SOLD - Vintage 1940's WWII Military Watch Rare Bumper Arsa Auguste Reymond In House Movement
SKU:
$400.00
$325.00
$325.00
per item
In 1898, Auguste Reymond, a watchmaker in the Jura village of Tramelan-Dessus opened a small watchmaking workshop called the Fabrique d'Horlogerie Auguste Reymond. Production took place in a small residence until the company built its first premises in 1903. In 1906, the boss started producing movement-blanks in Les Bioux and the enterprise became a true watch manufacturer. However, the move to the Joux valley was for only three years. In 1909, Reymond concentrated all activity back in Tramelan, where he set up a more flexible manufacturing system to react quicker to market demand. The following year the entrepreneur won a gold medal at the Brussels World Exhibition, followed by another at the 1914 Swiss national exhibition. The company archives recorded the take-over of the Unitas Watch Co., Tramelan, in 1926. Reymond continued to produce his movement-blanks on these premises.
In 1932, the "Ebauche" department of A. Reymond S.A. (manufacturing movement blanks) became part of the Ebauches Group as the Fabrique d'Ebauches Unitas S.A.
Complete watches were made under the ARSA label. The 1934 Perfora, for example, featured a rectangular case and an openwork dial which revealed the two hands. At the same time ARSA introduced a wide-ranging chronograph collection. In addition, it produced watches for the blind and for pilots as well as wristwatches with a simple date or alarm. Some timepieces were delivered with an official chronometer certificate. The manually wound models were fitted with various Unitas calibers.
This rare piece is a military, exploration and aviation piece. Mostly it was advertised and purchased by military officers of WWII. It has become common knowledge now after several interviews, that military officers more likely chose to purchase their own military watch to fit their person taste instead of the official military issue watch.
In this case, the officer had I would say eccentric taste of the time. The copper colored dial is unusual but very beautiful and hard to capture in photos. Any dark spots seen on photos are nearly shadows. The dial is near mint and appears original and unrestored. It is possible it had been re-lumed many years ago.
It is typical for a bumper of this era to be inefficient and not quite easily wound. That's not true with this A Reymond in-house movement. I'm not quite sure how well they accomplished it, but the bumper works very well and keep the watch wound as long as there is activity during the day. You may also manually wind this movement. I think the case-back manufacturer's engravings are cool. It's obvious this was not a big production piece just by the case engravings. Also, I believe the full stainless steel case was also made by A Reymond to fit this very special automatic bumper movement. All of that said, this is a great all around watch measuring the typical 32mm in diameter with 16-17mm lug size. The watch is presented on a new distressed ARMY green NATO strap and should fit any wrist size. The watch has been recently serviced and ready to wear or collect.
In 1932, the "Ebauche" department of A. Reymond S.A. (manufacturing movement blanks) became part of the Ebauches Group as the Fabrique d'Ebauches Unitas S.A.
Complete watches were made under the ARSA label. The 1934 Perfora, for example, featured a rectangular case and an openwork dial which revealed the two hands. At the same time ARSA introduced a wide-ranging chronograph collection. In addition, it produced watches for the blind and for pilots as well as wristwatches with a simple date or alarm. Some timepieces were delivered with an official chronometer certificate. The manually wound models were fitted with various Unitas calibers.
This rare piece is a military, exploration and aviation piece. Mostly it was advertised and purchased by military officers of WWII. It has become common knowledge now after several interviews, that military officers more likely chose to purchase their own military watch to fit their person taste instead of the official military issue watch.
In this case, the officer had I would say eccentric taste of the time. The copper colored dial is unusual but very beautiful and hard to capture in photos. Any dark spots seen on photos are nearly shadows. The dial is near mint and appears original and unrestored. It is possible it had been re-lumed many years ago.
It is typical for a bumper of this era to be inefficient and not quite easily wound. That's not true with this A Reymond in-house movement. I'm not quite sure how well they accomplished it, but the bumper works very well and keep the watch wound as long as there is activity during the day. You may also manually wind this movement. I think the case-back manufacturer's engravings are cool. It's obvious this was not a big production piece just by the case engravings. Also, I believe the full stainless steel case was also made by A Reymond to fit this very special automatic bumper movement. All of that said, this is a great all around watch measuring the typical 32mm in diameter with 16-17mm lug size. The watch is presented on a new distressed ARMY green NATO strap and should fit any wrist size. The watch has been recently serviced and ready to wear or collect.
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