—————————————————————————————————–
“The West Finish Watch Co grew to become thus one of many first firms to make use of the Incabloc shock resisting system of their watches, they usually used Taubert’s waterproof Decagonal watch case with the cork stem sealing and screw again from 1934 till 1954, when Taubert had been now not capable of sustain with West Finish’s demand, which by then had risen to greater than 2,000 instances per thirty days.”
One placing side of a model like this, given the pedigree of the corporate and the standard of its merchandise, is the truth that 100 years in the past there was little in technical, qualitative, and design phrases to distinguish manufacturers corresponding to West Finish Watch Co from extra well-known producers like Ebel, Eterna, Minerva, and now-iconic manufacturers like Rolex, Omega, and Longines – as evidenced by the broad collection of producers included within the Soiled Dozen, even again within the Forties.
This will likely sound fanciful, however the proof of this lies within the extent to which these firms equipped one another with actions and instances. West Finish Watch Co initially had its actions made at guardian firm Droz & Cie’s manufacturing facility in St. Imier, however for high quality causes, after 1907 sourced them from an organization referred to as Lavina and in addition from Longines, Mido, Tissot, and different prime manufactures.
In an alternate horological universe, Hans Wilsdorf might have determined to take advantage of his presence in London to launch Rolex as “the Empire watch,” with the outcome that Wang Fu-Zhou might need conquered the North Ridge sporting a Rolex and Sir Edmund Hillary may simply as simply have climbed Everest sporting West Finish Watch Co timepieces relatively than Rolexes!
The Sowar Prima continues to be in manufacturing right now in additional modern 39 mm and 41 mm sizes, and most West Finish watches are powered by ETA automated actions.
These embody the next automated (ETA-powered) chronographs, retailing on-line from £425 as much as £875: the Queen Anne chronograph, an automated ETA chronograph with military-style soldered lugs; the Sowar Prima, an automated army model watch additionally out there with Arabic and Tibetan numerals; and the Classics, automated Sowar variants with a fluted bezel on a jubilee bracelet, a completely respectable various to sporting a counterfeit Rolex if it’s the Datejust look you’re after.
Nearer to residence in Bordeaux
Once I was first reunited with this watch, I used to be racking my mind making an attempt to recollect the place I had fairly not too long ago come throughout West Finish Watch Co watches nearer to residence.
Bordeaux, the place I dwell, is one thing of a desert in horological phrases: there are a couple of approved sellers promoting the customary Rolex, Omega, and Longines lineup, however in order for you an Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, or A. Lange & Söhne your solely possibility is the handful of pre-owned sellers. If it’s a Greubel Forsey or an F.P. Journe you’re after you’ll have to leap on a TGV to Paris.
Nonetheless, a couple of years in the past a younger Bordelais referred to as Aurélien Cram opened Horel, a small boutique promoting primarily quartz vogue watches in Bordeaux’s previous city. He step by step upgraded his product vary by including inexpensive mechanical manufacturers corresponding to Baltic, Oris, Junkers, Squale, and so on. and relocated final yr to a bigger retailer on Rue de la Devise to focus totally on mechanical watches.
And that was the place I noticed some West Finish Watch Co watches final yr, not realizing that that was what my first watch had been. As quickly as this horrible virus enterprise is over, I shall drop in and proudly present him my Sowar Prima.
For extra data, please go to www.westendwatchco.ch.
Fast Info West Finish Watch Co Sowar Prima 1916 Case: 39 mm, chrome steel, water-proof to 50 meters, sapphire crystal, clear case againMotion: automated Swiss motionCapabilities: hours, minutes, seconds; dateValue: £625
* This text was first revealed April 22, 2020 at The Grail Of Attic Finds: Reunited With The First Watch I Ever Owned, A West Finish Watch Co Sowar Prima
You may additionally take pleasure in:
Watch Goes Up Should Come Down: An Trade Insider’s High Secret Report . . . Or Is It? Warning: You Could Giggle Out Loud
Mythbusting: 3 Persistent Patek Philippe And Rolex Myths Debunked
Khanjar And Qaboos Rolexes: Are They The Classic Watch Trade’s Blood Diamonds?
Gerontohorologyphobia: A Younger Man’s Worry Of Being Seen Carrying An Outdated Man’s Watch