1950s Serviced Vintage Chronographe Suisse 18K Gold Lemania Cal 1270 (320 / 321)

1950s Serviced Vintage Chronographe Suisse 18K Gold Lemania Cal 1270 (320 / 321). It is very rare to find a watch this old with famous Lemania Movement. Please look at all the pictures, as they are part of the description. This is a highly collectible watch.

Very few left with this rare movement. Sure, to increase in value overtime, and a great addition to your collection. The condition of the watch is the same as it appears in the photos. The watch is working and serivced by our watchmaker and is part of our new. Contact me if you have any questions first.

Its not uncommon for watch brands to outsource cases, movements, crystals, straps, etc. To assemble at their base location, and then stamp their name on the dial and call it their own. Not all companies can build from scratch and even major luxury brands use ETA movements and various outsourced components. Back in the 1940s, a brand known as Chronographe Suisse (Swiss Chronograph) provided white label chronograph watches and parts for brands to adopt and add their name. Even local jewellers branded these watches as their own. Popular in the European market to make inexpensive Swiss watches for tourists, Chronographe Suisse became a significant revenue source for small, often forgettable brands and many of these watches are collectibles today. At its peak, over 500 workshops were producing watches with supplies from Chronographe Suisse. This successful business model thrived from the 1940s to the 1970s, before the quartz revolution wreaked havoc on the industry overall. Lets take a closer look at this somewhat forgotten chapter of twentieth-century watch history. This version of the watch was the high end version with 18K Gold and one of the best movment of time Lemania Cal 1270 aka Omega Cal 320 / 321. Lemania is a name that should be familiar to vintage watch collectors, if not for watches released under its own signature, but for its contributions to other brands. Like the Caliber CH27 & CH27 C12, better-known as the Omega Caliber 320 & 321, which would go on to be used in the Omega Speedmasterthe first watch worn on the Moon. But Lemanias history goes back farther than that, extending all the way to the mid-19th century, when two brothersAlfred and Henry Alfred Lugrinwere born in the Vallée de Joux. Henry Alfred, the elder of the two, excelled at anything he put his mind to; like many of his neighbors in the valley, he set his mind to watchmaking. After learning the craft in his teens, he left for the United States. He found himself in Brooklyn, New York, where the census of 1900 had his occupationas one would expectas a watchmaker. In the small, insular Swiss watchmaking community in the States, he became acquainted with another Swiss emigre: Albert Wittnauer.

Wittnauer had emigrated to America in the 1870s, as a lad of sixteen with ambitions as wide as the Atlantic. While he originally worked for his brother-in-law Eugene Robert, an importer of fine Swiss timepieces made by Jaeger-LeCoultre and others, in 1885 Wittnauer established his own company at the age of 31.

And when Wittnauer formed his own company, Henry Alfredwho had been foreman at Roberts shopwent with him. This relationship was more than fruitful, for both parties. While with Wittnauer, Henry Alfred filed over eleven patents for watch calibers, mainly the chronographs and stopwatches that he had made his specialty. Alfred Lugrin was not a man to be outdone, by his brother or by anyone else.

Born with a competitive spirit, Alfred also set forth to succeed, and he chose the same field as his older brother. By 1884 (the year before big brother Henry Alfred and Albert Wittnauer would go into business together), hed established A.

In the village of LOrient, at the foot of the Lac de Joux. The name Lugrin became one to revere in Swiss watchmaking circles, and his refined, elegant chronograph designs earned him many awards. The timing could not have been better, nor more crucial, because the watchmaking innovations from America (many of which were the fruits of his brothers diligence) posed a serious threat to Swiss supremacy. While the Swiss had been doing the same thing for centuries, the Americans adapted the example put forth by Henry Ford and were churning out (well-made and affordable) watches at a rate the Swiss could hardly match.

So in the early 19th century, many Swiss followed the American model and adapted it to their own ends, forming large factories devoted exclusively to the production of watch movements. Lemania, which Alfred Lugrin would form in 1918, was one of those.

By the time Alfred retired as managing director in 1920, replaced by his son-in-law Maurius Meylan, Lemania was well-poised to withstand the onslaught of American ingenuity. Even after the Great Depression shook every pillar of the worldwide economy, Lemania was on the up-and-up. Omega and Tissot, forced to band together or else risk complete collapse, formed SSIH in 1930. We mean, of course, the creation of the CH27, which Buzz Aldrin would bear all the way to the Moon, a half-century after Alfred Lugrin formed Lemania.

In essence, the ancestor of that legendary calibre. Derived from a pocket watch movement, the Calibre 15TL was created in the 1930s. At 33mm, the Calibre 15TL is large, serviceable but elegant. Under the expert pen of Albert Piguet, Lemanias star designer in the 1930s-1940s, it would form the basis of the CH27. While it was also used in military-issued chronographs, the example that we found here is a civilian version.

The movement is housed in sturdy, thick 37mm steel case with sharply-angled lugs, and a gorgeous dial with an outer tachymeter track. Aside from its legendary movement, it captures all the spirit of the Lugrin brothers in a package thats pleasing to the eye.

18K Gold and Case Back. Some Scratches & dings, shows its characters. 37,50 mm without the crown, 46,00 mm Lug to Lug.

The case back looked to be polished and seems very thin which was very common. White/silver (some what burshed) or possibly even champagne dial with two register chronograph, gold hands & Gold embossed Arabic numbers & indices, marked Antimagnatic, 17 Rubis.

Shows lot of patina, scratches, and Nice blue Tachmeter numerals railroad track on the edge of the dial. Please see picture for more detail. Manual-winding Lemina 1270 movement marked on the movement.

Which per my understand is pre family: 27CHRO T1, Omega Caliber 320: - 27CHRO C12 T2, and Omega Caliber 321: hour counter. Please see pictures and as some old movements don't have a very clear marking. Keeps great time see below time testing.

Lug Size : 20 mm Please see picture. Come with Beautiful Vintage Style Box. Please pressure test before water use. 1 (Please see Tab below for details). 12s/day In-House Time Test Results (See Service Level Tab).

Please see tab below for details. All watch functions tested and operable. Please Contact me for more details. WE DO NOT ACCEPT CANCELLATIONS.

Please Review all Pictures and read description clearly. The actual color of the item may vary based on your monitor's screen or on the reflection made by photo shoots.

The item will be relisted. And not to any other address. Some of the higher end item might take longer if they need to be picked up from a safe or do extra testing on them.

Please contact me about it before paying, ask for total. Again, need to contact me first or you item will cancelled.

We have built our business around referrals from our most satisfied customers. We stand behind all the watches we sell, and we guarantee your satisfaction. May be waived on exchanges of higher value. NOTE: Please do give an attention on reading this!! Items we sell are 100% AUTHENTIC, as described, and pictured.

Unless otherwise stated everything is. We do NOT guarantee WATER TIGHTNESS of used watches.

Some of the items that we sell are PRE-OWNED/USED. Expect some of the items are NOT as good as new. We are NOT CONNECTED and/or RELATED to any COMPANIES of the BRANDS that we sell. In some cases, we use stock photo if new item. Or stock picture for main picture.

Please ask all questions before purchasing. However, we will DEEPLY APPRECIATE if you can leave one for me as soon as you received the item. CUSTOMER'S SATISFACTION is our primary concern in doing this business. The watch should not be used in the water! All diving watches, even recent, should be sent for a qualified water sealing service each year prior to diving season.

Any props display that might appear in the pictures is not included in the sale. We do check them out to make sure they are keeping time and running, however we do not service each and every watch and it is possible that servicing may be necessary at your expense.

Servicing a vintage watch is highly recommended given that we dont have service record in most cases. Please see our service level guild for more information. Please bear in mind the age of these watches, in some cases 50-80 plus years old and due to the age of these watches we do not guarantee for water tightness whatsoever, even if it is marked waterproof on any watch we sell.

Remember that seeing the item at very high magnification, as in the pictures that I provide, brings to life small defects that the human eye does not perceive. That is why many people will like even more the watch after seeing it for real. Please don't send me a message telling me what you think is the value of the item, or asking me if I will consider an offer in the amount of x or what is my best price. This is the most effective way to avoid the disappointment of seeing the item go to someone else.

I do not guarantee time keeping on any of my vintage watches, even if the time keeping is perfect. Very old watches keep good time but do not expect the accuracy of a modern watch. Vintage watches are very delicate and I package to the highest degree to prevent damage. High altitude flights can be hard on watches due to extreme temperature changes. This can cause the oil viscosity to decrease (gum up) and prevent a watch from ticking the balance moving freely etc.

It may need to be oiled when it arrives regardless of its recent servicing (if applicable). Although this is only a very slight possibility it can occasionally happen.

Unfortunately lot of sellers are calming the watch has been serviced where the watch has not been. So please be careful and ask questions from sellers first. As far as my watches please see below.

Watches I sell can have the following service Levels. Level # 1 Experts Watches Serviced. Serviced by our service repair center with over 40 years of experience very old school and very hard to find these day. Our routine service includes the following. Complete disassembly of the watch.

Completely disassembled, cleaned, oiled, and timed using state of the art equipment. Clean all moving parts with specialized cleaning solvents. Proper lubrication with only the highest-grade lubricants and oils during the reassembly process. Your watch is tested to our exacting standards of 24 to 72 hours to assure accuracy, water resistance, and proper operation of all functionality.

(Overhaul Lubricants, Gaskets, Sealing, Regulation, MISC testing). The was inside case is marked and dated by the service man. Receipts are available on request.

Level #2 Serviced by previous owner. This watches are inspected and timed to make sure it meets the vintage watch timing standards. Level #3 Inspected and timed. Are less expensive watches or newer watches that does not need it might not go through his process.

Actually, wearing the watch in the pulse will get you different results for sure, because the watch will. Be subject to very different positions and temperatures. Like a car, a mechanical watch will require periodic maintenance by an expert watchmaker. Recommendations for the owner of antiquarian watches.

All Antique watches are mechanical. Many repairs will not be cheap, as most likely they will require replacement of non-standard parts (unlike most late model watches). Antique watches should not be beaten or dropped - because repairs may be expensive. Antique watches are generally NOT waterproof. This is because waterproofing was not in general production until the middle of the 20th century for most watches. Therefore you should protect your antique watch from exposure to moisture. If your watch becomes wet it should be dried off quickly.

Carefully open all covers and use a hair drier to blow dry the movement, dial, covers, crown. This will reduce the amount of rust. If your watch becomes wet with any kind of salt water you should immediately immerse or spray your watch with fresh (no-salt) water to remove all the salt from the works before drying the watch completely. Any salt left in the watch will combine with moisture in the air to rust metal components of the movement, case etc.

Winding any mechanical watch tight may break the mainspring. If you can avoid it do not wind the watch hard. When adjusting the hands of your watch, move them in a clockwise direction only.

Counter-clockwise adjustments may damage the movement. If you must adjust counter-clockwise make it for small adjustments only i. Be careful and gentle when adjusting the movement speed (faster or slower). Don't make sharp movements, and don't touch other components in the movement especially the pendulum mechanism. Every 2-3 years it is necessary to service and oil vintage watches. IF the watch is dirty - allow the watch to run down, don't wind it again until you have it serviced by a qualified watch repair expert. Dust will absorb and remove important lubricants and cause the movement pieces to wear down. To clean the case, dial and crystal you should use a cloth that does NOT leave fibers as these may get caught up in the movement. Check with your Watch repair expert to get an appropriate cloth. Keep your antiques watch away from magnets. Strong magnetic fields may affect the accuracy of your watch since some vintage watches were made with iron based components in the movement. Most Cases and Covers are fine components and will not handle abuse well. The watch should not be shaken, beaten, or stressed. Antique watches generally experience an error of up to 5-7 minutes a day.

Any accuracy of +- 5 minutes is very good. Was born from a passion of collecting wristwatches for over 40 years. This passion has evolved into an opportunity to create the. Best destination for luxury & vintage pre-owned timepieces.

Offering an expertly handpicked inventory of luxury & vintage pre-owned watches for sale, including watch accessories, jewelry, and watch straps. Experience to our customers for over 15 years. This has been a joyful experience to share ones passion with others. Is to provide range of watches and luxury products to cater to all our customers.

From novice to experienced collector, and from. Affordable to well-designed luxury goods. From time to time we try to bring in watches that are beyond our collecting palates.

This can be a challenging experience especially in a vintage watch world, but also a fulfilling one to help our customers with their collecting needs. All the custom accessories at. Are developed with the goal of creating products of superior quality and affordable prices.

We also partner with our manufactures to bringing the high-quality products that meets our collectors pallets. I have always been in love with functional watches that fill a need. For instance: Chronographs watches for timing actions, Diving watches for beach vacation and its durability, Triple Date chronographs watches, Moon Phase and annual & perpetual calendar watches for the pure complication.

I also, from time to time enjoy wearing a Rolex Cellini 4243 with a suit for its pureness and simplicity. With our last venture and corporation with Grand Seiko we created a very limited Spring Drive Collection for our local collectors which was very exciting and fulfilling. We have created a watch largest collector community in Southern California where we meet once a month and talk watches. We even setup events with Authorized Dealers.

Our goal has always been to help many collectors succeed over making a buck. My greatest joy is to talk to early collectors and help them start their collection or talk with experience collectors to learn more about watches. Listing and template services provided by inkFrog. The item "1950s Serviced Vintage Chronographe Suisse 18K Gold Lemania Cal 1270 (320 / 321)" is in sale since Saturday, November 23, 2019. This item is in the category "Jewelry & Watches\Watches, Parts & Accessories\Watches\Wristwatches".

The seller is "expertswatches" and is located in Fullerton, California. This item can be shipped worldwide.

Water Resistance: Not Water Resistant
Country/Region of Manufacture: Switzerland
Chronograph Type: Chronograph
Department: Men
Style: Vintage
Case Color: Gold
Extra Links: No
Metal Purity: 18k
UPC: Does not apply
With Manual/Booklet: No
Case Material: Gold
Indices: 12-Hour Dial
Movement: Mechanical (Hand-winding)
With Original Box/Packaging: No
Type: Wristwatch
Features: Swiss Mechanical
Reference Number: 1270
Display: Analog
Brand: Chronographe Suisse
Manufacturer Warranty: None