Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Angelus Two Register Calibre 215 Chronograph, circa 1940s
- Maker / attribution
- Angelus (maker)
- Date
- c. 1940s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Stock no.
- vws4144
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws4144)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Angelus Two Register Calibre 215 Chronograph - c.1940s (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws4144), this is a wristwatch by Angelus, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1940s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Vintage Watch Specialist
A Beautiful Angelus Two Register Chronograph - Superb Vintage Condition, c.1940s What's on Offer A beautifully honest example of mid-century chronograph design, this 1940s Angelus two-register chronograph captures everything collectors love about vintage tool watches. The aged white dial is framed by a classic blued steel handset and balanced twin sub-dials, with a tachymeter scale around the periphery for timing on the move. Housed in a well-proportioned stainless steel case and powered by the highly regarded Angelus Cal. 215, it offers true in-house chronograph pedigree. The watch is in beautiful preowned vintage condition with some slight blemishes consistent with age - a charismatic watch that wears beautifully on the wrist.
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Chronographs and split-seconds watches
A chronograph is a watch with an additional seconds hand that can be started, stopped and returned to zero independently of the timekeeping. Louis Moinet built an early example in 1816 and Nicolas Rieussec a recording 'chronographe' in 1821; Adolphe Nicole's heart-shaped reset cam (patented 1862) made the modern return-to-zero possible. Split-seconds (rattrapante) chronographs add a second hand that can be stopped for intermediate times; flyback chronographs restart instantly.
Chronographs were essential tools for doctors (pulsometer scales), artillery (telemeter), engineers and sport. In wristwatches, Valjoux, Venus, Lemania and later the automatic chronographs of 1969 (Zenith El Primero, the Chronomatic Calibre 11 group and Seiko 6139) are milestones.
What to look for
- Push-pieces on the case band or a single button in the crown (monopusher).
- Subsidiary registers for minutes and hours; tachymeter, telemeter or pulsometer scales.
- Column wheel versus cam control visible in the movement.
- Calibre markings of specialist makers (Valjoux, Lemania, Venus, Landeron).
Dating clues
- Pocket chronographs with heart cam reset: after 1862.
- Wrist chronographs: from c. 1910; two-button designs from the 1930s.
- Automatic chronographs: from 1969.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Flyback chronographChronograph
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