
Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Minerva Triple Date Moonphase Chrono Valjoux 88 1950s
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1950s
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 37 mm
- Stock no.
- W-341
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Bulang & Sons (W-341)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Minerva Triple Date Moonphase Chrono Valjoux 88 1950s (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Bulang & Sons (dealer), Copenhagen (stock number W-341), this is a wristwatch, dated 1950s. 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 — Bulang & Sons
ELEGANT SPORTS CHRONO Some watches are made more complicated than others – this Minerva has it all! Interesting chronos from the mid-20th century are never more collectible than when they have both multiple complications and modern-esque case proportions. This Minerva chronograph wrist watch has day, date and month calendar features. The day and month are in abbreviated French, with an outer date ring in striking blue. This blue is complimented by the blue moonphase, which is classically placed within a cut out in the 12hr chronograph register at 6 o’clock. This watch is beautifully executed; from its oblong chrono pushers to the blued steel hour and minute hands, this watch is the full monty! Specification - Triple Date Moonphase Chrono - Serial 865XXX, dating to the 1950s era - Valjoux 88 moevement - Silver dial with blue accents - Large 37 mm case - Fresh checked by our watchmaker - Incl. one Watch Strap of your choice*
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
Calendar, moon-phase and perpetual calendar watches
Calendar complications range from a simple date to the perpetual calendar, which automatically allows for months of different lengths and leap years until 2100. Pocket watches with perpetual calendars were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; Patek Philippe made the first perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1925, and series production followed in 1941. The annual calendar (Patek Philippe, 1996) needs correction only once a year.
Moon-phase displays use a disc with two moons and 59 teeth advanced daily, approximating the 29.5-day lunation; more precise trains reduce the error to one day in over a century.
What to look for
- Apertures or subsidiary dials for day, date, month and leap year.
- Moon disc under a 'bosom' shaped aperture.
- Recessed correctors on the case band for setting the calendar.
Dating clues
- Triple-date wristwatches: popular c. 1940–1955.
- Perpetual calendar wristwatches: from 1925 (unique) and 1941 (series).
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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