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In the last few years we’ve seen a huge growth of interest in vintage watches. However about 99% of that interest seems to be focused on Rolex. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Rolex, but there are other beauties out there.. waiting to be discovered by a new generation of watch freaks 🙂
One of such beauties is the Longines 30CH, a real old school collectors favourite. It is not very often that watches are referred to by the name of their movement but the 30CH is one of the exceptions to this rule. To no surprise: it’s regarded by many as one of the most beautiful and finest calibres of it’s kind.
Longines introduced the very first wristwatch chronograph movement around 1910: calibre 13.33z. It’s successor, calibre 13ZN, was introduced ’round 1936 and was one of the first wristwatch flyback movements. Longines presented the 30CH in 1947 and sadly this was their last in-house chronograph movement.
The 30CH on the pics belongs to Amsterdam Watch Company. It has a rather wonderful 18k gold case. As with most 30CH’s, the diameter is a reasonable 37mm. The dial has an additional dealer-signature – I’m not sure if Boris ever told you guys, but dealer-signatures are great fun. They take us back to the pre-internet days, the days when the jeweler was still THE authority. The days when generation after generation would buy their jewelry and watches at the same store since that’s where their grandparents bought theirs. The name of the jeweler was often just as important as the name of the maker. These signatures also give a hint of the history of the watch and are quite rare and sought-after. In general they command a premium over their regular counterparts.
On this Longines the dealer-signature reads Türler. Türler has quite a history: they opened their first shop in 1907 at the Paradeplatz in Zürich, became the first to be licensed by the Swiss goverment to use the time signals sent out by the Eiffel tower and in 1951 were one of the first to open a store at an airport. Rather cool no?
Special thanks to Roel for these awesome pics.