Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Lemania Chronograph Cal. 15TL, 1940s
- Maker / attribution
- Lemania (maker)
- Date
- 1940s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 37 mm
- Stock no.
- LM15TL
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Craft & Tailored (LM15TL)
- Catalogue title (original)
- 1940s Lemania Chronograph Cal. 15TL (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles (stock number LM15TL), this is a wristwatch by Lemania, made in Switzerland, dated 1940s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) 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 — Craft & Tailored
Lemania is best known for being a movement maker that designed chronograph movements Omega, Heuer, Tissot, and later Breguet. Lemania actually only made very few watches under their own name, making Lemania branded watches both sought-after and very rare. The Lemania chronograph presented features the famous cal. 15TL which is the base caliber for the Omega Cal. 33.3 that went into numerous collectible Omega chronographs throughout the 1940s. SPECS Stock # LM15TL Brand Lemania Style Chronograph Model Cal. 15TL Serial N/A Size Men's Material Stainless Steel Dial Glossy Black Millimeters 37 Bracelet 2pc Leather Strap CASE & BRACELET The oversized 37mm stainless steel case has been lightly polished in the past and retains full and symmetrical lugs. The tall stainless steel bezel is in excellent condition and exhibits some honest signs of use. The case retains its original oval pushers and crown. The watch will come supplied on a 2pc leather strap. DIAL & HANDS The glossy black dial with recessed printing is a marvel of vintage dial design, dial itself shows light marks however it is in excellent condition for its age. The original white hands contrast beautifully with the black dial allowing for ease of readability and the hands themselves are in excellent condition. ACCESSORIES None. The watch is functioning perfectly and keeping time, previous service history is unknown.
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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