The Sonorous was the Tissot Navigator with a mechanical alarm, and these two crown watches are much sought after for that practical complication.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
From the serial number on the movement we can accurately date this watch to being made in 1974. But the papers that arrived with the watch say it was sold in March 1977 – while these papers do not have the watch serial number on it is entirely feasible they are correct, so you could choose 1974 or 1977 as a valid birth year watch.
CONDITION
Before we had phones beeping, electronic diaries and Alexa if you needed reminding of things then you had to buy a watch with a mechanical alarm like this Tissot Sonorous. It is still a surprisingly practical complication today, adding noise and vibration to your watch collection. The alarm works on the top, signed crown – with the crown pushed in you wind the alarm up, and to set the alarm you pull that top crown out one position and wind it anticlockwise to move the orange alarm hand. You do need to leave the crown pulled out to ensure the alarm goes off, and you cancel the alarm by simply pushing the crown back in. The bottom crown at 4 is a possible later replacement, as it does not have the Tissot T logo. This crown controls winding the timekeeping side of the watch up, setting the hands and the semi quickset date. The case back is pierced with holes to allow the sound of the alarm to escape better, as pioneered on the JLC Memovox. There is slight marks where someone has incorrectly used these to unscrew the case back off in the past. Under that is the dust cover with the striking bar on it – a hammer on the movement hits this bar causing the alarm noise and vibration. The movement is a 17 jewel Tissot 2120 – this movement was not unique to the Sonorous, it was also in Bulova’s alarm watches of the early to mid seventies. The twotone dial is quite clean, the acrylic crystal polished to remove scratches and the leather strap is new.
This watch will be supplied with the original presentation box, papers and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crowns 38.7 mm
Width without crowns 37.0 mm
Between lugs 20 mm
Lug to lug length 43.0 mm
Case Thickness 14.0 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
