Powered by the Venus 175 Chronograph movement, this Record 36mm gold watch would have been a very expensive piece. Model reference 108.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
The case has Swiss hallmarks, and sadly these can not be dated. The movement was made from approximately 1942 to 1960, and had some upgrades in 1949. While we can not find out exactly what these upgrades were, this example has 18 jewels and all the technical specifications originally show 17 jewels, so we think this is a later upgraded model. But we would still allow a margin of error around our circa 1950 date of production.
CONDITION
Record Watch Co. of Geneve were perhaps best known for making one of the Dirty Dozen WW2 watches from 1944, being one of the twelve companies selected. That put them in this period in the company of Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Longines and Omega among others. However what they could never have predicted is how difficult having a name like Record would make searching the internet for more information! We do know that Record were founded in 1903, and in 1961 they were taken over by their rivals at Longines, and since then the name has slipped from the horological World. That column wheel Venus 175 movement is now sought after, and has even been reused in modern times. Maurice Lacroix made a limited run of Masterpiece watches using a 175 (rebranded ML36), and the original tooling was sold to the Chinese in the 1960’s and has continued to be used, most noticeably in the Seagull 1963 new chronographs. This example has the 45 minute subdial at 3, and the three minute divisions to help people not go over their time on international phone calls – calls that were so expensive that even people that could have afforded this watch had to keep an eye on the elapsed time. The case is stamped 0.750 for 18k gold, and has a few light dents but noting serious. The dial is very clean for the age, when cigarette smoke ruins many a watch dial. The size is also excellent for a modern wrist, and would have been large for the day. The box is possibly for a different model, as it is a tight fit for this larger watch. The burgundy lizard leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred.
This watch will be supplied with the original Record presentation box (marked as shown) and our Certificate of Authenticity.
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SIZE
Width with crown 37.7 mm
Width without crown 35.8 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 42.4 mm
Case Thickness 11.0 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.
