A proper jump hour but at an affordable price, this Grovana is not high end but it is certainly funky.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
Grovana were registered in Switzerland in 1961, so that is the base point. The movement seems to have been in production mainly between 1970 and 1975, and we have a very similar watch launched by Grovana at Basel 1973, using the same movement. It would make sense to be making this at the same time.
CONDITION
Mechanical digital watches fall into two categories. The cheapest just swap the hour and minute hands for discs, so both sweep round gradually and the hour hand is always partially obscured. The better watches, like this one, the hour wheel does jump so it sits square in the window for the vast majority of the hour, just beginning to turn a few minutes before the hour changes. The latter are much easier to read at a glance, although both take some time to get used to. This model also has centre seconds, just to tell you it is running. The overall quality would have been in the affordable camp when new, and it still is now. So instead of stainless steel you have a chromed case, and the movement is a Baumgartner 582 pin pallet (albeit in the higher 17 jewel specification). These mechanical digital watches were quickly replaced by digital watches with LED and then LCD displays, so they are an interesting snapshot in time. The case does have a few marks, but the sacrylic crystal is good and the watch is working well. The very wide leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred. This one is a Ted Baker strap, purely because we don’t stock many 24mm straps and it suited the watch. Because of the wide strap and case thickness this wears larger than the dimensions suggest.
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 41.0 mm
Width without crown 37.6 mm
Between lugs 24 mm
Lug to lug length 38.1 mm
Case Thickness 12.1 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 2 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.
