Asprey Doctor's Watch, 1930s

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

Founder's Select If you don't understand the understated beauty, historical significance, and tie to the world of luxury that this timepiece represents - you're doing it wrong. Just look closer: svelte tank proportions, blued steel hands, oversized subsidiary seconds for measuring pulse, and a name synonymous with old-world luxury. Absolutely brilliant. -James Lamdin Quick — someone call a doctor! Not only because this piece has got our hearts racing, but because it's the perfect watch for any MD. Distinguishable by a svelte, rectangular case silhouette and a dial featuring a prominent seconds display independent of the main hours and minutes display, doctor's watches such as these were dutifully utilized by medical professionals — mainly MDs — to measure a patient’s heart rate and other time-related tasks. Pioneered by the Rolex Prince and the Gruen Techni-Quadron, they speak to a time when a watch was first and foremost a critical tool. This Asprey is one of the many iterations of the doctor’s watch created in the early decades of the 20th century. Dating to the 1930s, it features a 19mm stainless steel case, a domed acrylic crystal, and a thin, unsigned crown. Complemented by satin silver dial, it has two individual subsidiary dials: an upper display printed Breguet numerals, a ‘railroad’ minute track, and a matching, blued-steel handset, and a lower display with a large, constant-seconds counter. Outfitted on a brown lizard-pattern leather strap and powered by manually-wound movement that’s fresh off a professional service, this piece is a tool watch in dress watch clothing!