This Pontiac Maillot Arc En Ciel (Rainbow Jersey) was a link to the companies involvement in competitive cycling post war.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
Pontiac were founded in Belgium in 1931, and the movement used in this was had a very long life – it was in constant production between 1938 and 1970. Judging on the size and style we think this was made circa 1955, but this is a best estimate.
CONDITION
If you are from the Benelux region you will know Pontiac well, but they didn’t make much headway elsewhere (or they focused on a home market?) According to their website they had models for the Belgian national football team as well as being present at the Tour de France, which is where this watch fits in. There is no record if they were official sponsors, or just used the name for the rainbow jersey (A rainbow jersey must be worn by a World Champion in any cycling event if they are competing in the same discipline.) This chronograph is not perfect but has a number of good and bad points, with the good outweighing the bad. On the bad side the gold plating on the case is worn quite noticeably on the lugs, and the dial has even patina across it. But the movement is all working well, including the chronograph functions as pointed out in the video. The hand wound movement is a Landeron calibre 149, Swiss made and in clean condition. While the dial is not perfectly clean it is marked with the 3 stars – there are unsubstantiated claims that because you could get a Pontiac watch with one, two or three stars then the three star watches were the best quality. The thirty minute counter near 3 has lined divisions for three minutes, which was when you got charged more on international phone calls that were very expensive back then. With modern ease of communication this is nice throwback. The red leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box 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 crown 36.1 mm
Width without crown 33.9 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 41.8 mm
Case Thickness 12.5 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.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.