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Chopard 'Cuff' Watch, 1960s

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Chopard (maker)
Date
1960s
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Wristwatch
Dimensions
Case 17 mm
Stock no.
40991384
Credit line
Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40991384)
Catalogue title (original)
Chopard 'Cuff' Watch (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40991384), this is a wristwatch by Chopard, made in Switzerland, dated 1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 17 mm. 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 — Analog/Shift

While wristwatches come in all shapes and sizes, dress watches are typically rather restrained affairs. And for good reason. While the point of a wristwatch is to tell the time, the point of a dress watch is to tell the time unobtrusively, paying respect to the formality of a particular occasion by keeping out of sight and out of mind. However, this doesn’t mean that all dress watches need be designed after the same mold. Take this inventive Chopard, for example: Dating to the 1960s, it eschews the typically round confines of the midcentury dress watch for an angular, wrist-hugging object framed by a leather cuff. Pretty cool stuff, if you ask us! Housed in a rectangular 17mm x 49mm 18K yellow gold case with an acrylic crystal and a signed crown, it featured a simple, matching gold dial with gold-tone dauphine hands — and nothing more. Paired to the watch case is a semi-integrated, black lizard ‘half strap’ that forms a cuff. Powering it, meanwhile, is the Chopard Calibre 1677 manually-wound movement with 17 jewels. Superbly crafted, this most excellent timekeeper from Chopard is certainly more eye catching than the standard Swiss fare of the 1960s — but we see nothing wrong in having a bit of fun in a more formal setting. Try it on for size, and we’re sure you’ll agree!

Historical context

Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)

Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.

The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking

Atlas type guide

Wristwatches

Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.

After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.

What to look for

  • The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
  • The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
  • Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
  • Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.

Dating clues

  • Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
  • Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
  • Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.

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.

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