
Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Gallet Multichron 12 EP40 Chronograph White, 1960s
- Maker / attribution
- Gallet (maker)
- Date
- 1960s
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 37 mm
- Stock no.
- Product 7346421432407
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, S.Song Watches (product 7346421432407)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Gallet Multichron 12 EP40 Chronograph White (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by S.Song Watches (dealer), Seattle (stock number Product 7346421432407), this is a wristwatch by Gallet, made in Switzerland, dated 1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 37 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 — S.Song Watches
Ask any vintage chronograph collector, and chances are the name ‘Gallet’ will come up. Gallet produced some of the finest chronographs during the mid-20th century, and today, vintage models like the Multichron are highly coveted. Despite their refined and stylish appearance, these watches were originally designed as tool watches to meet the needs of military and industrial professionals. Their dials often feature various functional scales, such as decimal scales, pulsometers, and telemeter scales, which enhance their practicality for specific tasks and measurements. The example we have here today is the Gallet Multichron 12. It features a robust stainless steel case measuring 37mm and a white dial equipped with a vibrant tachymeter in blue and a telemeter scale in red on its periphery. The dial also includes a small-seconds sub-dial to the 9:00, a 30-minute counter at 3:00, a 12-hour recording sub-dial at the bottom, and a set of blued syringe hands at the center. The beauty of vintage watches lies in the fact that each example ages differently, depending on how it was stored and used. The dial on this particular Gallet Multichron 12 has developed a subtle eggshell hue over time, coupled with a warm toffee-colored patina on its luminous Arabic numerals. At the time, these Multichrons were equipped with either the rare Excelsior Park 40 movement, as seen in this example, or the Valjoux 72 movement which came earlier than the former. Both are renowned as some of the best manual-winding chronograph calibers of the time, sourced from different ébauche manufacturers. Considering their rich history, exceptional aesthetics, and mechanical movements, there is no doubt as to why vintage Gallet chronographs are considered by many to be some of the most desirable and collectable vintage chronographs in the realm of vintage watch collecting. To be able to offer this extraordinary example on our site today is a real delight.
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
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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