Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Movado Acvatic Dress Watch, 1950s
- Maker / attribution
- Movado (maker)
- Date
- 1950s
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 35 mm
- Stock no.
- 40992904
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40992904)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Movado Acvatic Dress Watch (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40992904), this is a wristwatch by Movado, made in Switzerland, dated 1950s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 35 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
At a glance, this looks like a simple mid-century dress watch. It isn’t. This Movado Acvatic reference 18141, dating to the 1950s, deserves your full attention. At first, it reads like a classic mid-century dress watch: a well-proportioned 35mm stainless steel case, sharp lugs, 'dauphine' hands, and applied 'dagger' indices set against a warm, aged dial. But look closer, and the details begin to unfold. The dial has developed a remarkable, organic patina — a constellation of speckled aging that transforms the surface into something entirely unique. No two examples will ever age quite like this, and here, it adds depth and character in all the right ways. Then there’s the case. Signed “Acvatic”, Movado’s period spelling for “aquatic,” this model points to its then-novel waterproof construction — and more specifically, its Borgel case. Designed by François Borgel, these early waterproof cases were among the most innovative of their time, featuring a threaded design that improved water resistance well before it became industry standard. While Borgel cases are often seen in smaller, more ornate forms, finding one in a larger, round, more robust 35mm configuration like this is decidedly uncommon. A detail you might miss entirely — until you don’t. Paired with a blue leather strap, the watch balances its rugged, forward-thinking case construction with classic dress sensibility. Uncommon, quietly technical, and full of character, this is a Movado that rewards curiosity.
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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