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1960s Chateau

1960s Chateau

SKU:FWW1176

Regular price $795.00 USD
Regular price $795.00 USD Sale price $795.00 USD
Sale Sold out
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Description

  • Country of Manufacture - Switzerland
  • Year - 1960s
  • Serial - 12623
  • Model - N/A
  • Movement & caliber -  Manual Wind
  • Case diameter - 34 mm
  • This Item is Final Sale
  • Do not expose the watch to water or any form of moisture as it is vintage.

A steel and nickel plated Chateau. A strange anomaly of a watch, that was compelling enough to add it to the J Press offering.  There have been a few brands that offered similar watches.  Enicar had a Thermograph. Launched in the late 1950's Enicar began supplying watches to mountain climbers and other sportsmen and adventurers as a marketing exercise. Enicar watches accompanied the Swiss expedition to the top of Lhotse and Everest in the Himalayas"". Other brands such as Lip, Difor and Zurnik also made these watches with thermometers in the dial.  There have been the addition of a compass also set into the crystal, as well as onto a bracelet as an additional piece.  However, set into the center of the crystal, this is very unusual.

The Chateau brand was officially registered as a UK trademark on January 6, 1960, by the esteemed Hannah Charles Limited, headquartered at Chateau House, 12 Sheepscar Street South in Leeds. At the height of their success, the Hannah Charles enterprise oversaw an impressive portfolio of 15 distinct brand names, encompassing a diverse range of horological products and services, as well as exquisite jewelry, gold, and silver offerings.

The Trelawn, Le Chat, and Lumi-Time watch brands were among their holdings. Trelawn was registered in 1962, while Le Chat and its Chateau sub-brand were both registered in 1997. Evidently, the Chateau brand proved their most successful, as Hannah Charles Limited rebranded as Chateau Watches Limited from 1969 to 1998.

Do not expect it to still be accurate today.  It is more a fantastic looking conversation piece!  The dial has large hour markers, a date window at the 3 o’clock position and bright red hands that peek out from beneath the thermometer!  The bezel also has a number of other cities on it for having an option for a second time zone.

While not a Patek, this is still great looking in its own right, and is an interesting piece of watch making history.  So many brands and designs made up the watch world during this time, and this is a great chapter in this story

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