — it’s probably the most overused term in vintage watches.
But in this case, it’s honestly the only word that fits.

1950s Movado in 18k pink gold with an FB case, stunning double guilloché dial, red roulette date disc, original crown and beautiful in-house bumper automatic caliber.

A reminder that true elegance was once built in details most people would never even notice.

#movado
#vintagemovado
#vintagewatch
#pinkgold
#rocketvintagewatches

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Watchmaking workshop visit @auffret_paris ⏱️

Thanks to @bench.03 @petit_pequod @pocsai_Barbara
@jb_viot @eve_albanesi @alexis_compere @adriannogues @flore_f_horlogere @alexis.fruhauff

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Some watches tell the time.
Others tell a story.

This 1949 Movado brings everything together:
a waterproof Francois Borgel case, Boninchi Frères crown, and a complete set that has survived decades — retailer box from Chicago and its original receipt.

A reminder of when every detail had a name, a place, a purpose.

More than a watch — a piece of history you can hold.

#movado
#vintagemovado
#vintagewatchesonly
#watchcollector
#collectoutofthebox

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1930 Jump Hours Tank in steel..

#jumphours #vintagewatch #niton #steelwatches #watchcollector

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Fascinated by chronometers and deadbeat seconds I chanced onto the strange story of the Omega Synchrobeat (Ref. OT 14.306). A deadbeat seconds built on the Caliber 372 an upgraded evolution of the storied Cal 30T2.

Destined for the US market 720 were made and Omega recalled the watch for meltdown and destruction as it had lubrication issues. Seemingly 703 managed to be recalled - leaving 17 survivor watches in the wild.

This is one of the survivors I recently found in Japan - an incredible 34.5mm diameter and 10.5mm thickness watch that sits smaller than all of the modern deadbeat seconds watches of the last decade - @lelangelust had an excellent post on some of these amazing modern deadbeat seconds watches I recommend you see that, but I feel like this would be a really worthy vintage competitor to the modern marvels by Peterman Bedat 1967 @petermann_bedat , The Ferdinand Berthoud RSM and the Lovely Lange Homage to Walter Lange - maybe if only on the deadbeat - rather than finishing, dial, fancy fusee chains, inner angles, and sapphire casebacks 🤔😆🤘.

Omega was really incredibly ahead of their time and I think this caps my menagerie of Omega GD, Omega Diapason and the Omega 30T2 that started it.

#deadbeatseconds #omega #synchrobeat #watchcollecting #horology

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Paul Ditisheim — Dead-Half-Seconds Centre-Seconds Pocket Chronometer
Silver openface · La Chaux-de-Fonds · circa 1909

This is a precision instrument from the heart of early 20th-century chronometry. The dead-half-seconds centre-seconds display — with the seconds hand advancing in discrete half-second steps — is not decorative; it is designed for clear visual timing and regulation, exactly what serious chronometrists required before electronic reference systems.

By this period, Paul Ditisheim was at the forefront of scientific horology, combining experimental balance research with practical time-measurement tools. Pieces like this were often built to observatory standard, whether or not they were formally entered into trials.

Why it matters
• Dead-half-seconds, centre seconds: rare, technically intentional, and chronometry-driven
• Silver openface case: functional, legible, regulation-oriented
• Circa 1909: peak Ditisheim period, aligned with his most influential work in precision timing

#observatorychronometer #paulditisheim #deadbeatseconds #jumpingseconds #hautehorlogerie

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the lost files 🫧🧸

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